Interview the Executive Director: Questions for Lori!

Two blog posts in one day?! Pretty shocking, I know. ButI promise it's for an excellent cause.

As mentioned in previous posts, Lori Sharffenberg, Manna Project's Executive Director and co-founder, is currently visiting us in Ecuador and has agreed to let me interview her for the blog. (Or perhaps more accurately, the unbelievably humble Lori has decided to humor me with this interview because I decided mid-morning bus ride that an interview with someone who has seen MPI from the very beginning would be pretty sweet.)

So here's what I need YOU to do: send me questions for Lori's interview by noon THIS Friday. Some topic ideas include her involvement in Manna's founding, where she hopes to see MPI go in the future, and what it's been like to share a room with Haley and me. :) Please submit your questions via the comments section or by e-mailing me at sarah.e.scott.1@gmail.com. Muchimas gracias!

- Sarah

Lori and the MPIE girls pose for a rooftop photo shoot

Crazy Schedules and Family Dinners

So here we are in our second week as "the official and newly minted PDs," as the eloquent (and sorely missed) Holly Ward would say. I'm happy to report that we are quickly adapting to running programs, staffing the library/teen center and being the face of MPI while wandering the streets of our communities. While much of the credit goes to a well-planned turnover, I'm fairly certain that the rest goes to having impeccably scheduled (and busy) days.

Each of us is operating on a slightly different schedule, as we are juggling various responsibilities. Today, we kicked off our summer camp for niños. For the next two weeks, we get to spend each morning together entertaining and playing with the kids at camp before scattering to tackle other tasks in the afternoon. Krysta, for example, has been working non-stop to organize a joint free clinic day with the local school/orphanage, Aliñambi, in late August. Jackie and Dana have been teaming up with a community member to help run an environmental camp for kids (fondly called "Envirocamp" around the house). Mike has been learning the ins and outs of running the teen center and library, while Chet and Erik have been planning what the microfinance program will look like. Sonia and I have been researching and brainstorming what goes into developing a preventative health clinic. And last, but certainly not least, Haley and Shawn have been practicing their aerobics, tae bo, and yoga (in the living room... quite entertaining) in preparation for women's exercise, which happens three times a week. (Haley has also been spending her time trying to learn the bus routes as she has been stranded twice in the last three days... in the same place...)

Even with our different and hectic schedules, we manage to swarm the dinner table at the same time each night for family dinner, and I've found it to be one of my favorite parts of the day. Hearing my housemates talk about their progress and success amidst the jokes and pleas for dessert (usually from Bibi) is exciting and grounding. It reminds me that our 10 different schedules, infinite different interests and abilities allow us to impact our communities in countless ways.

Looks like it's begun. How lucky are we?

Until next time,
Sarah

The weekly calendar (i.e. how we keep track of everyone else)... strategically placed next to the kitchen, the most popular room in the house

Haley practices taking Shawn's blood pressure before tonight's Women's Exercise class

Shawn, Sarah and Haley's legs feel GREAT after an hour of squats and Tae Bo...

This is how we feel about teaching aerobics during tomorrow's Women's Exercise class...

Grande Cascadas, Detours and Doorways

As advertised, we had a pretty entertaining weekend here in the valley.   On top of having two fabulous Manna females in our midst, we also hosted the installment of a door to our apartment.  For those of you who don't know, we have a three-bedroom apartment that's attached to our house where a couple of PDs (myself included) reside and where we house our spring break and summer volunteers.  Before yesterday, we had to use a hand-crafted ladder to hoist ourselves over a wall to get into the apartment.  But thanks to some handy Ecuadorian carpenters and Bibi who sat in our house all day eating M&Ms while we hiked the waterfalls, the hobbit door was installed!  

From left to right: new mini door, scary old ladder

Meanwhile, us newbies along with Lori and Maria, ventured to the Las Cascadas de Pita, a scenic ecological reserve outside of Sangloqui with lots of waterfalls.  After two bus rides, squeezing into the back of our new friend's truck (a man after Shawn's heart), and a hearty Trout lunch we were told by a guide to walk down the hill and hang a right towards the Grande Cascada.  We spent the afternoon hopping rocks, climbing ladders, jumping through waterfalls, and swinging on branches.  Two hours later we were stopped by a large gate/water treatment pipe... slightly different than we expected from the Grande Cascada.  We called Serena, who asked us if we had been walking on the left bank of the river, and in fact we had been on the right side the whole time (oops).  Slightly disappointed, but still satisfied with the other less grande waterfalls, we decided to follow signs for the "salida" when we ran into another sign pointing towards the Grande Cascada (insert confusion).  Even though we were about to be late for our truck ride back, we decided to head towards the waterfall because, well, wouldn't you?

When we got to the waterfall, we found that in the dry season it was a little smaller than we expected.  Nevertheless, the hike and subsequent trek back to the valley (with a gorgeous views of Cotopaxi from the truck) was a lot of fun and a great way to spend time with Lori and Maria. 

