Live by the Sun, Love by the Moon

Not only do Sarah and I tag-team the blog, but apparently, we also combine forces to christen our grill for the first time living here as new PDs.  While standing on the roof staring at our panoramic view, I was immediately brought back to almost two months ago when last year's PDs welcomed us with a barbeque on the roof.  I remember thinking "I can't believe I'm living here for the next year."  Although we're all getting used to the idea of being here for the long haul, I don't think a day will go by without looking out into the Andean distance in awe of what surrounds us.  

 

Sarah and Jackie get excited about the grill 

Haley kept us entertained as she steps into a pile of residue from the door installation 

Not even going to pretend to be normal for this picture

 (from left to right: Sarah, Mike, Chet, Erik, Krysta, Haley, and Sonia)

Highlights for this week include: 

• An investigative look at our new library policies
• A guest blog from former Country Director, Mark Hand
• An interview with Executive Director, Lori Sharffenberg

Cheers, 

Jackie

A Saturday Well-Spent

Saturday morning was an early one for the five of us who decided to climb Volcán Pichincha, the active volcano after which our province is named. (Don't worry parents, Pichincha hasn't erupted since 1999, and before that in 1660... we thought our odds looked pretty good.) Mike, Krysta, Jackie, Sonia and I bussed our way out to the TelefériQo, a huge gondola-esque tourist trap on the west side of Quito, as early as we could be expected to get out of the door on a Saturday morning (which was about 45 minutes after our scheduled time of departure, since my alarm was promptly thrown on the ground when it went off at 7:15am...).

We made it to the TelefériQo shortly after it opened, and hitched a ride up the side of Cruz Loma, the hill next to Pichincha. The gondola dropped us at an altitude of a mere 4100 meters, and we were free to hike the easily identifiable path to Pichincha. After several rolling hills, "Is there any oxygen up here"-stops, and an hour of hiking, we made it to the base of the volcano. We were fairly convinced that the worst was over (ok, so I was fairly convinced) and that we only had 30 more minutes until we reached the summit... we were sorely mistaken.

After circling one side of the volcano, we stumbled onto what felt like a vertical climb of sand and loose rocks (in retrospect, "vertical" seems like a strong word... but I guess it's all relative when you feel like you're going to begin a human landslide at any moment). That's where the real "hike" began. We slowly followed each other up the sand/rock combo and after a little quasi-rock climbing, we finally made it to the top.

I distinctly recall one of my college professors saying that the word "amazing" is overused, and I'm fully aware that I'm guilty of all charges. But I'm also convinced that no better word exists to describe the rush of emotions we felt when we reached the top of Pichincha. We sat at the top - above the clouds, the airplanes and the noise (a big deal when living in a house of 10) - and took it in. There is something magical about being that close to the sky that neither words, nor photographs, can capture.

Once we got cold enough, we began our descent. I'm pleased to report it was much more pleasant (and less terrifying) than the ascent. After only an hour we found ourselves safely back on the ground in Quito, with only a dehydration/altitude headache, a little sunburn, and a ton of dirt in our shoes to show for our adventure; however, I'm sure the feeling of climbing over that last rock and seeing the view from the top of Pichincha will last much longer than any sunburnt face or dirt in our shoes. And for that, the climb was well worth it.

Here's to hiking teamwork and reaching the summit with friends,
Sarah

PS. Psssst... we just added photos from the end of August/beginning of September. Check them out by following the link to the right!

The view of Pichincha from the Cruz Loma trail

Me, Mike, Sonia, Krysta and Jackie at the beginning of the Cruz Loma trail

Stopping for a breather at the top of a hill, and looking at the view of Quito

We reached the base of Pichincha!

MPI was here. :)

Mike and Sonia look thrilled to have reached the summit!
(They were so tired they couldn't smile...)

Sarah taking in the view from the top

One part of the descent... sand skiing?

Safely back at the bottom. And absolutely exhausted.
A Saturday well-spent.

A Clinic Worth Fighting For

Hey ya'll,

I'm Krysta Peterson, the honored guest blogger for this week. Woohoo! To keep Chet's tradition going, go ahead and put on "Something like That" by Tim McGraw in the background.

To give a brief overview of who I am and why I'm here, I graduated from the University of Texas, Austin in May of 2008 with a BS in Kinesiology and worked at a hospital in August the following year. The real word of 8+ hour work days just wasn't where I pictured myself being after I graduated. I studied abroad in Chile in 2007 and absolutely fell in love with the culture and warmth of South America. Since then I'd been longing to return and when the opportunity to apply for Manna fell into my lap, I know it was something I couldn't pass up. So here I am writing the guest blog for MPI Ecuador on this brisk Ecuadorian Wednesday night! I am one of five lovely ladies working in health this year and have been selected to be the point person for a program with a local school/clinic named Aliñambi. I am also helping Shawn in working with the Ministry of Health, as well working with Chet and Haley on adult English classes. You'll just have to wait until my PD interview to find out the juicy stuff. ;)

Krysta being nutritious and delicious in front of her Charla poster

As Sarah mentioned earlier this week, this past weekend we ran a clinic at Aliñambi for the communities we work with. It was preceded by hours of meetings, preparation and shot nerves; Ecuador's planning style isn’t exactly what we’re used to in the US. But it all paid off and, in my opinion, the clinic went almost flawlessly. We had 3 doctors, a pharmacy that charged $1 per medication, tables full of Ecuador-specific nutrition and Manna information, and an awesome interactive dental talk where we taught kids how to properly brush and floss. We had 133 patients in total, and though we had hoped for more, we were grateful for those who came and happy to be able to aid as much of the community as we did.

