Ecuador
Manna Project International
From USA to Shandia: Embracing Slow Living and ...

Leo Saunders, a Program Coordinator with Manna Project International, reflects on his first three weeks in Ecuador, navigating cultural differences, teaching in local schools, and embracing life in the Amazon.

From USA to Shandia: Embracing Slow Living and Community in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Manna Project International
Nurturing Community Growth: How Manna's Chicken ...

Chickens are an essential asset in numerous communities, offering not only a reliable food source but also serving as a vehicle for economic empowerment. The consistent production of eggs and meat from chickens significantly enhances nutritional intake and can increase family incomes, particularly for those facing food insecurity.

In various initiatives, we have integrated chicken farming as a sustainable agricultural practice. By equipping local community members with training in effective poultry care and management, we not only advance food security but also create pathways for entrepreneurship. Chickens require a relatively low initial investment, making them an accessible option for families aiming to improve their financial stability while thriving in diverse environments.

Additionally, involving families in chicken farming promotes cooperation within the community. Neighbors come together to share knowledge, resources, and support, thereby reinforcing the community's social fabric. As families acquire the skills necessary for raising chickens, they also develop an appreciation for sustainable farming practices, which can be transmitted to future generations. Thus, chicken farming evolves into more than just a means of sustenance; it becomes a vital catalyst for comprehensive community development.

Nurturing Community Growth: How Manna's Chicken Project in Ilayaku is Transforming Lives
Ecuador, Community, Program Director
Manna Project International
When Soccer Isn't Just a Sport: Futbol in ...

Growing up in Maryland, I played soccer until around middle school, when I realized I wasn’t all that good at it and that I was in love with basketball instead. Since then, I’ve been known to kick the occasional ball around, but I was pretty nervous when I was invited, along with my friend and fellow PD Patrick, to play for Once Valientes B (in English: eleven brave ones) in the Shandia soccer league.

When Soccer Isn't Just a Sport: Futbol in Shandia
Ecuador, Community, Events
Manna Project International
Music, Colors, Foods … and lots of Laughter - ...

As in many parts of the world, this past week in Shandia was all about the celebration of Carnaval. Originally coming from an area that calls the local Carnival the annual “fifth season”, I was especially excited to see what Carnaval in Ecuador would look like. What would the local customs, foods and music be like?

Music, Colors, Foods … and lots of Laughter - Carnaval in Shandia
Manna Project International
A Day in the Life of the Amazon Rainforest: ...
A Day in the Life of the Amazon Rainforest: Welcome to Shandia!

A Final Farewell

13 months later, and it's time. Time to pass on the cameras, give up administrator status in the google group, and hand over the Daily Life Blog to my two replacements, Sarah Scott and Jackie Weidman.

Thank you all for tuning in this past year; it has been an awfully great privilege to be the online voice of the Manna Ecuador site. After 180 posts, it sure has been a prolific journey. I've loved your comments (yes, even yours Aravon), your emails, your encouragements and your suggestions. Thank you for checking up with us every once in a while and for playing a part in what MPIE has become.

There is more to say about what we've learned this year, but I'll save all of that for the monthly (or more aptly tri-monthly at this point) update sent sometime later this week. All I can really say is an exhaustive thank you. I'll be sure to pop in every now and then as a guest blogger, too :)

Signing out,
Holly

The Year in Photographs

Welcome to Ecuador.

July 2008

Dunc channels Guayasamin while waiting to see The Dark Night.

Jos and I feel not so good about the cow brains for sale at the market.

The group plays in a giant snail during our first weekend in Quito.

An incredible welcome to our new city, Quito as seen from the top of Pichincha.

View from the spires of the Basillica.

August 2008

Three little smiles at the amusement park.

Art students in the 2008 summer camp.

10 de Agusto celebrations in Old Town.

The sun sets on the dry season in spectacular ways.

Attempting to summit Pichincha in a flurry of fog and snow.

Serena treats Dunc to his favorite, Enya!

The rainy season begins...

September 2008
The infamous river clean up.

Central church in Cuenca.

Eliah looking good.

Jos, Serena and I pile on our new Panama hats.

October 2008
View from the bus in to Quito.

Carving "pumpkins" with my family during their Ecuador visit.

November 2008
Festivals of Quito and bullfights on Thanksgiving.

