Harvesting ChacoTalents

This program aims to develop local talent and promote greater awareness for nature conservation in Chaco.

This program is developed in 2 fundamental pillars:

The poetry, as an area of ​​creative development within literature, is an awareness-raising and pedagogical tool to generate artistic and cultural production and meeting spaces between individuals who value and inspire the care and conservation of the Chaco flora and fauna.

Inspired by the Dutch poet and writer Joost Oomen who tried to fish with poems on the Italian island of Salina, this adventure of Joost inspired us to organize the “Fish” Poetry Festival Fishing with Poetry on the banks of the Pilcomayo River in Villa Montes. Would it really be possible to catch fish with poems? We can only find out by following Joost Oomen's example and prove it. Maybe this is even more difficult than fishing with stones.

This literary idea together with the Cultural Literary Club “Versos desde el Pilcomayo” and the BioChaco Foundation, with the sponsorship of Onderzoekcentrum B-WARE (Nijmegen, Netherlands), the literary call is launched year after year to harvest the talents of sublime writers, who From an early age they already show fibers of future poets in the Chaco territory of Bolivia.

Fishing with poetry

To get the fish out of the river, we have to work hard. Large groups of fishermen are busy with huge nets. Things were very different in the past. When the Frenchman Emile Arthur Thouar arrived at what is now Villa Montes, 140 years ago, he saw some men standing inside the river at the Peña Colorada. They were fishermen and they threw stones into the water. Then there were so many fish in the river that you could catch them by throwing stones into the water. The fish were stunned and pulled out of the water downstream. On the shores, women cleaned the fish and immediately prepared it on the fire. Catch fish with stones? That wouldn't work now. The population of Villa Montes has grown considerably and almost everyone likes fish. Bolivians on the outskirts of Villa Montes also appreciate the flavor of Sábalo. It is sold throughout the country. So it's not so strange that it's now impossible to fish with stones.

It would be a good idea in the future to fish with pouches instead of fishing nets during the first period of the fishing season until the first schools pass by. If we take good care of our river, our river will continue to take good care of us. Our ancestors knew this very well. They could even fish with stones. We can catch the fish for future generations with poems.

Biography

Joost Oomen

Born in 1990, he is a Dutch poet, writer, theater player and drummer. His novels and poems have been well received, he has been nominated for several awards and has performed from Pariah to Terschelling and from the cathedral to the henhouse. The work Oomen has been translated into Spanish, Romanian, Portuguese, English and Italian.

In the spring of 2021, in the midst of a global pandemic, he was a guest for a month on the Italian island of Salina, along with his travel companions José Witteveen and Mirka Farabegoli, the mayor and the rest of the island's population, he tried to catch a fish with flower rod and a poem. Successfully! The Mediterranean fish read the poem with great pleasure, written especially for them after reciting it with masks and a snorkel.

I write poetry for people, but last summer I went to the Italian island of Salina, which is just above Sicily, with a crystal clear sea, and there I wrote poetry not only for people, but also for fish. In fact, I tried to catch a fish using a poem as bait. I would like to invite you, with a beautiful river nearby, to also start writing poetry for your fish. Good luck with that and enjoy the beautiful holiday. See you around.

2.- “Villa Montes Turística” Photographic Contest

The objective of this contest is to create environmental awareness in the population, disseminate the importance of nature, ecosystem, threatened species, culture and tradition of the native and Creole man of the Bolivian Chaco, as well as bring Bolivian society closer to its natural environment and promote Nature tourism as sustainable and alternative development in the region.

An event announced year after year through a call for the anniversary of the Foundation of Villa Montes, a city in the Autonomous Region of Gran Chaco in southern Bolivia, rescuing human talents of great value that show nature through photography. live and the cultural wealth of the Chaco to end in a photographic exhibition with the winning images of the different categories of the contest and presentation of prizes to the participants.

We thank our local sponsors who make it possible to hold this important event to highlight and raise awareness for the conservation of Chaco nature. This program needs your financial support to continue promoting human talent in the Bolivian Chaco.

The ChacoTalentos Harvesting Program and all BioChaco programs depend on generous donations from people willing to support a healthy future for all. Please consider making a donation today.

Thank you for your support.