Ayabaca is
a lovely place to me because has been the destination of my mid-year vacations.
My mother’s parents, as many Ayabaca-natives know, lived at the right entrance,
where Piura and Arequipa Streets begin at the same time, just in front of
so-called White-Trunk Cross, on a promontory from where you could look at the
three emblematic mountains of the Ayawaka people, especially Aypate, toward the
Sun rises.
So my
earliest memories start in that my grandparents’ big house, now remodeled as a
restaurant and home (after my
grandparents passed away, my family sold out the estate), those continue
downhill passing beside the cemetery, the long flat sometime called Maracaná,
until following down the road to Suyupampa, finding some of those doors, going
down through a path to a place called Rosales, where one of the Castillo
Family’s acres where located.
To satisfy
the curiosity of the one reading or listening to this op-ed, the other acres
where located on the path to Montero, just at the site known as The Devil’s
Nose, the most complicated place to advance for who pilgrim to the Captive Lord
Festival every October.
Then, even
when it doesn’t seem, Ayabaca is an issue I’m concerned about by a double
reason: first, by my interest as a journalist, second, because of that
emotional connection. That’s why when the Ayawaka Cultural Association invited
me to join a debate about development chances for the zone, it was impossible
to say not. But what development does Ayabaca need?
First step – Think of multi
A couple of
months ago, the local people, or a portion of it, demonstrated against a mining
project that is being announced 15 years ago, and what, anyway, because an
opposition in Ayabaca and Huancabamba Provinces as well, it’s not possible to
start. I was wondered about that protest because its advocates insisted of its
local development model was based on the agriculture and the tourism. Great, we
already evolved!, I said, because monocathegorizing a development model is the
same than considering a person as monotalented for the lifetime, and the truth
is that’s not true. The persons, if they want, can be multitalented.
The same
happens to the development model at any territory. It should be
multicathegorized, and the reason why is such simple as the development is
built by the people, not the schemes. If you take the person out the scheme,
the scheme borns dead.
The
agricultural development model for Ayabaca, priorly,
has no discussion, and who doesn’t convince, walk just a mile away the city and
get without doubts. And the agriculture comes together with the cattle, if not,
it becomes unsustainable. And inside the agriculture itself, the idea would be
to have a whole stock catalogue this land could grow for good. The question is
– which ones?
Second step – Love the numbers
And the
interesting thing comes here. Many people defend development models based on
slogans, the priorly, but when you
ask someone to sustain it in a real way, the problems begin. First lesson: the priorly could motivate me but is not
enough to me because in most times, it comes from an anticipated judge, and
that’s a big mistake.
The real
way to sustain that your development model is the model is based on diagnosis made with field information as well
as statistics. Yes, I know that the numbers have nothing romantic, but the
numbers help us not to put the chariot before the horse… although almost nobody
uses horses.
I remember
that after that demonstration, I wrote an op-ed on El Regional de Piura where I
left a homework for Ayabaca people, and for everybody who reads me in general,
that we start with a key index saying us how much sustainable we are in terms
of economy, the gross domestic product. It seems an interesting basis to me to
know what the GDP that Ayabaca has got because its agricultural-cattle
activity, for instance. Does somebody know it? As I said then, the information
is available on the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics, even by
clicking. So now, what is it? Just as a clue, the Peruvian agricultural GDP is
more than 7%, the double of the Peruvian general GDP projected for 2019 in
3.6%.
OK, if we
can’t unfold at that level, at least what the Ayabaca Province’s or the
District’s GDP is. Of course, the GDP is not the only index, but it is indeed
fundamental, what must complement to
others as the existent land surface, the land proportion dedicated to
cropping, cattle, forest conservation. In the end, numbers, numbers, numbers,
and you’ve got my number.
If you want
to pitch your development model to who you want to convince or debunk, I should
stand up strongly on those indexes, and honest indexes, not supposed, not
guessed, not made-up. It’s going to cost us to work but the true loves are not
easy. I’m sure about that.
Third step – Turn-on the fan for refreshing the
air
And not
only with the agricultural-cattle sector. The same, priorly, I believe that the tourism in Ayabaca has an amazing
potential, but it’s priorly, and we
already established that holding to the priorly
is a huge mistake. If we think of Ayabaca being Aypate, we fall into a
dangerous reductionism, very similar to the people have about Talara when they
believe that everything is Máncora, or when they believe that Piura is only
beaches. And here I pay the attention about why we don’t end to convince
everybody that Piura is touristically multicathegorized around and across.
