Minga de Limpieza Comunitaria

This past Saturday marked our first Minga of the year.  (Minga |meen-gah|noun: an Ecuadorian word for people coming together to do a community service project)  

Nine PDs awoke at 6:45 a.m. to the smell of brewing coffee and a scramble to collect brooms, gloves, and as many trash bags as we could find.  Though we sleepily commuted into Rumiloma, we perked right up as we stepped off of the bus to find a dozen kids and parents already gathered in front of the library, ready to clean up their community.  As we split into groups to tackle the various neighborhood streets and sidewalks, we found many residents cleaning streets and sidewalks by their homes as well, asking us to borrow supplies.

Our neighbors, brushing up garbage from the drain pipes 

We spent the better part of 3 hours cleaning up around Rumiloma; my main job was to run around making sure everyone had enough trash bags, haul full bags back to the library, label them with kids' names and then weigh them to keep track of which kid collected the most, by volume.  By 11a.m. we had run out of bags (something I never thought would happen given the amount we stole from the house and wiped out of the library stash) and rounded up all of the kids in the library to tally the weight results, which are the following:

Total Combined Kids' Weight: 376.5 lbs 

Total Combined Profe's Weight: 70 lbs (plus Sarah's 2 tires)

------------------------------

Total Weight: 446.5 lbs 

Team Iori proudly showing off their loot 

A few notes about the weights: the profes had significantly less weight because we mostly helped the kids (we're not lazy, don't worry) and there was an estimate of 60-70 lbs not weighed that were left on street corners, where other residents were instructed to put their trash for pick up.  Though there were only 4 kids who got our grande sopresa, we dolled out lollipops to the other kids who answered our environmental quiz questions correctly and provided other refreshments for the families.  

Mike and Dana haul kids (and trash) from the plaza to the library

Lucia, Shawn, Erik and Bibi weighing the trash

The whole group in front of 450lbs. of collected trash!

Everyone helps throw trash bags into the truck

Some people question the sustainability of such an event, wondering if the streets will simply become riddled with garbage again a week later.  While that reality is more likely than not, clean-ups are a powerful tool for a number of reasons: they bring people together, engage them in a service dedicated to the area where they live, and quite frankly, after participating in something like picking up trash for house, you tend to think twice about dropping a candy wrapper onto the street.  

The event also opens the door for bigger projects.  There are two major trash issues in Rumiloma: burning household trash, mostly out of habit since there are reliable waste haulers now, and water contamination as a result of excessive litter and agricultural/livestock practices.  It is a priority of our environmental program here in Ecuador to tackle both issues in collaboration with USAID, FONAG (El Fondo de protección del agua), and most importantly, local leaders and organizations.   But I'm getting ahead of myself.. you'll have to wait to hear more about that in future posts!

Litter-less and feeling free (not really because quarterly reports are due next week!), 

Jackie

When Nomads Come Together

Tonight's guest blog comes from Erik Swanson, a native-born Tennessean but Coloradan ski/snowboarder at heart.  Erik is both one of my apartment-mates, and Minga extraordinaire with whom I'm co-running a community clean-up in Rumiloma this Saturday.  On top of that, he is co-running the Microfinance program with Chet and running around the valley in recruiting university students to volunteer in our library.  In his spare time he enjoys weekly trips to a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant (and bringing us lots of dumpling leftovers!) and playing rugby on the weekends, which is what he chose to write about tonight: 

"During my freshman year of college, the sport of Rugby became a formidable part of my life. In the recruitment meeting, many of the seniors talked about the worldwide community that the sport has slowly created over the years. I quickly came to realize the unique camaraderie that rugby players share, especially at the social that follows a game (or "third half").

During the application process for Manna Project, I noticed many differences between the Nicaragua and Ecuador programs, most notably the "Minga" program that is unique to MPI-Ecuador and that I believe best falls into line with my past experience with Amigos de las Americas. I also noticed that there would not be a chance for me to play rugby had I chosen MPI-Nicaragua. Knowing that there were more than a few teams in Ecuador, and 3 in Quito, I wanted to put what the seniors told us all about in that initial meeting to the test.

