Man who moved to Amazon after falling in love was given one task by tribe to 'prove his worth'

Justin Alvo, who is half Amazonian through his father, moved to live among the Shuar people in Ecuador's Morona-Santiago province after falling in love with a woman from the tribe named Maria.

He shared with UNILAD what a typical day looks like with the Shuar; insight he's had the privilege to learn after successfully completing an unusual task to prove he was 'tough' enough to join them.

Describing a typical day, Justin said: "I wake up on the farm, get some breakfast then everyone around just talking and chatting.

"Then all the men go off to work, and the women stay home to clean the house or continue cooking."

He added that the tribe follows 'traditional gender roles for the most part', though he noted that some of the Shuar are leaving the communities to get higher paying jobs in the nearest towns, meaning not everyone in the community lives entirely off the land anymore.

How did Justin prove his worth to the tribe?

Recalling his entry into his new life, Justin said: "Okay, I have a fun story for you. To prove my worth to Maria's grandma, I had to cut down this certain tree that's really tough to cut down, with an axe only.

"Traditionally to get married within a family the parents want to see if you're a hard worker or not, and have strength.

"So the faster you cut down the tree, the better. Most Shuar can do it within thirty minutes if they're strong enough."

Unfortunately for Justin, it took him over an hour and a half to chop through the big Amazonian tree. Despite this, it was enough to prove his worth to the family.

He said: "Even though I was 'weak' in the sense of not cutting it down fast enough, the grandma was happy that I was able to cut it down and wanted to show my worth in the first place."

After that, he added, he had earned their respect.

Justin and his wife Maria are deeply in love (Youtube/Justin Alvo)

What rules do outsiders have to follow to live with the Shuar tribe?

According to Justin, there is not a strict rulebook so much as a deep and understandable wariness toward outsiders.

"Not so much strict rules, but they are very, very wary of foreigners coming into their community," he explained, adding that some members hold positive views of foreigners while others associate them with the region's painful history of colonization.

He said it took a long time living among the Shuar before he was fully accepted and 'known well enough' throughout the wider Morona-Santiago region, as well as deeper into the jungle near the Peruvian border.

He added that most of them are just a bit confused, wondering 'WTF' he's doing there.

That wariness, Justin has said, is rooted in real experience rather than simple distrust of strangers.

Justin had to prove his worth to the family by chopping down a tree in 30 minutes (Youtube/Justin Alvo)

Recalling the first time he arranged to meet Maria to discuss making documentary videos together, he said: "The first time we met, I genuinely thought I might get kidnapped - we were meeting in the middle of nowhere."

It was only after spending time with her that the pair began building the relationship that eventually led to marriage.

Justin also revealed that the Shuar operate largely separately from Ecuador's national government.

"From my understanding, they are separate from the normal government and they have a type of modern 'elder' that communicates with the government," he said, comparing the role to that of a mayor, with local police liaising directly with this figure to resolve disputes within the community rather than involving the wider justice system.

Justin, Maria and her sister document their lives in the jungle (Youtube/Justin Alvo)

Life in the region is also shaped heavily by the seasons.

"It's the best and most perfect weather year-round," Justin said: "however during rainy season it rains all day, every day, for weeks and weeks at a time."

During that stretch, he said days are largely spent in boots waiting out the downpours, though he has come to love 'hearing the rain hit my roof', calling the sound very 'pretty and relaxing'.

Elsewhere in the community, Justin described a lifestyle increasingly shaped by modern technology, even in such a remote setting.

He said younger tribe members are now spending time on platforms including TikTok and Instagram, something elders have pushed back on.

"The elders do not like that," he said, adding that some worry the habit leads people to 'doom scroll all day versus go out and enjoy the jungle.'

On June 9, 2026, Justin and Maria welcomed a baby boy whom they later named Oliver. (Instagram/Justin Alvo)

Justin pushed back on some of the biggest misconceptions people have about the Shuar community.

"The biggest one I see across all my social media is that people think the culture is primitive and uneducated," he said, arguing instead that the Shuar are 'master keepers of knowledge about the jungle', with skills passed down through generations rather than taught in formal schools.

Addressing criticism he has faced online over his relationship with Maria, Justin said the pair are the same age and both capable of making their own choices.

"Love doesn't have boundaries, and she's an adult, just like I am," he said. "We can make our own decisions."

You can follow Justin and Maria's life in the Shuar Community on his Youtube channel, where he has 166,000 followers, documenting the culture, traditions and rhythms of a community that remains largely unknown to those outside the region.