April 2012
5 posts
...
I am sitting on the airplane flying over the Pacific Ocean. In 2 hours I will be in the Unites States for the first time in 9 months. I have a lot of different thoughts going through my mind right now. A few of them are: “I cannot believe my time in Ecuador is already over.” “I am so excited to see me friends and family but so sad to leave my life in Ecuador.” “I wonder if I’ll remember how...
Goodbye Reflections
As I am writing this, I am on a flight from Cusco, Peru back to Quito, Ecuador. We just had a trip of a lifetime, doing the 4-day 3 night trek on the Inca Trail and finished at the Machu Picchu ruins. What an incredible experience! We planned this trip knowing that it would be extremely difficult to just leave Estero and fly back to the U.S a day later. We knew we needed some time. Time...
“You get a strange feeling when you’re about to leave a place, I told him,...”
– ― Azar Nafisi in Reading Lolita in Tehran
Last Payment Received!
Women’s Group= Union Loan Paid Off!
A Scholarship Conflict
A good amount of my time the past month was dedicated to choosing the next scholarship students. One of our jobs was to interview and ultimately elect the two new scholarship students in Quingue (20 minutes up the road) who will work with the next fellows. With a representative from Yanapuma, we spent a whole day in Quingue interviewing 7 candidates and ended up choosing two excellent kids who...
March 2012
12 posts
Ecuadorian NGO´s Helping or Hurting?
The Womens Group have begun constructing their restaurant. Since they formed about 2 years ago, they have been cooking every weekend and holiday under open-sided tents with a portable kitchen and materials that they set up by the beach. Well now, they have enough money to start actually constructing their own building.
I really am torn in how I feel about this. First of all, the reason they have...
“Talking about the problems of the world without talking about some accessible...”
– Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Dufld in Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty
The people will say 'We have done this ourselves'
For the past 8 months our concern for the future of Estero has grown dramatically. We have witnessed with our very own eyes the changes that are happening and the dangers of being on the fast track of development. Every weekend we see new faces in Estero and each one of these new faces threatens this peaceful fishing village. We are walking a fine line between wanting to welcome...
My Strange Way of Telling Time
Time has gone by way too fast for my liking. I remember thinking to myelf before I left that 9 months is a really long time. “It’s almost a year!” my friends would say. I would tell people that asked me what my plans were, that I was “moving” to Ecuador because in my head 9 months didn’t sound so temporary. Well thats all funny to me now. It’s true that 9 months is ¾ of a year and that I did...
Fluffernutters
Back in November, when my family came to visit, they asked me what i wanted them to bring for me. Food was obviously the first thing that came to my mind as some essential items had gone missing from my diet in the past months. “Peanutbutter and Reeces peanutbutter cups,” I told her. Those that know me well, know my obsession with peanutbutter. In fact, my best friend, Guidi, throught the past...
Latest Yanapuma Newsletter! →
“The stickiness factor says that there are specific ways of making a contagious...”
– Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point
February 2012
12 posts
Fourth Payment Received!
One of my main projects while being here in Estero has been overseeing the women’s group. For a quick overview, two years ago, several women here had the dream of starting their own comedor restaurant. They got their group together and were ready to go. Last year’s Minerva Fellow Allie, arrived in Estero as the women’s group was forming. She decided to help them get off their feet. She...
Trans vestism/genderism/sexualism
In previous blogs I have mentioned the interesting contrast in the roles of men and women. But I have not addressed the opinions and perspectives surrounding sexuality and sexual orientation. In Estero, expression of sexuality is not taboo. The clothing styles, the dances, the telenovelas in some ways scream, “come and get me!” Women daily wear tight belly shirts with spandex pants and or...
Change is a good thing...or is it?
I recently had dinner with a tourist couple who are staying in Estero for 2 weeks. They found me in the village one day and as they really wanted the authentic experience, I put them with a family. They had only been here for two days, but they had already noticed some very important things. They both were very concerned about the future of Estero as development grows and tourism...
H2O
Water System Update:
The water system, established last April (10 months ago) by last years fellows and Estero Community members as been one of our primary projects, concerns, headaches, since being here. I will give you a timeline so you understand our history with the water project and where we are at today.
Late July: Alex and Shelby arrive to Estero.
August: We work in the system everyday...
¡Feliz Carnaval!
For the next four days in Estero we will be celebrating Carnaval. Hair dying and braiding, sporatic water fights, lots of tourists and all night dances are not uncommon! Tonight, we have another election/presentation of the candidates to choose queen of carnaval which I have been helping out with a lot recently. Hope it goes well!
That's Amore! *click me* →
This Valentine’s day:
1. Don’t stress about the gift
2. Buy him/her something unique
3. GIVE BACK!
Done, Done and Done! (check out the necklace made in Ecuador!)
Hangin' with Pigs and Chiggers
I came back to Quito for a one day break to let my mosquito bites dry up, breathe some crist sierra air and get my holiday packages that have been sitting in Yanapuma since December. Living in Estero makes it difficult to be in the know all the time. I am out of touch with things that used to be day-to-a knowledges. Today I got my updates on those things from my girlfriends and my family;...
“refuse to settle for anything less than butterflies”
– 821
Read and help out with The Engeye Water Project in... →
brendankinnane:
In Ddegeya Village and all of rural Uganda, there is no such thing as running water. People fetch water at local boreholes and lug jerry cans of water to their homes throughout the day in order to cook, clean, bathe, and survive. Luckily, Engeye Health Clinic (EHC) enjoys the luxury of a…
!Paseos Paseos!
