>> WE DON'T JUST COME UP WITH NARRATIVES ABOUT RF AGRICULTURAL HERITAGE.

WE LIVE IT EVERY DAY IN OUR HOMES WITH THE THINGS WE PUT AROUND US AND THE MUSIC WE PLAY TENSELY WITH THE BOOKS THAT WE READ AT NIGHT TO OUR KIDS OR THE STORIES AND ANECDOTES THAT WE SHARE ABOUT OUR FAMILY THAT IS A LITTLE BIT CLOSER TO THEM EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE MILES AWAY.

>> I GREW UP IN ECUADOR AND WHEN I GREW UP THERE WAS A NATIONAL APOLOGY OF MISSED ASSESSMENT SO A LOT OF OUR TEACHING WAS FOCUSED ON THE URBAN AREAS .

WE DIDN'T REALLY LEARN THAT MUCH ABOUT OUR OWN COUNTRY AND SO WHEN I CAME TO THE UNITED STATES I WAS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOR COLLEGE AND I STARTED LEARNING MUCH MORE ABOUT MY COUNTRY .

IT WAS A COMBINATION OF CURIOSITY AND AMAZEMENT AND ALSO EMBARRASSMENT THAT I KNOW THAT MY OWN COUNTRY.

IT LED ME DOWN THE PATH OF ETHICS AND ANTHROPOLOGY.

I AM ALSO THE AUTHOR OF THIS CHILDREN BOOK CALLED " ON THE WINGS OF THE."

>> THE KIDS GREW UP FAR FROM THEIR COUNTRIES AND FEEL DISCONNECTED SO THEY WERE TELLING THE STORY OF MY FRIEND AND WE WANTED TO CONNECT THAT IN SOME WAYS TO FAMILY HISTORY.

PEOPLE THAT PASSED AWAY.

ALSO CONNECTED TO LIKE A CULTURAL HISTORY.

LET HIM KNOW THAT HE HAS ROOTS IN THIS CULTURE AND THAT HE KNOWS THINGS ABOUT THIS CULTURE.

.

I TRAVELED TO CUSCO AND MacHU PICCHU FOR THE ANNIVERSARY OF MY FATHER PASSING AWAY.

I WAS PREGNANT WITH KAI IN MY SECOND TRIMESTER AND DECIDED I NEEDED A LITTLE BIT OF -- DURING THAT SPECIAL TIME AND THAT'S WHERE THE BOOK WAS BORN.

SORT OF DOCUMENTING THIS JOURNEY THAT I WAS DOING FOR MYSELF TO HONOR MY DAD BUT ALSO TO SORT OF INTRODUCE THESE TWO SOULS THAT WERE NOT QUITE IN THIS WORLD SOMEHOW BUT CONNECTED IN MANY WAYS.

>> I JUST DID A WORK DOCUMENT AND THE WORD DOCUMENT KIND OF LAID IT OUT VERY SIMPLE IN LOOKED AT IT AND ENCOURAGED ME TO GO AHEAD AND PUBLISH IT SO I TURNED IT INTO A BOOK.

THE BOOK MIGHT HAVE A FUTURE WITH A CHILDREN'S PRESS AT SOME POINT.

IT IS SORT OF A LOVE LETTER FOR MY FRIEND IN MANY WAYS.

ON THE WINGS OF THE CONDOR AND I HAVE A LITTLE DEDICATION THAT SAYS WITH LOVE FOR KAI .

ALTHOUGH YOU WERE BORN A PROUD SEVENTH GENERATION TEXAN YOUR FATHER AND I SENSED EARLY ON THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE AN --SOUL.

SO YOU --WHEN YOU ARE JUST A TINY BABY WE EMBARKED ON AN IMPORTANT JOURNEY TO THE HEART OF THE ANDES .

WE WOULD JOURNEY TO A PLACE HIGH IN THE CLOUDS , SOMEWHERE WE CAN SEND A MESSAGE ON THE WINGS OF THE CONDOR TO THE WORLD ABOVE WERE SPIRIT DELL --WELL AND TO -- WHERE OUR ANCESTORS LIVE AND WATCH OVER US.

>> SHE BROUGHT THE BOOK OUT AND I WAS SITTING WITH MY GRANDMA ON THE COUCH AND ALL THIS STUFF WAS GOING ON.

IT WAS ME, MY MOM AND MY GRANDMA AT THE MOMENT.

BY THE END I WAS SO TOUCHED THAT TEARS WERE STREAMING DOWN MY FACE.

IT TOUCHED ME THAT MY MOM TALKED ABOUT ME AND LIKE WROTE THIS BOOK TO FURTHER CONNECT ME TO MY ROOTS AND I THINK THAT WAS A VERY POWERFUL MOMENT FOR ME.

AND SHE WOULD TELL ME STORIES GROWING UP ABOUT ECUADOR AND STORIES OF HER GROWING UP AND I ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW MORE AND DIVE IN .

