Pet to Snack - The realities of life

This post is an attempt to help you to better understand the life of the people in the jungle.  To show the hardships and dependency they have on the river and land to provide their daily meals.

The birds in this picture are some pets of one of the families we were working with this past week.  The girls hand fed them plantains everyday.  They cared for them, loved on them and had a special basket where the birds sleep at night  - away from predators and danger.

However, one day, these tiny, tiny birds were out on the ground loose - doing what birds do, whatever that is.  One got stepped on and killed.  The ants came immediately and ate the eyes out before one girl found the body.

Instead of burying the pet and lamenting the loss, she saw a change from a pet to food  - protein - a snack.  So, she very naturally plucked the feathers, skewered it and then grilled it.

This may seem a bit harsh for some, but to her it was as natural as could be.  There was no use in wasting good fresh meat.  The people there, as Tito said daily, "Eat fish for breakfast, fish for lunch and fish for dinner."  He also told us one night that we were lucky to have fish because many were having trouble catching right now.  Chicken and beef are for special occasions.

 So, the idea of a snack that wasn't fish was a great idea for her.