Because it is winter vacation, we decided that because there is so much time we could do some really fun “paseos” or trips with the kids. Actually originally we decided that the trips would be a really good incentive for the kids to participate and show up at our summer programs. For instance, for the high school students we pitched it at the beginning of the vacation that “unless you...
January 2012
4 posts
An Ecuadorian Graduation
Last Friday, Alex and I went to the High School Graduation of one of the students we work with. It was a fairly interesting experience because compared to the Graduations we know, it was incredibely distinct. They drank champaigne, played salsa music in the middle of it, and smooshed like 150 people in tiny little room. The only thing that it had in common with a typical U.S graduation is that,...
“When each day is the same as the next, it’s because people fail to...”
– Paulo Coelho in The Alchemist
Winter in Estero
Winter in Estero is quite different than any other winter that I’ve had before. This year we aren’t getting the blizzards or the snow days but it rains, without fail, every single day. If it´s not raining the whole day the sun will come out but I think it might be the strongest sun I have ever felt. It’s difficult to be in it even for just a few minutes. Another winter treat is the brown,...
¡Que Viva la Madrina!
It was Tuesday of this past week. New years celebrations were finally slowing down. In Estero, any holiday calls for several days of dancing and partying. So we were still bringing in the New Year through the 3rd of January. The phrase ¨it´s a marathon not a sprint¨ has never been so applicable.
Anyway, it was Tuesday and I was having breakfast with my host sister Jira and Mother Vitalia. Vitalia...
December 2011
8 posts
A man, a plan a canal, Panama
I spent the last week in Panama. I met up my college friend Caitlin who has been working in Costa Rica for the past 6 months and is on her way back to the states. I met her and 3 of her program friends in Bocas del Toro, Caribbean islands on the western part of Panama. On my way through I had a layover and did a tour of the Panama canal. It was pretty cool to learn more about the history, its...
How much can you do in a day?
Wednesday was a fairly productive and busy day for me here in Estero de Platano. Days are long and sometimes I amaze myeslf with the things I do to fill them.
I woke up at 7am got dressed and had breakfast with my host mother and sister. From there at 8, my friend Julio came by and we went to his finca (land within the rainforest that is owned by Estero people.) His land is about a half hour...
Spelling B recieves an A+
Last Saturday was the Spelling B. Two months ago I had the idea to do a spelling B while we were brainstorming different methods to help alleviate the students´ fears of speaking aloud in front of others. Besides helping with the public speaking terror, the spelling B would obviously teach students new words and how to spell them. We compiled a list of 150 words ranging from easy to hard (of...
A Brothers Perspective
The anticipation was brutal as we slowly drove down the infamous road to
Estero de Platano. For months I have been hearing about this hidden gem along the
coast of Ecuador, of which I had so many images in my mind. It was as if it was in
slow motion when we turned around the bend, unveiling a sight which is difficult
to describe. The sunset hovering over the horizon made the ocean look like a...
A Parents Perspective
After our return from our amazing trip to Ecuador, I feel compelled to write in Shelby’s blog for all of you blog followers.
Our trip was really a 3 part series. Our first stop was Quito, where we spent a day acclimating to the altitude and touring the city. Quito is wedged in between the mountains and is at 9,200 ft.
We then headed 4 hours southeast to the Rainforest, where we spent 4 days with...
Building Up Some Street Smarts
It has been a crazy 4 weeks. Park volunteers came which left us without even one minute to breath. We were running around coordinating the volunteers, borrowing tools wherever we could find them while making last minute trips to Esmeraldas, Atacamas and Tonchigue for more paint or nails or bolts or rope. It was a crazy 2 weeks for us but so worth it because now we have such wonderful results and...
November 2011
4 posts
Today I am thankful because...
The park project is complete (more to come on this)
I celebrated my 23rd birthday yesterday in sun and 90 degree weather in beautiful Estero with friends and family that I love
Most Importantly….My United States family arrives in Ecuador today!! Off to Quito now to meet them! Wishing everyone a happy and healthy thanksgiving. Eat some extra turkey for me.
“8 GapForce volunteers have arrived, seesaw has been built, school grounds have...”
“That which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be...”
– Garth Stein from The Art of Racing in the Rain
October 2011
6 posts
Parks and Recreation
Exciting things are happening. A third of the way through our fellowship we have some really clear ideas on what we want to do with our remaining time. In Estero, as in any other place, if you want to make a change for the future, you focus on the future generations. So it is only appropriate that much of our recent work and ideas are centered around Estero´s youth.
In less than 3 weeks we...
When the going gets tough...
Since I last wrote, we have moved in with new families. In any new environment one assesses the situation and weighs out its pros and cons. As this is our third living arrangement each, we are beginning to feel out the positive and negative elements of each house and what we prefer. Often I find myself saying phrases such as, “although I no longer have a functioning toilet, the food here is...
Our 'Read with Me' Project
Dear Blog Readers,
Upon graduating from Union College this past June, we were accepted
into the 2011-12 Minerva Fellows Program. This is an innovative,
entrepreneurial global service program that sends nine graduating
seniors around the world to initiate positive change in developing
countries and communities.
We work in Ecuador with the Yanapuma Foundation, a non-profit
organization based in...
If you don't know, now you know
One thing about Ecuador that has surprised me is the variety that it has to offer. Geographically, as the second smallest country in Latin America, Ecuador, to me, feels gigantic due to its versatility. It has three distinct areas, The Andes Highlands, The Amazon Rainforest and Coastal Ecuador. The more I get to know Ecuador, the more I fall in love with it. At first I was having a love/hate...
