Retracing My Steps (Part One)

After Buenos Aires my next destination was General Rodriguez: Home to Tribe Isacar of the Twelve Tribes. Those who read my first entry about WWOOFing at the Tribe in Brazil may wonder why I would go back. The reasons are several.

1.     Most farms in Argentina are suffering economic hardship and don’t have productive work in the winter. The tribe on the other hand needs more workers for their numerous projects.

2.     It is much easier to practice Spanish in a community of 70 people from all over South America than working alone in a field.

3.     The tribe provides work clothes, does the laundry, makes a lot of mate and cooks incredible meals.

4.     For whatever reason I am still extremely interested in religion as well as community life and felt like I had more to learn.

While I was at the tribe I dug 4 meter holes for composting toilets, chopped a lot of wood, cared for the organic vegetable garden and helped construct a gigantic lodge. There were 7 other WWOOFers from Belgium, Germany, South Africa, Argentina and Brasil with other visitors daily. It was comforting having people from “outside” to discuss and at times critique the tribe.

While I was there I saw another baptism. He was a man who became an orphan at nine years old and was homeless since the age of nineteen. It was clear that the community had brought healing and meaning into his life, something that he expressed quite often. On the other hand, a 23 year old girl who had joined the tribe three years ago was visited by her sisters from Australia who she hadn’t seen since. Naturally her sisters were concerned and convinced her to leave the tribe without any notice and go back to Australia.

My feelings about the Tribe are still quite mixed and I can only conclude that like all things, it has good and bad aspects. It is clear to me that their faith does not lead to the truth or even tolerant views (in regards to homosexuality or equality of women) and yet their actions always seem positive and tolerant while providing a different model for human relations. Can positive actions and motives excuse what is in my opinion, radical views and perhaps even brainwashing youth?

Also, the tribe in Argentina wasn't as harmonious as the tribe in Brazil. I would attribute this to the fact Brazilians are generally more sociable and that Argentina had a single leader. Apparently all the tribes have a "head of the community" but I didn't even realize there was one in Brazil. What has always turned me off (and most people I think) about communities are the little problems that turn into big conflicts as people try to change others' behavior. In many places leaving a dish in the sink or personal items in the shared space can mean an hour of dispute. I was shocked to find none of this in Brazil. However, in Argentina the ideal of love, harmony and equality sometimes seemed sacrificed to a sense of entitlement as people tried to enforce rules. When a problem arose it was sometimes expressed as frustration and a command rather than a friendly suggestion and request. Nonetheless, conflict was minimal overall and as a whole, the organization was equally impressive as in Brazil.

After revisiting the Twelve Tribes, I continued retracing my steps to visit my couchsurfing host in Buenos Aires. Uruguay was next, a lovely old European country full of farms and quaint cities. Then I would revisit Florianopolis and Rio de Janeiro before my flight back to Vermont. 

Cabin and Fruit Trees

Other WWOOFers

Constructing a lodge

The Main House