Inglés para Niños

Hello long-lost blogging world! Please excuse my extended absence due to coordinating the first session of summer volunteers... Jackie has been a blogging champ and has been picking up my (big time) slack. So, a big thanks to Jack.

This week we're trying to catch everyone up on what's been going on in programs - more specifically what has been going on in programs in which the first session of summer volunteers were most involved. Today's program is... drum roll... Children's English!

Since Day 1, Children's English has been one of our most popular programs. Last fall, we split the original class into two, in order to accommodate the number of kids who wanted to be involved. Most recently (well... more like in April), we started up a 12-week course for kids at the Centro. Shawn, Jackie and I chose to extend the class from 6 weeks to 12, so that we could have more time to teach and spend less time starting fresh with new faces. Thirty kids showed up on the first day, and we soon realized we had to split the class into THREE sections! Amy, a former neighbor of Bibi and a current volunteer at a local school, offered to teach our third section. So. Currently we're looking at Jackie and Shawn co-teaching the Advanced students, Amy is with the Intermediate kids, and I am still teaching the Beginners. Needless to say, Mondays and Wednesdays are quite busy at the Centro.

Claire and Sonia helped out Shawn, Jackie and I during their 4 weeks here. It was immensely helpful (especially with my rowdy 6 and 7-year olds...) to have an extra teacher in the room keeping kids quiet, helping during partner activities, and most of all, acting out hysterical scenarios. (Trust me, the scenarios in our textbooks are super funny.)

For each of the past three summers, we've reached out to the community of San Juan - located between our house and the Centro - to teach another English review class while we have twice as many volunteers. This class is almost entirely run by the summer volunteers, which is a great opportunity to see what it takes to be in charge of a class from start to finish. First session we had a great group of volunteers teaching the San Juan kids. Sonia, Steph, Lisa, Drew, and Jen trekked over to San Juan every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 2-5pm to teach a rowdy bunch of 10 and 11-year olds in San Juan's Casa Barrial. I got to tag along with them on Tuesdays and Thursdays (thanks to Shawn for taking the Friday shift!), and watch them progress in their teaching methods and their Spanish. By the end of the four weeks, the kids had not only reviewed and retained a substantial amount of English, but had also formed bonds with the volunteers.

The summer volunteers who helped out with Children's English, both at the Centro and in San Juan, were phenomenally helpful... the continuing 8-weekers and Session 2 summer volunteers have some big shoes to fill!

Here are some pictures of the San Juan class (thanks to Sonia for donating them!):

Steph teaches the kids "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes"

Some of the kids hanging out during Recreo

The class with Sonia on her last day

The whole class!

Here's to returning to the blog world,

Sarah

Green Acres

First summer session has departed and second arrived on Friday night. We'll be sure to introduce you to the eight new females who will be helping and taking over programs throughout the next month. But for the next few days, we'd like to take the time to applaud the extremely hard work that last month's group did; specifically for agriculture, the library, and in our classes.

I was very fortunate to have three awesome volunteers helping me out with agriculture, a program that I was flying solo on for most of the year. Jenni, Trevor, and Jen spent two hours every Friday at Fundacion Añamisi, helping in the organic garden; tasks included everything from uprooting weeds, mixing and preparing soil, and harvesting carrots to be sold and delivered to families in Quito.

Jen, Trevor, Jenni and Laura in the huerto

They also were a tremendous help in planning, advertising, and executing our charla for the month: sustainable agriculture methods and practices. The idea was to appeal to families who focus solely on growing corn (choclo) and/or potatoes to encourage crop diversity; this increases the soil's ability to retain water and decreases the need for pesticides, which in turn increases soil fertility. Laura, from Fundacion Añamisi started off by explaining why the importance of organic farming (less chemicals, less pollution, healthier crops) followed by an in-depth discussion of how to use the lunar calendar for planting schedules to achieve the best yields; she also taught best practices for using plants like aji intermittently to discourage pests and keeping small weeds to help retain water in the soil, especially when rain is not abundant. Our volunteers learned a ton about agriculture from Laura and presented why and how to compost on their own.

