Evelyne and Noraya Avanthay

Only three people still live in the last deserted village of the Meiental valley in the canton of Uri, Switzerland. Located at 1500 m high up in the Swiss Alps, a peasant couple and their 9-year-old son are proud to call this their home. Their 42 hectares of rocky mountain land are used to raise their cows and sheep. For at least a month every winter, the family lives cut off from the rest of the world, as the only road leading to their home is impassable due to the snow.

In the springtime, the pastures must be cleared of stones that have invaded the precious land so that the grass can grow again and serve as food for the animals. This takes manual labour, an intense, precarious job, often without outside help. Noraya and I had the honour of spending a weekend on their farm to help them clear the stones from the fields. With our backs bent, often balancing on steep slopes, we collected and put half a ton of stones into bins and brought them down one by one to the edge of the road to be removed by the farm tractor.

It is with great respect and admiration (and quite a few aches and pains!) that we leave this inspiring family and wild, beautiful environment. A big thank you to them for their hospitality and kindness. We hope we were able to contribute a little to reduce some of the challenges they face in their difficult daily lives. It also reminds us how much we should be grateful for in our lives, especially the daily comforts we often take for granted.

Thank you Evelyne and Noraya. Let's do it again together with some TOY friends.
Much love and TOY Monique