Let’s
return to Ayabaca. Reducing the all beautiful to Aypate already means a problem
to me as a journalist and more as a tourist, because after Aypate, what? I know
as a journalist that there is also Samanga, that I’m personally much interested
on, or Huamba, or Cujaca, or Yanchalá, or El Toldo, or Olleros, or Yanta, or
Culucán, or very near the city, in Socchabamba, or still pretty near the city
in Yacupampa, where that beautiful combo is, composed by the Yantuma, the
Chacas, and the Cuyas-Cuchayo clod forest. And I learned around of some
waterfalls those somebody wants to launch. Excellent!
And even
the Ayabaca City itself is able for beautiful urban circuits those you, at the
most, haven’t realize like one that my producers and I were invented, beginning
at the Main Square, going through all the balconies of Arequipa Street, reaching
my granparents’ former house, resting for a while in the White Trunk Cross, and
going down along the Piura Street until arriving to the Main Square again. And
there is another through the path to Pampa de Lobo. And look - I don’t
live in Ayabaca.
Until
there, the existent offer. Now, what services do we have to offer to the
tourist considering just two basic aspects like assistance quality and
essential services: safe water, adequate management of spaces & supplies,
safety. We have to quantify all that. Of course, the romantic ones will say me
“the troublemaker is already here”, but if you already convinced that the priorly is not enough, you are ready for
upgrading the next level. Once we quantify all, we have to specify which ones
apply for minimum quality standards those motivate the tourist to come once,
twice, and everytime, and bring more people. Right then, we’ll have a
sustainable model!
Fourth step – Project to the world
Once we
have all this well fixed, we can put that other component right, that’s my best
professional talent – how we release it to the planet. Not your next-door
fella, not the Ayabaca-natives living abroad, but the whole planet, where you
truly contest, and where even you have to speak in codes we haven’t grown.
And, sure,
how to feature all this with a text, picture, sound, hook production of
marketing that makes irresistible going to Ayabaca, but once you be in Ayabaca,
prove it’s better than they told it to you. And here is when the romance just
borns strong and everlasting.
Fifth step – Real goals
In this
sense, Ayabaca can place as a brand, the Ayabaca Brand. I know many people have
thought on that, but if you pretent to get it by skipping from A to Z not
passing along the whole alphabet, you’re going to give up. And the successful
way to go along starts from knowing wwhat we have, knowing how it is, knowing
what we can improve, knowing how we’re going to feature, knowing how we’re
going to react before the response, and knowing how we’re gonna to evolve upon
the first results.
In other
words, people, strategic planning, because it’s not worthy to me that something
is beautiful if I don’t have a whole network behind pointing me out goals,
activities, resources, persons, results those allow me to measure if I am
advancing through the right way or I am falling down. Yes, something like going
madly the Yantuma uphill from Yacupampa, and getting unsteady and releasing you
had no liferope once you reach the summit.
Sixth step – Be proactive
So now, I
know very well that many people will say this is the authorities job, and
notify us when you have it already to see how I take advantage. I’m sorry but I
have to inform that in the Peruvian context, that is the simple and fast way to
give up.
I
understand that the ideal is in the social construction of every community, our
leaderships open the way, or at least they say us where it goes, but the
reality has proven that our leaderships have shown to be incompetent, selfish,
and even corrupt. Then, what do we do? Unmotivate? No, that’s not the choince.
If the
formal leaderships are not as high as the challenge that demans to launch a
brand like Ayabaca, don’t cry, don’t regret. Let’s bet for our own initiative
capability, and in that aspect I consider that the private initiative, even
being incipient anywhere, can be the same or the better good than the public
initiative. And I’m not talking about corporations. Peru has proven it moves
70% of its economy because the little companies, as well as the many
independent entrepreneurs (including me). So, if it rains limes, make a
lemonade. I mean, if your productive system is mostly the littlest or the
independent, build your social network from there and manage the development
model from there.
Yes, the authority
is going to feel lost but I think there’s no most punishment for any leader
when sees not to have a place in the picture. And that’s what the world
demands! If you see the international reality, the governments are not those
moving the processes but the people like you or me who do it. It happens
exactly to a community like Ayabaca!
Then, when
that attitude changes, and moves the things into a most proactive direction,
believe me that the human asset will be an irresistible added value for that natural,
archaeological, commercial, agricultural, cattle, touristic assets, whatever
you decide for Ayabaca, looking for including everybody who wants to work on
and get it. In other words, when a community becomes competitive, when it
transcends from the priorly to the factually, it’s when it really improves
the things, and when the things improve, it’s when we have a good story to
tell, and when there is a good story to tell the world, well, it’s when you
count on me.
Pleased
again for the trust, and how good that the Ayabaca people are looking for
solutions everywhere. If you keep that way, I guarantee you have a good portion
of the success for sure. And if somebody wants not to join, you know?, don’t
lose your time by criticizing. Get focused on the good that you’re getting
because you’re going to get so far that way.
