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Who are “Amigos dos burros”?
In the Alentejo region of Portugal a mixed group from all the generations, young and old, have joined together to form “Amigos dos Burros”. We meet socially for conferences, to arrange our activities, and to help work the land in the traditional ways. It is part of our heritage, but we are the new generations and the old ones, a heritage that was once limited by the blood line but now extends to all races and cultures.
We are tired of listening to people who say, “there is no future …” this filters out the energy that inspires us. Our group is inspired to open a way out of the fatalism with some solidarity, to protect and to show a way for the future generations. It is a way for us to be strong for our responsibility with people like us everywhere in the world.
“You have your gurus, we have our burros!”
Through our working with the donkeys we have the contact with the global wisdom. We have great respect for all cultures. Wasn’t it Jesus who went into Jerusalem on a donkey. For sure the Buddha rode one too. Some people nowadays have gurus – but we have our burros!
Many poor peoples over the world have donkeys. They lived and worked with them for countless generations. Due to disease, war and catastrophe, we often see peasant peoples having to leave their communities, to migrate to the cities, to other countries. When they have to go it is often with the help of the donkeys, who brings their food and water, for no payment. Just some straw or rough vegetation is all they ask for.
The burro, or donkey, is a symbol for a way of life that was practical and simple, that made sense – made with the sweat of the people and their donkeys. But many of the descendants of these times now live in the cities or in the streets, but they still retain valuable memories of a more simple life, their family traditions, of working together sharing traditional skills, hard times and the good ones. But when they die their skills go with them. It is the modern people, our younger generation, who will loose out.
Here in Portugal we still have some old cities where donkeys are working and where you can still see the signs of how they built them in the past, like Evora and Mafra.
Especially in the cities, but in all the streets of our modern world, people are going by car. But we have lived with the working animals for thousands of years and just a century with the machines. For just forty years, a generation or two, the petrol engine has become common. But do we really think that we can so easily forget the past ways, the traditional skills and cooperative living between people and the animals,that sustained our lives and our environment?
The modern way — with “coração” or “decoração”?
When you buy some decoration for your house, what are you doing? You put something of your heart out and fix it on the wall and now you see it. But, in Portuguese the word “decoração” and “coração” – the word for “heart” you see is the same word. We don’t need to put the heart on the wall. We need to bring the heart inside each other, the Soul of our People, to save the culture and the traditional skills of living for our future – for every day the old people who know the old ways of building and crafting, working the land, of natural medicines, of wisdom are dying and very few take their place.
“To reconnect to the heart and to the life that sustains us”, this is our message to the old people with their memories, and to the young people who only have technology and do not have the old ones to teach them the traditional ways.
“Energy intelligence” for our new heritage
For our future we need “energy intelligence”, to survive well with solar energy and other natural technology. We need the medicine of plants for they also give us food and materials for shelter. We need to relearn the traditional ways from the old ones and adapt them with the natural technology that is available to us. To join our heritage with the new, and living in a cooperative spirit, this will ensure our future.
How can People support and get involved?
We are living in dangerous times. There is no time anymore to protect this old knowledge – our culture from the past. Ours is a practical project. We practise by doing, by relearning the traditional skills that held people and land in balance. We combine the traditions with permaculture methods and with simple technology. We run workshops and courses on living sustainably. And we welcome anyone who desires to know how to live and work with these native animals who are also our friends.
by Wilfried Bauer
For more information please contact:
Quinta Arco-Iris
ola@rainbowcommunities.org
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Amigos dos burros
Amigos visitante
Aprendendo a habilidade
Cavalho e charette
trabalho de água
lavrado com os burros |
