Planting Party!

Last November our wonderful group of Vandy volunteers built a sustainable green house out of plastic water bottles, this week we finally where able to have our long awaited planting party! We filled two of the three planters with soil and planted celery, pepper, basil, thyme, and lemon verbena. The kids had a really fun time digging around in the soil and getting their hands dirty.

Planting master Cate showing them how its done

Prof Heather, Emily and Mateo

Profe Heather and Joel planting some peppers

After helping us plant in the planter boxes, the kids got to plant their own seeds in egg cartons, some of which will be used in the green house, others were taken home by the kids who planted them. It was a fun afternoon of planting and we are excited to watch the plants and seeds grow! Hopefully soon we will be able to use some of the plants in our Adult Cooking and Nutrition class.

Waiting in line to get seeds

Planting tomato and basil seeds

We hope to continue talks about the different environmental issues that are found here in the community where we work! 

Reading and Eating! Two New Programs in the Library

The library has recently developed a few new programs to get the kids excited about reading and making healthy snack choices. The new reading challenge created by PDs Torie Taylor and challenges kids to read a new book and write a small report on it. Every time they turn in a book report a new sticker is Placed next to Their Name on a board displaced in the library, after a certain number of book reports are turned in the participant will receive an ice cream treat! Once the kids caught onto the reading club poster filled with names and stickers! It has been a great way to challenge kids to read something new every time they come to the library. 

Children's Nutrition also recently adopted a new program on Friday afternoons, which encourages you the kids to make more educated choices when it comes to snacking. It is very common to see kids in the library with chips, candy or ice cream every day so PDs Cate, Claudia, Nick, and Abby thought it would be a good idea to introduce a new healthy to snack to every week, Accompanied with a short talk (chat) about  what makes this food a better choice then the very commonly sighted junk food. The first few lectures have gone really well with high attendance and kids gobbling up the snacks as fast as then can!

Hormigas En Un Palo

Today in Children's Nutrition we broke out the celery, peanut butter, and raisins for some hands on learning with a healthy snack, Hormigas en un Palo (Ant on a Log). Profe Claudia began the class by talking to the students about why it is important to understand where your food comes from, and how preparing food helps give insight into what you are eating. Then came snack time, the kids lined up to assemble their own 'Ants on a Log' and then chowed down. It was definitely a new snack for many of them and it seemed to be a success! 

Hormigas En Un Palo

Claudia and Cate showing the students how it is done!

Snack time!

Fiesta en la Biblioteca!

After a long winter break, we, the PDs of MPI Ecuador decided the kids of Rumiloma needed reminding of just how fun and awesome the library can be, so we decided to throw a party.  With a turn out of about 35 kids the party was a huge success, complete with a water balloon toss, musical chairs, a turtle making art craft and enough popcorn and cookies to fill a cruise ship.

It's not a party if someone isn't reading!

Profe Cate with some fiesta going niños

Mateo and Jonathan about to lay down the law with some water balloons.

Going for the Glacier

Cotopaxi sits at 5,897 m (19,347 ft) and is the second highest peak in Ecuador. Lucky for us, this beautiful mountain is practically in our backyard (only about an hour away by car), and can be seen from most places in the Chillos Valley, including my bedroom window. 

Cotopaxi

Yesterday a group of 10 us piled into two cars and took the drive to Cotopaxi National park to hike to the glacier line. The park is an amazing place, with wild horses, lakes, flat expansive plains, amazing views of 15,000 ft + peaks, and, of course, Cotopaxi. A road runs almost all the way to the Refugio, a small building used as a base for the more serious climbers making their way all the way to the top. We had to climb for about 40 minutes from the parking lot to reach the Refugio, which was jam packed with people of all nationalities and many different levels of mountaineering experience. Groups squeezed through the tiny hole of a door with large packs, and warm snowsuits, ready to make the trek to the top come midnight, while families with small children in simple fleece jackets sat around sipping hot chocolate. (There was even a glimpse of some high heeled boots being worn!) We enjoyed some hot chocolate ourselves, while letting our brains adjust to the thin air, and then headed back out the door to complete our hike to the glacier line. The rest of the hike took about 30 minutes. When we finally reached the glacier line we celebrated by taking a "few" snapshots and exploring a large crack in the ice. Although it was hard to see at the top, the shifting clouds gave way to different views of the peak and the valley below. It was an entrancing experience and definitely made me want to keep going, all the way to the top.

The steep incline at the beginning

Taking a break with some coco

The Refugio

Finally at the glacier line

Cate and Ben exploring the ice The hike back down was easy as we kind of glided down the gravely trail. Once back in the car we rewarded ourselves with chocolate and headed back down the road, stopping to look at a little fox who was curiously staring at the passing cars. At the bottom the clouds finally parted and we were able to see Cotopaxi in all its glory. Another photo shoot took place until the clouds consumed the mountain once again. All in all, an amazing day with one of Ecuador's finest.

Claudia and me enjoying the view

Our fox friend

Carryn, Torie, Heather, and Taylor at the bottom