>> HE GREW UP AROUND THESE THINGS AND ALSO HIS WOULD COME AROUND AND THEY ALSO RECOGNIZED SOME OF THESE THINGS SO IT IS A WAY OF CREATING AND BRINGING ANOTHER ELEMENT OF CULTURE AROUND US.

EVENTUALLY YOU AND I TACKLED A CERTAIN MOUNTAIN CALLED -- AND I CHECKED WITH MY DOCTOR TO MAKE SURE I CAN HIKE THAT THING WHILE I WAS PREGNANT WITH YOU AND A LITTLE OLD LADY PASSED ME ON THE TRAIL .

I REMEMBER THAT, BUT ONLY A FEW PEOPLE WERE ABLE TO MAKE THEIR WAY EACH DAY AND WE WERE LUCKY TO BE ADMITTED .

FROM THE SUMMIT YOU CAN SEE CLEARLY THAT THE CITY OF MacHU PICCHU IS IN THE SHAPE OF A CONDOR.

CAN YOU SEE IT?

HERE IS THE HEAD.

AND THESE ARE THE WINGS.

IS THAT NOT IMPRESSIVE?

>> I WASN'T BORN YET BUT I WAS THERE AND WE WENT ON THAT JOURNEY AND WE HAVE GONE BACK AND CONTINUED .

I DON'T THINK THE JOURNEY HAS EVER ENDED FOR MYSELF AND MY MOTHER.

THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO CONTINUE AND I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO RECONNECTING WITH MY CULTURE THERE.

I THINK RIGHT NOW IS WHERE THAT JOURNEY IS REALLY TAKING OFF LIKE WHERE I AM GOING TO DISCOVER THINGS ABOUT MYSELF.

>> FOR MANY OF US WHO MIGRATE THERE IS AN EXPECTATION THAT WE SHOULD KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT OUR CULTURE, RIGHT?

IT IS SORT OF INCREASING THAT, EMBRACING THE FACT THAT WE DON'T KNOW AND WE ARE NOT JUST BORN KNOWING THINGS .

IT IS THE FACT THAT JUST BECAUSE WE ARE FROM A PLACE DOES NOT MEAN WE UNDERSTAND ITS HISTORY AND CULTURE.

IT IS PROFOUND AND IT DOES INVOLVE SOME LEVEL OF COMMITMENT OR DETERMINATION TO GO IN THAT DIRECTION.

WE ARE ALL PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER THAN US.

IT IS PART OF VALUING THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE AMAZING STORIES THAT WE EACH HAVE BUT ALSO RECOGNIZING THAT WE ARE PART OF A BIGGER HISTORY AND CULTURE AND BRINGING THAT INTO OUR EVERYDAY LIVES AND SHARING EVERYDAY EXPERIENCES IS IMPORTANT.

>> I HAVE BEEN EQUIPPED WITH KNOWLEDGE ABOUT MYSELF AND MY ROOTS AND THERE IS STILL MUCH MORE TO LEARN.

WE ARE ABLE TO BUILD AND MOLD MY CHARACTER.

THEY BELIEVE THAT -- WAS A MESSENGER BETWEEN WORLDS.

IN THIS WORLD , THE WORLD OF NATURE .

>> IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE A MASTERPIECE.

IT JUST HAS TO BE HEARTFELT AND I THINK THAT THE CHILDREN TAKE IT THAT WAY AND IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE PERFECT.

IT JUST HAS TO BE SOMETHING THEY COULD RECOGNIZE THEMSELVES AND THAT THEY CAN RECOGNIZE LIKE THE HOME THAT THEY HAVE GROWN UP IN AND REALIZE THESE LITTLE THINGS DO CONNECT TO SPOT SOME INK SOMEHOW.

>> THE GROUP ALWAYS HAS A LIFE AFTER IT'S DONE.

>> I HAD BEEN ASKED TO DO A READING FOR HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH AND OUR LIBRARY AND SAID NO, THIS IS LIKE WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING MORE THAN THAT AND STILL WE STARTED WORKING ON A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS.

I USE THE BOOK AS A PROTOTYPE OR A MODEL FOR INTERGENERATIONAL WORKSHOPS WHERE GRANDPARENTS AND PARENTS AND KIDS WORK TOGETHER TO PUT TOGETHER THEIR FAMILIES DORIES THEN HAVE EIGHT THEORIES THAT THEY CAN PUT IN THE LIBRARY.

MAYBE THEY DON'T GROW UP WITH A SENSE OF LIKE AN EPIC STORY AND THAT THEY ARE PART OF THAT SO IN THAT WAY IT WAS SORT OF AN IDEA OF HOW CAN WE SHARE THIS OUT AND HOW CAN OTHER KIDS DISCOVER THEIR STORIES IN THE SAME WAY?