Though his hair is longer now, this is a classic Erik face

I found Nomadas R.F.C and quickly got into contact with Miguel Montes, the captain of the team, who invited me to a tournament at the Universidad Catolica in Quito that Saturday. I quickly found out that the team was composed of expatriates from all over the world (hence the name Nomadas R.F.C or Nomad Rugby Football Club). I was amazed by the fact that people from Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Colombia, France, the UK, and the states had all come together to form this team. Despite the fact that the Argentines generally provide most of the comedic relief, it is an extremely welcoming community, holding everything said in that first recruitment meeting to be true. I am extremely thankful for the opportunity to play the sport in South America, but even more grateful for the opportunity to instantly step into a group of people that legitimately accept each other as they are. The ability to so quickly find like-minded people has augmented every aspect of my life in Ecuador.

We practice in a French school in Quito known as La Condamine, mostly because one of our players manages the grounds. The field is located on the northern side of Parque La Carolina. Despite the occasional presence of multiple llamas on the field, I gladly dedicate my Saturday mornings to training with Nomadas R.F.C. 

The field at La Condamine (llamas regretfully not included)

- Erik"

Welcome to the Jungle!

... or perhaps more accurately, welcome to the transitional Cloud Forest!

Last weekend, the entire group set out for our first retiro (retreat) to SierrAzul, an enormous nature sanctuary, dedicated to protecting the Cloud Forest from deforestation and poachers. It's located about 40 minutes (via semi-uncomfortable camioneta ride) outside of the town of Baeza and about 2.5 hours away from Tena, where the rain forest begins. Its location between the mountains and the rain forest gives it a unique feel and makes it home to a few cool animals like the spotted bear, puma, and the tapir (which is apparently the size of a cow... who knew?!).

We made our way out to the sanctuary on Friday after a wakeup call at the ripe hour of 6am (which I, at least, had not seen in quite some time), 1 van ride, 2 bus rides, 1 (severely cramped) camioneta ride, and a 30 minute walk. Basically we were out in the middle of nowhere... and it was wonderful.

Once we arrived, we took the rest of Friday to relax and go on a short hike... and prepared for our big excursion. Saturday was the day of THE hike. What kind of hike, you might be asking yourself... it was a 14 kilometer, 7.5-hour hike to a waterfall. We were up and ready to go by 9am on Saturday morning, with our beautifully enormous rain boots (except for Erik and Chet, whose feet were unfortunately too big, but were troopers and stomped through the knee-deep mud in tennis shoes and Chacos!), and backpacks stocked with water, snacks and rain gear.

The hike was wonderful. It gave us time to talk to each other, time for personal reflection, and an opportunity to experience the beauty of unaltered nature. Additionally, we learned how to remove ourselves from knee-deep mud pits, face plant with grace, and drink water from the river (seriously). We returned to the cabin area around 5:30 - just in time to take HOT showers with phenomenal water pressure (they actually steamed!), eat dinner, and play countless rounds of Catch Phrase and Phase 10... until they shut off the generator and made us go to bed. (Thankfully, Krysta brought her Wonder Woman cape. I'm not sure we would have survived without it...)

On Sunday, we slept in, ate a big breakfast, and hiked/drove our way out of the sanctuary, back into civilization and back to work!

Last weekend was the perfect first retiro... thanks to Shawn and Bibi for all of the planning! (And a special thanks for all of the frosted Galapaguitos and chochos!) I'm excited to see what our next group traveling adventure will bring.

Thanks for checking in,
Sarah

Erik and Chet can barely contain their excitement on the bus!

This is where we stayed! Pretty sweet, eh?

Hiking through the forest

Haley stops to take in the view

Drinking spring water from the river
(gross, Krysta...)

Group shot in the river (please note the super cute boots)

4 hours later - we made it to the waterfall!

Shawn checks out the cascada

The group at the base of the waterfall

The view after emerging from the forest

Playing Phase 10 until they shut off the generator...
Thank goodness Krysta thought ahead and brought her cape.