The future champion flosser of Ecuador

Jens discovering the true affect of Amor cookies on children's teeth

I have participated in free clinics in Mexico in college but actually being a point person on this clinic and having the nerves about whether or not everything we had planned would turn out right made this clinic affect me differently. Living within communities here in Ecuador and seeing how people respond to the ‘gringos’ and my blonde hair everyday made me view my experience with Manna and my year down here differently. I was completely taken aback watching Ecuadorians walk into this gringo-licious clinic with immediate confidence in us. I couldn’t fathom that simply being American gave us the right to instantaneously earn the trust of Ecuadorians to the extent that they were willing to put their trust and lives in our hands. I am elated that we can come down here and help these people without question but at the same time it frustrates me to know that so few Americans realize the power we hold to make a difference.

I am so thankful for Manna for giving me the chance to be able to provide the type of aid that I could only dream of providing in the US after becoming a Physician Assistant. The clinic was a perfect opportunity for me to dive into international healthcare and jump start my programmatic goals for the year.

Chet and Jackie doling out prescriptions at the farmacia

Haley and Krysta sport the shirts that Krysta designed: Go Manna!

Salud!

Krysta

Ps. If anyone can name the reference for this blog's title in the comments section, Krysta will award you with una sopresa!

Dinner en Español

It probably goes without saying that living in a house with 10 gringos doesn't exactly do wonders for your Spanish. We're a feisty bunch - tossing around jokes and stories at about 100 miles (or maybe kilometers now that we're in the metric world?) per hour, and trying to come up with a satisfactory comeback or sassy comment in Spanish just takes too darn long.

We've heard tales of previous groups trying to successfully complete one Spanish day per week where they only converse in Spanish (pretty self-explanatory, I suppose)... but to no avail. During our epic 3-hour long Monday morning meeting we decided to do a little something similar, only slightly less ambitious. Each week we're going to have Spanish Dinner Day in which all conversation around the dinner table must be in Spanish. (We're also taking suggestions for a more creative name than "Spanish Dinner Day"...)

Tonight was our first dinner in Spanish, and I think I speak for everyone when I say it was a grand success. Bibi may or may not have done most of the talking, which is perhaps why it felt so successful... but I'm pretty sure we understood the majority of what she was saying. Granted, her spiel was chalk-full of important announcements, so she'll probably have to repeat herself in English at our next non-Spanish dinner/meeting... oops? But so it goes.

Amongst the important announcements, whispered pleas for translation help, and childhood stories (thanks to Haley for sharing her story about the monster she believed existed until she was 12...), we learned a lot and are getting back into thinking in Spanish, which will inevitably come in handy upon the start of programs. Hopefully we'll be able to continue the trend over the coming months, and with a little time, maybe Bibi won't be the only one vying for talking time during Spanish Dinner Day.

Thanks for checking in!
Sarah

Random Picture of the Day:
Weird group shot at the birthday brunch last weekend

Ch-ch-ch-Changes

It's officially September which means that our string of visitors have left, we're now only cooking for 10 (plus dessert for Bibi), and programs begin in t-minus two weeks from yesterday.  Up until now being here felt more or less like summer camp, perhaps because we were running a camp of our own.  However, as August began to slip away and the realization that we wouldn't be going home for another year of school settled in, so did the magnitude of the upcoming twelve months.  

One area that is undergoing considerable change is the physical and operational structure of our library.  Last year's PDs worked their tushes off to obtain, set up, and manage the library space, making it a place for community members to interact, play, and most importantly, enjoy reading.   Now that the foundation has been built, it is our job to transform it into a fundamental piece of the community where we work.  Come September 14, we will be running all of our programs out of the library space, from Art to Children's English to Women's Exercise which will be held above the library in a space we just recently began renting.  

Mike Gabrys and I are co-managing the library and part of our job is to envision what we want it to look like when we leave next summer.  Though it's tough to imagine life a year from now, it's an important consideration, keeping in mind of course that visions are often different than originally intended.   This type of mentality is necessary for every program that we run here at Manna and it's something we've all been thinking about as we begin to draw up lesson plans and map out other programatic ideas. 

Shawn and I explain the wonders of I Spy

In other news, today was an interesting day for a couple of reasons: 

Mike and I took a trip to the mailbox to retrieve a birthday box (thanks Ma!) and to our surprise, a postcard from our dear friend and past PD, Serena!  It appears that she didn't expect said postcard to arrive for several years because in it she introduced herself, explained the programs that she started, and asked us to e-mail her about progress since she left (which was about two weeks ago).  Needless to say, we love you Serena! 

There was also a post-dinner incident concerning a handful of girls and a contaminated bowl of pizza dough that contained twice the amount of yeast than the recipe called for.  For more information please see below...

Krysta, Haley, and Dana mid-battle 

Cheers, 

Jackie