A good luck bird

Hello my friends. As you know, I'm trying to finish my thesis already, to be able to finally dedicate to this blog again.

A couple of months ago I started to notice a funny thing. Everytime I left home for work (7am), and I saw a Vermilion Flycatcher on my street I had "good luck" all day. Of course it could also be that beautiful birds make me smile always and maybe I just didn't notice the bad things happening around.

Anyway, I decided to proclaim this bird my "good luck bird", my "huayruro" on wings!

If you never heard of it before, I bet you are curious now. Well, keep reading and you'll find out!

The "Huayruro" (Ormosia) is a tree from the “fabaceae” family and it is at least 40 meters high. Its seeds are also named “huayruros”. They are shiny red (female), or red with a black spot (male). VERY beautiful. The seeds can be found in different sizes, personally, I preffer the tiny ones.

The Huayruro has many species, mainly found in the Amazon, extending to Central America and southern Mexico. Its name differs from country to country. The seed of huayruro is also called: bean of the luck, tintoria (Brazil), cairuro (Colombia), huayro, huayruro, (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador), etc.

The seed is a symbol of the origin from which all living beings are derived: plants, animals and humans. It is a symbol of fertility and abundance. It is also a symbol of good luck. In Peru it is used as an amulet to attract good luck and to protect against negative energies.

In several regions of the Peruvian Andes, the huayruro is used in religious ceremonies and in the Amazon region the native people use this seed to make necklaces, bracelets, earrings and different handcrafted. This has extended to other regions and now you can find quite expensive jewelry made with these seeds.

Let's play "find the bird"

I've been away from blogging for a while.

I wish I came back with lots of great pictures and stories to share with you... Instead I bring you a "game"... I call it "find the bird"... (Click on pics to enlarge)


I know, I have to get a better camera and enter the exciting world of digiscoping. Not a chance for me to do so anytime soon, so, please, play along...


Find the heron, the killdeer, the hummingbird...


Try seeking for the Saffron Finch or the Tropical Kingbird...


Pretend you do like the game (at least until I get a REAL camera and stop taking such bad pics)

Blog Action Day 2008

It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.
Aesop

I believe that is true, literally and… metaphorically.

I want to share something with you. It is related to 'birds' with not so fine feathers (to the eyes of some).

I met these 'birds' a couple of years ago. Broken, ill, dirty. Ignored by 'finer' ones until they became invisible.

The birds of my story are very, very young. They have beautiful souls and hearts, talents that nobody thought they could have, and dreams, like any other bird their age. Some of them have broken wings, and others live in a cage.

My birds are as real as you and me. They spend their youth working. They work on the streets, selling flowers, candy, and cigarettes, to help their families and be able to eat. Most evenings and nights they go out and walk around shopping centers, restaurants, discos, wherever they can find people having the fun they can't have.

Angel (15), Pamela (14), Sandra (13), Flor (12), Francis (11), Alicia (8), Diego (4). They are just a few of the ones I had the pleasure to spend every Saturday with for a year (a couple of years ago, before I moved abroad).

More than 2 million kids and teens between 6 and 17 years old are forced to work in Peru. The work varies from shoe shining, selling products, agriculture with their family members, to slavery in mines and sex tourism.

Departments (states) like Huancavelica, Huanuco and Puno, where extreme poverty is higher, the percentage of working kids and teens between 6 and 17 years old is 96%, 94% and 92% respectively.

My experience with the ones I met was heartbreaking but also rewarding. I met amazing kids with unbelievable strength and the will to learn and become better people in the future.

We were a few crazy friends (ages 17 to 28, guess who the oldie was…), trying to take their mind away from the cold and danger of the streets for a few hours a week, teaching them handcrafts, playing with them, giving them some food and love along the way.

Sad news when we had to stop, the meeting place was closed to build something that was profitable for the owners, a few of us had to move away, and the rest couldn't continue without a place and on their own (everything came from either our pockets or friends and family who supported our 'cause')

I sometimes run into these birds, they chirp around calling my name, hugging me and asking (after almost 2 years), when are we going to start again. It's heartbreaking to tell them that we can't. You can tell they get a bit sad, but then they start making jokes and laugh until they spot a tourist or a happy couple and fly away with their flowers and their candy trying to sell enough to buy the next morning's breakfast.

I met some fine birds, with not so fine feathers.

If you are curious about what we used to do, visit my old blog here.