Life at IPBio and Visiting a Quilombo!

My name is Marta I came to IPBio all the way from the Canary Islands, in Spain to volunteer with the Tree Mapping and Inventory project. Coming to Brazil was a great experience and one that I will never forget. I have met the most incredible people on the journey and my stay at IPBio couldn’t be better, although it was only for two weeks, I managed to enjoy many aspects of Iporanga and the reserve itself; from the most adventurous to the most relaxing and breathtaking experiences.

Even though Iporanga is a tiny village there was always something to do whether it was nature related or leisure wise, plus the locals are extremely friendly. I will always remember the nights we went out looking for bioluminescent mushrooms with Grant, the mushroom volunteer, at full dark during the night in the forest, or also the time that we encountered wild monkeys searching for fruit trees in the reserve, or the times we played football with the kids at the village and at the Quilombo school of Bombas de Cima, which was definitely a remarkable memory that will stay in my heart forever.

For those who might not have heard of what a Quilombo is, it is a community of runaway  slave descendents from Africa and South American indigenous peoples that during the era of colonialism were persecuted and forced to work in gold extraction or on plantations. It was considered a resistance force on these times hence they escaped to the forest to hide and develop their own communities. To this day their resources are very limited. We visited the local school which only had one teacher and one class for kids of all different ages being taught at the same time. 

The Quilombos are so isolated that it took us (Keka, another volunteer, and I) 4 hours of hard hiking uphill through mud just to reach the school. Imagine having do this every day, sometimes barefoot, to reach the town of Iporanga or even when they need medical assistance. As one of the oldest men of the village told us, whenever there is an medical emergency they require the entire village to take the person downhill to town and  many die on their way  to Iporanga´s little hospital. In summery there aren’t many facilities for these communities to fully integrate in "modern" society, beginning with accessibility issues. Some of us, the volunteers, were lucky enough to meet the teacher and therefore we could go visit and play with the kids games at the school. Listening to the teachers stories was inspiring and also understanding how much he does every day for this community. The love of the kids, their hugs, curiosity and smiles is an indescribable feeling that will stay with me forever. 

In conclusion my stay in Brazil has been amazing, but I wouldn’t  had been so good  if it wasn’t for the great volunteers I met at IPBio: Tess, Grant, Jesse and Keka, with whom I have shared most of my experiences here and of course a lot of dancing to funky and forro! Without them my experience wouldn’t have been the same.

Written by Marta Quintana