ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Ayni

Ayni is like when you and your friend share your toys. You let your friend play with your favorite toy for a little while, and in exchange, your friend lets you play with one of their favorite toys. This is called reciprocal exchange.

But ayni is not just about toys, it's about helping each other in different ways. For example, you might help your friend carry their backpack when it's too heavy, and later your friend might help you pick up something you dropped on the floor. This is another way of doing ayni.

So, ayni is a traditional practice that comes from the Andes region of South America, where people have been helping each other in order to survive and thrive for thousands of years. It's a way of sharing resources, time, and energy in a fair and mutually beneficial way. It's a very important value in many Andean communities and is often seen as a way of building trust and strengthening relationships between people.