Dunc carves our Thanksgiving bird.

December 2008
Eliah, Serena, Dana and Jos laugh during our Secret Santa exchange.

Returning to the West.

January 2009
Our bus advertising blitz attracts it's first interested party.

View of the Mindo cloud forest from above.

One of the many hummingbirds in Mindo.

February 2009
And the rainy season continues...

Jos and Dana lead a game in Children's English.

Art students work on their Van Gogh Starry Night interpretations.

March 2009
Jos and the Duke spring breakers paint the teen center in preparation for it's grand opening.

The Library opening concert.

April 2009
Blue footed boobies on Isla de la Plata!

BBQ on the roof of the library with the teens from the teen center.

Wendy sets up Chinese Checkers and regards the camera skeptically.

May 2009
Setting up our booth at the health fair.

Selena and Jori goof around in the kid's corner.

Full moon during a family dinner on the roof.

Mark, Selena and Carlitos enjoy the bean bags.

Seth bonds with Joseph while hanging in the teen center.

June 2009
One of Michael's guitar students listens to the example chords.

July 2009
Celebrating with Dana after she reached the summit of Cotapaxi!

The wall of maps and Duncan's head.

Seth attempts to shoulder both Serena and Dana in Otavalo. Mark and Dunc help. Eliah doesn't.

August 2009
Dana bonds with the polo horses at the hacienda.

And now it's their turn...!

Love, Holly

Questions for Bibi

It's that time again... time for you all to send me any and all questions you might have for our very new, very fabulous country director, Bibi Al-Ebrahim for her interview later this week.

There hasn't been much about Bibi on here, so the opportunities to ask any number of questions really are endless! Curious about how she gets her hair to be that awesome? Or what her favorite place she's traveled to is? Or what the best part about getting her MPH from Tulane was? Now's your chance!

Please do not hesitate to send them in, the more the merrier.

Questions are due to me by Friday night at midnight. Submit them, per usual, either as a comment to the blog or directly to my email. Holland.c.ward at gmail dot com.

Looking forward to hearing from you!
Holly


Upon his return

(Eliah and Dunc have been gone for about a week, so imagine my surprise when I opened my email to find something from Eliah titled "Last Guest Blog". Turns out he just can't seem to get enough :) So here it is, Eliah's last hurrah.)


"Here I am in my first week back after thirteen months with Manna and it's clear things have changed.
Take my brother's yappy beagle, with whom I cohabit when in the States. While I've been gone, she has matured, like a fine wine, into a less-annoyingly yappy state of being. Unlike this time last year, I now have an irresistible urge to put used toilet paper in bathroom trash cans. Of course there was never anything abnormal about spending the afternoon hunting for mushrooms in the woods, but when I got home today I cooked them. That wouldn't have happened a year ago. Meanwhile, no one anywhere in the house has screamed in the last hour. Strange.
But that's not all. Things in my own head, too, are not the same as before. Maybe I can't get past the fact that I just spent a year volunteering in a country with a higher rate of nose jobs than southern California. Or that I paid about as much to work for that year as Ecuadorians earn in the same amount of time ($7150 vs. $7500 according to the CIA World Factbook). Then again, maybe it's something else. Something about a unique time and a way of living gained and then lost. People, places, and experiences I know I won't forget. Something that can't be captured in a single blog entry. Or maybe that's just the parasites talking.
Whatever it is, after a year with Manna things have changed, and in a way I can't—and wouldn't—undo. Still, it's comforting to know that some things are exactly as I left them thirteen months ago.


I need a job.

-Eliah"

It's like summer camp all over again!

Right now our living room looks like a summer camp cabin; sweatshirts strewn everywhere, pillows piled on the chairs, Nalgene water bottles thrown in random corners, and 18 pieces of near-to-busting luggage covering every inch of the floor. No, spring break isn't happening all over again, something even better.

The new PDs are here!

Dana and I spent a solid two hours today emptying out our room of all clothes, shoes, brushes, random socks, backpacks, and the other things that clutter a life in 13 months. I wish I had found something exciting that I'd whined about loosing earlier in the year, but sadly all I found behind the dresser was a broken hanger and 3 horribly dusty bobby pins. How boring is that?

Anyway. They're here, we're excited, and the house is moaning, full to the brim.

-Holly