As you can see from the picture below, our charla had rather poor attendance; only one man from San Francisco showed up despite valiant advertising efforts. Unfortunately, that's kind of how it goes for agriculture charlas; we were thrilled to connect this man and his family to Fundacion Añamisi and hope that a relationship develops. In the future, we plan to focus our energy on supporting organizations, rather than giving intermittent charlas to individuals. For example, Añamisi has opened their garden up on Fridays to volunteers; this is a win-win situation as they receive much needed help for their land and those who come can learn best practices for their own projects.

Laura presenting the benefits of organic agriculture

A huge, huge thanks to my volunteers! I can only hope that this session's volunteers are as eager and helpful as you all have been.

organically yours,
Jackie

Questions for Erik!

Next up for an interview is Erik Swanson. Erik, our co-summer coordinator is currently running around Quito picking up our second round of volunteers. He's best known in the house for his rap music, tasteful workout clothes, and lighthearted sense of humor.

A nod to the start of the world cup; sucks to Uruguay!

We'll be conducting his interview this TUESDAY, so please submit any and all questions by Tuesday morning. Topics can range from his deep love of sausage gravy, why he likes watching Gladiator on mute, or what his rugby uniform smells like on Sunday afternoon. Or you know, work-related questions....


Cheers,
Jackie

Chet's Interview!

Good news: Chet's interview is done! Although his words speak for themselves, we would like to point out that, as of this morning, Chet has a brand new haircut and is clean-shaven. (Insert a resounding 'booooooo'.) Enjoy his wise words about facial hair, development, unicorns, and of course, economics.

Peace, love and iMovie,

Sarah

Who Doesn't like Public Mineral Baths?

This week's guest blog comes from Shawn Fagan... you probably best know her for her blogs about baseball and DVDs (don't worry, she goes back to the DVDs at the end of this one). But we in the Manna house associate her with the New York Times daily crossword puzzle and as of late, someone who whips out Phase 10 to play with the volunteers at any given moment. Please enjoy as she re-caps the first trip of the summer, Shawn-style:


"Good afternoon, Ecuador blog enthusiasts. As mentioned in previous posts, the house has been pretty crowded for the past few weeks, and will remain that way for five more weeks, upon which the new set of 2010-2011 Program Directors arrive to this beautiful country. In other words, there will be no more alone time for the current PDs. Not to worry, the new bunch is amazing, and took their first excursion this past weekend to Baños, a touristy city located just under the shadow of a very active Volcán Tungarahua. Many PDs joined the group on their trip, and had a blast hanging out with the newbies. (An interesting side-note: my mom informed me that she actually met one of her best friends in Baños, sitting in the main plaza, in the 1970’s when she was traveling around South America. It was a small enough town back then that two Gringas could actually stand out in a crowd of Ecuadorians and bond over their foreignness).

Baños is jam-packed with activities, and a two-day trip was barely enough to sate our adventurous appetites. We participated in canyoning (rappelling down waterfalls, basically), bike riding, go-carting, four-wheeling, mineral baths, massages, party-busing, discoteca dancing, sun-burning, sleeping in, and bonding. It was a legendary (for lack of a better word and yet another “How I Met Your Mother” reference) weekend, and here are some pictures to keep you entertained and amused.

Shawn all geared up for canyoning

Shawn and Sarah get serious next to their go-kart

On a personal note, this IS the guest blog of one Shawn Fagan, and therefore I would like to take the time to address those readers who have been following my blog posts and are deeply concerned with the progress of the recreation of my Brooklyn movie collection in bootleg Ecuadorian DVDs. It has not been an easy task. Most video stores here compete to be the first with the most brand-spanking-new movies possible, and therefore having a classic collection is less than a priority. Mike and I have so relentlessly bothered our favorite DVD lady that today I finally encountered and purchased the first season of “Mad Men," a series virtually unknown in this country. Kevin Smith will have to wait for his time.

Love, as well as a love for cevichochos,

Shawn"