Mike, Krysta, Shawn, Lori, Sarah, and Sonia on the way to Las Cascadas de Pita

Walking along the right (or wrong, rather) side of the river

In awe of Shawn's handstand

Lori pointing to the Grande Cascada sign 

We found it!!!

Chet empowering the waterfalls

Newbies making a Maria sandwich 

 - Jackie

The Board Members are Coming! The Board Members are Coming!

QUICK! DO YOUR HOUSE CHORES!

SWEEP THE FLOORS! MOP THE KITCHEN (multiple times...)! CLEAN THE OFFICE! PICK UP THE LIVING ROOM! MOVE THE COUCH OUT OF THE KITCHEN! CLEAN OUT THE FRIDGE! MAKE IT LOOK LIKE NON-SLOVENLY HUMAN BEINGS LIVE HERE!

After much begging on the behalf of Sonia (the house manager), our house finally looks like it is inhabited by normal people ("normal" is a relative term at this point). Thankfully we whipped ourselves into shape just in time for the arrival of Maria Domanskis, an MPI Executive Board member, and Lori Scharffenberg, the Executive Director and co-founder of MPI. Maria, who volunteered in Nicaragua in 2005-2006, is stopping by for a visit en route to the Galapagos, while Lori, who was a part of the original Nicaragua team in 2004-2005 (and has lived there ever since), will be staying with us for the next two weeks.

We're excited to host them, take them around our communities, show them what our PDs have accomplished in the past year, and what we hope to do in the future. They've been great sports thus far - tagging along to today's meetings and library time, which included numerous games of Blokus and Mancala with La Wendi, our sassiest 5 year-old who likes to make up her own rules (one guess as to who benefits from said rules). And I'm happy to report that they survived family dinnertime, which was chock-full of inside jokes, absurd anecdotes, and stories that would not be deemed appropriate for dinner conversation in most households... como siempre.

On the agenda for tomorrow is a hike to a waterfall somewhere in the valley. Let's hope Seth's directions are easy to follow, because none of us have been before... and we're leading the trip. Five bucks says a great blog post will come out of this adventure.

- Sarah

Maria's generous, and MUCH appreciated, food gifts
(hint, hint... parents who are coming to visit...)

The whole loot - Sweedish fish for the whole house, Peanut M&Ms at Sarah's request, Ranch Dressing for Krysta, and a bunch of art supplies for Chet's art class... jackpot!

Lori reads to La Wendi (who looks thoroughly amused...)

La Wendi sweet talks Lori into more reading - Green Eggs and Ham, of course

Maria, Lori, Mike, and I try to beat Wendi in a game of Blockus

Can Someone Mail Me a Gavel?

Transitions by nature require lots of planning, which leads to lots and lots of meetings. There are the programatic meetings and then there are the operational meetings, my personal favorite, where pretty much no topic is off limits. We discuss anything from whether putting a compost pile on the roof will collapse into someone's bed to lectures about how to use the bus coin jar properly (and tossing imaginary gold stars to those who utilize the pennies). If I had to guess, I'd say about 75% of the time that we're all together in the house is spent either in meetings, or discussing random operational topics. Therefore, I felt it was especially important to paint you a picture of what these meetings look like and why they are oh so important (and entertaining).

During the first of these meetings, we doled out operational roles and I landed the job of secretary. This means that I take minutes for each of our meetings which may seem boring to you, but in fact it's really great.  I can write down anything inappropriate or embarrassing that happens within the perimeters of the meeting and document it for everyone to see.  I also get to make side comments, like how outrageous it is that Bibi has never seen FernGully (don't worry, we're showing it during niño's camp).  I also get to send all of the meeting minutes to the MPI board members;  I can only imagine them on the edge of their seats while reading that we decided to switch which day the kitchen floor gets mopped.  

Because of the hectic schedule of the past couple of weeks, we've been having our meetings during family dinners. This means I end up sitting at one end of the table, fork in one hand, keyboard in the other, hunched over trying to shield my computer from flying rice and condiments while furiously typing.  Amongst discussions of whether we should buy an iron for the house and what exactly falls under the job description of "dishwasher," we do, in fact, discuss serious matters. One of the more serious topics at our latest meeting has been how the kids in the community are handling our infiltration of the library. We've been trying to spend as much time there as possible, getting to know the kids and how everything works. But like all smart kids, they realize that since we're new, they might be able to bend the rules around us whether it be getting extra art supplies or pre-12 year olds trying to sneak into the teen center.  It's challenging because while we want to befriend all of the kids, we also wait to maintain stability and a level of authority.  

As we venture into our two-week long niño's camp next week, we have the perfect opportunity to create a foundation of both friendship and respect that will be built upon for the rest of the year.  And, in between, we'll have our team meetings to continue to solve problems, plan events, and a few laughs when one PD darts another from across the table and his or her head slams onto a nearby plate until saved, hypothetically speaking, of course.

Playing games in the library

Mike guitar-ing and supervising video games

Hurray for ping pong! (and Manna!) 

If you want to see more pictures, check out our new Picasa photo album by following the link on the right labelled "Snapshots of Life in the Valley!"

~Jackie