Group shot before heading out on Sunday morning - clearly there were some focusing issues... :)

Balancing Act

Today's guest blog comes from Miss Haley Booe (pronounced like boo, not booey). Haley hails from North Carolina and the hookie-infested Virginia Tech University. She's well known around here for being a Tai Chi enthusiast, enjoying toast, introducing us to Step Up (1 and 2), and having a huge supportive heart. For example if you check out the group Women's Exercise picture below you can catch a glimpse of one of her motivational signs that reads 'believe in yourself, you can do it!'

"Life in the Manna House, as you might have already guessed, is a bit like a circus. It may be due to the fact that once a week there is food in someone’s hair by the end of dinner, but recently, I’m convinced it’s because many of us have been perfecting a balancing act in regard to programs.

My time in Ecuador thus far has been concentrated on the Women’s Exercise program. Recently, we moved locations to the third floor of the library. This was an exciting move for us, because now we have our own space and a chance to further network within the library community. On the other hand, we’ve also been having a difficult time with attendance, and trying to figure out how to boost our numbers. One culprit could be the Ecuadorian fear that all foreigners have swine flu. And since my pale (almost translucent at this point) skin and light hair scream “Gringa,” people might be running in the opposite direction for that reason. As plausible as that theory sounds, I think it’s more likely caused by the fact that the past two months have been a transition period, both in the Manna House and in our Ecuadorian communities. Many people spend August and early September soaking up the last days of summer by taking family vacations and are busy doing what us Spanglish-speaking gringos call matriculando-ing (Spanglish for “matricular” or registering for school). Now that school is back in session, and that we’ve made phone calls to over 70 women who have previously attended exercise classes, attendance is slowly picking up. The women who attend class regularly are great, and I am excited and ready to see this program grow this year.

Aside from learning how to do guided meditation in Spanish for yoga class (apparently a class favorite… who knew?) I’ve recently been helping with lesson planning for English. I am helping Chet teach Adult English on Wednesdays and am starting to help Sarah with Children’s English on Mondays. The nutrition program for Aliñambi also requires some time, as several of us spent mornings going to the school to take growth measurements on each of the students. It’s very exciting to be a part of these different programs, and it’s looking to be a promising year.

Understandably, it takes a bit of juggling and a lot of planning to prepare for and teach many different classes - hence why I often feel like I’m a part of the circus. But then again, it could be that I’m woken up most mornings by the cow (whose grunts more closely resemble those of a dinosaur) that likes to graze outside of our window. Although the chaos of the Manna house and the flexibility required to run programs sometimes resembles a Barnum and Bailey’s three ring stage, Ecuador is becoming my home and I’m thrilled to be a part of a these communities.

Haley strengthening her core with a smile

Sonia, me and one of the other women doing yoga

Haley leading us into Meditation

Group picture after last Thursday's Yoga class

¡Hasta pronto!

- Haley "

Vamos a La Selva!

Today's guest blog was supposed to come from Miss birthday Booe, Haley herself (HAPPY BIRTHDAY HALEY!!!)... however, we all just spent the last 2+ celebrating by gorging ourselves at Crepes y Waffles (a delicious non-Ecuadorian establishment).  The average course went a little something like this: ice cream, salad, personal dinner crepe, shared and/or personal desert, followed by homemade cake.  If that doesn't induce food coma, I'm not sure what would.  

We're also leaving for SierrAzul, an ecological reserve in the cloud forest with over 2,000 hectares of virgin forest, in t-minus 7 hours.  This will be the first of our quarterly retreats and we are super excited!  So, my apologies for this haphazard blog entry and our lack of a guest blog but we promise to deliver an entry from Haley and a detailed account of our retreat after the weekend (and on time!)

Chet is a good sport as the girls from the library "dress him up" after art class

Part of the table at dinner (we unsuccessfully tried to get the whole table)

Group shot after dinner (sorry if you're one of the members of the dart game)

Haley with her lemon poppyseed (minus poppyseed) desert #3

Have a great weekend! 

- Jackie