International Women's Day

In honor of International Women's Day, MPI Ecuador would like to give thanks to one special woman from our community who we feel empowers others. It is especially important within traditionally machismo cultures to honor and praise these inspirational women who serve as positive role models in their families and neighborhoods. Rosario, our neighbor in Rumiloma and our most dedicated Women's Exercise participant, is one such woman.

Rosario is a great role model for women in our community. She takes care of her sick father, her own household, and her grandchildren but still finds the time to come to workout classes several times a week. Her dedication to our exercise classes and to improving her own health is an inspiration to others. She calls herself an "exercise addict" noting that she can feel the difference in her body when she misses a few classes. When Rosario's mother passed away last summer she missed a few weeks of classes and we were concerned about her well being. She came back strong, bringing her sisters to classes and explaining to us that her mother had always encouraged them to workout and stay healthy. She says el Centro de Manna has helped her to lose weight and improve her self esteem. Rosario is also very interested in our Preventative Health Center, taking copies of every health article we put up to keep herself and her family educated. She is a strong woman, both in mind and body, and it is a comfort to have her around.

Spring Break!!

Its that time of the year again... spring break! Which for us means welcoming our first group of spring break volunteers from Vanderbilt. Tonight Emily and Taylor will travel to the Quito airport to pick up a group of 8 Vandy students who will spend the week with us in the Manna House. Over the next week they will be getting to know Quito and the Valley, shadowing our programs, and working on health related projects for our Nutrition and Preventative Health Programs. The spring breakers will have the chance to blog about their experience so you can hear about their trip firsthand. Click on the tab that says "Vanderbilt Spring Break" to follow their blog and see photos from the trip.

What's New With Chaupitena

The New Year has brought some great new changes to both Children’s Nutrition and the Preventative Health Center as our relationship with the Chaupitena School has expanded. Here is a guest blog from Emily explaining where we started with this new school, and how far we have come:

It all started when Taylor and I were sent on a wild-goose chase to find a nearby elementary school where we could possibly hold nutrition classes. Our first encounter with the directors of Chaupitena was brief and rather disheartening.

The director seemed to be very wary of these strange new gringas in the area and a little uncertain of our proposal in general; but we were persistent, and our next meeting with him had a completely new tune. This time, we met with him as well as the heads of Naural Sciences, Vilma and Elvia. The two women were much more open to our idea and were excited for the opportunity to present nutrition curriculum to their students. This was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Since our initial meetings with Chaupitena, our programs with them continue to grow. We completed our first 12-week nutrition curriculum with their 8th, 9th, and 10th in December and are currently holding nutrition classes with their three 7th grade classes. Not only has Chaupitena been an excellent opportunity for the nutrition program, but it has also brought many new faces to the library. We have several Chaupitena students and teachers enrolled in our English classes this quarter, and the teens from our original classes make up the bulk of our teen center participants.

When the older students realized we were finished with the nutrition curriculum they got upset and seemed legitimately concerned that they would never see us again. Luckily we have found a new way to stay involved with these students that we already know and love.

A newly added program with Chaupitena involves our Preventative Health Center Team: Charlie, Watkins, and I. We give monthly health charlas (talks) on topics of their choosing. So far we have had classes about mental health as well as alcoholism and drug addiction. In a future class, we hope to have our friends from the Red Cross assist us in teaching some basic first aid to the kids. These health charlas have been a wonderful opportunity for our preventative health program and also a great way to maintain our relationship with the older students of Chaupitena.

What started as a ‘shot in the dark’ meeting with a potential partner organization has grown into so much more. The teachers and students of Chaupitena have become an integral part of our programs here in Ecuador as well as some very close personal friends.

Elvia and her family came out to support us at the FDR

We look forward to continuing our relationship with the teachers and students of Chaupitena. Coming up in April the Agriculture Program will also be getting involved, giving a PHC Charla on the benefits of organic gardening!

Making Connections

            If sharing toys is a hallmark of promising children, communication and the sharing of ideas is the mark of inspired adults.  In the spirit of sharing and cooperation, yours truly spent this past Monday afternoon with La Casa Victoria, a nonprofit dedicated to working with children in the old town neighborhood San Roque, in Quito.  The experience of volunteering with an Ecuadorian nonprofit that does similar work to what we do was worthwhile, and I learned new approaches and several interesting things about the organization Casa Victoria.

            Casa Victoria is an Ecuadorian organization with one location, a poor neighborhood in the south of Quito, dedicated to helping children and families grow through several programs that help kids in school, allow them to socialize in a safe environment, and provide religious instruction.  Their location is a beautiful, 120-year-old, recently-renovated house that functions as the living quarters of some of their volunteers and staff, the organization’s office, and the space where Casa Victoria’s programs take place.  On the day I worked with Casa Victoria, during their afternoon homework help program, they also received visitors from a team of high school students who came with prepared activities for the kids, as well as a youth leadership group from a church who came prepared with fun activities as well as a Bible study lesson plan.  In addition to several new linguistic tips for talking to elementary school-aged kids, I got new ideas for the timing of programs at our Centro, and for how to occasionally incorporate new programmatic activities. 

            We’re hopeful that with continued partnership (Manna PD Rachel is planning to volunteer at Casa Victoria soon, and someone from Casa Victoria will soon visit our library and work with us), both of our organizations will benefit by the spread of ideas and be inspired by what is happening at each place.

More information about Casa Victoria at http://www.casav.org/

Carnaval Weekend

Sorry for the slight delay, here is an update on our Carnaval long weekend:

In the spirit of Carnaval we let our Adult English students out a little early last Saturday so they could catch some of the parades that were happening around the valley. We are lucky enough to live right next to the Sangolqui parade route, which means that on holidays (which happen pretty often here) our bus route is interrupted and we have to walk part of the way home from the centro. I had no idea what I was in for when I got off the bus alone and started walking the last 10 or so blocks to the Manna house. There were people everywhere, spraying foam, throwing water and eggs, and covering each other with colored powder. I was defenseless, and my blonde hair doesn’t exactly allow me to blend in with the crowd. By the time I reached the monument near our house and saw the friendly face of our neighbor Caesar, I was drenched.

Rachel had arrived home about a half hour before me, and under similar circumstances. We decided to change our clothes, buy some foam off the street, and take revenge! We found Caesar, who was more than happy to walk around with us and show us how to play Carnaval. After an hour I was exhausted, rainbow colored, and soaking wet. I retired to take a shower and Nicole joined in the fun. The two of them went on to experience other Carnival parades (or as they described them, wars) in the Valley while the rest of us headed to the coast for the long weekend.

Carnaval on the beach was much more tranquilo than it had been in Sangolqui, though that isn’t to say that we didn’t get hit with plenty of dirty water. The majority of taxis on the coast are these small carts pulled by motorcycles, which are open on all sides. While riding from the bus station to our hostal we passed a group of kids armed with buckets of water. They were thrilled when our cab slowed down to make a turn, and took advantage of the opportunity to drench us and our backpacks… it was a lovely welcome to Atacames. Luckily we were sweating from the steamy coastal climate and didn’t mind too much. Even though we made easy targets, we managed to make it through the holiday, running, screaming, and occasionally fighting back.