Community Service: Ecuador 2011

We write to you from the island of Santa Cruz, where we find ourselves after four days of packed adventure here in the Galapagos. We began our journey on the largest island in the Galapagos, Isla Isabela, where we had beautiful ocean front accommodations. Our first full day on the island was busy! We started with a boardwalk tour through some amazing marsh areas, observing and discussing the wildlife and plants along the way. This path led us straight to the Isabela Tortoise breeding center, where they host baby tortoises for the first five years of their life, preparing them for life in the wild. We all had a lot of fun observing the tortoises in their many stages of growth. Afterwards, we headed out to the water, first for a tour of a small island with sea lions and white tipped sharks. After some up-close sightings, we cruised over to a protective cove for snorkeling. Right away we saw a spotted eagle ray, followed by a sea turtle; we swam alongside the sea turtle for five minutes!

The next day we took an excursion to the Sierra Negra volcano. We packed lunches for the journey and spent the entire day overlooking calderas and dried lava fields. Everyone really enjoyed the fresh air, amazing views, and exercise. After our adventures  on Isabela, we headed to Santa Cruz island, where we jumped right into more water sports at Tortuga Bay with sea kayaking, surfing, and boogie boarding. Today we did some educational tours of a wild Tortoise habitation grounds and the Charles Darwin Research Center. We even got to see the famous Lonesome George munching on a midday snack!

Tomorrow we board our boat to San Cristobal for the last leg of our Galapagos journey. It’s hard to believe that we only have three full days left here in Ecuador, but we are making the most of every day. It will be sad to part ways, but the experiences, friendships, and knowledge we’ve gained along the way will never be forgotten.

Hasta Luego,
Eric y Maka

Our team overlooknig the Isla Isabela volcano ranges

John and San listening to our guide, Polo

Lee finding her shell size

Max, Katherine, and Emma making a new friend

Our week started great. For our second excursion we traveled to the cloud forest for two days of packed entertainment. The weekend previous we had been invited to the Inti Raymi festival, the Sun and Harvest festivities that take place every July and August in the region where we have been living. We got a chance to experience the festival up close and we were even allowed to wear typical indigenous clothing. Our girls looked beautiful!

The days after the festival were an enjoyable break from our hard work and chilly days. Mindo was warm and humid, so everyone seized the opportunity to wear shorts and sandals! We also had a few activities planned including tubing, zip lining, a hike in the beautiful biodiversity of the cloud forest, and even a chocolate factory where we tried cocoa from its bitter beginnings to its sweet ends. It was truly an incredible excursion.  We all enjoyed ourselves and returned to Eugenio Espejo de Cajas filled with energy for our last week in the community.

During our last week in Espejo de Cajas, we are happy to report that we finished the few projects we had left and accomplished all of our goals! All of the students were proud and excited to be able to complete the projects for the community. Eventually however, the day came and we had to say goodbye. Among tears and laughter, soccer games, and singing and dancing, we said farewell to our incredible community and the many people who have welcomed us for the past three weeks. It was an emotional time that put in perspective all that we have accomplished and the warmth that we’ve felt throughout our time in Ecuador. Eugenio Espejo de Cajas will be much missed by all of us!

Tomorrow we head to the Galapagos where another adventure awaits. We are all thrilled about this trip and we can’t wait to tell you more, stay tuned!

Saludos!  This week was a lot of fun. We completed a few projects, which was a great feeling since everyone has been working really hard!  We are really excited to see how enthusiastic our students have been and also how thankful the community is for the work we are doing.

We are running a summer camp and teaching adult English lessons, both of which have been incredibly rewarding experiences. Adults really need to practice need to practice English in this area and they don’t get a chance to do it very often, so they are thankful for the opportunity.  Likewise, the lessons have also given our students a chance to practice their Spanish, as well as learn a few words in Quechua!

We’ve woken up every day in front of this beautiful mountain and this week we finally got a chance to hike it. The view from up there was absolutely worth the effort!  We’ve been clearing the path up to a very scenic spot and also making signs to label local trees and plants.

Finally, every student has been working on an independent project of his or her own design. Everyone has started and it’s been a very gratifying feeling to know that they have each made an individual contribution to the community or that they have learned or researched an aspect of local life that is interesting to them.

We hope you enjoy the photos.  Bye for now!

Abrazos,
Maka and Eric

Carly had quiet a crowd for her independent project

Tough painting crew

Max and Allison teaching an English lesson to children

Teaching the children how to sing in English

Lee and Julie even foung time to dance while making signs for the path

This weekend was our first group excursion away from Eugenio Espejo de Cajas, and what an adventure it was! We journeyed four hours south to Cotopaxi National Park, home to the second largest active volcano in the world. Our host was a beautiful rustic hacienda situated at 12,000 feet, complete with constantly stoked fireplaces and hot tea. On Saturday we spent the day exploring the park, starting with an hour long hike up to the Cotopaxi refugio, the sleeping quarters used by hikers who plan to summit the mountain. The students were all super motivated to make it as a team, which we did! After our hike, we spent the afternoon visiting some different lakes, ruins, and vistas within the park. Sunday brought another new adventure, a morning horse back ride through the mountainside surrounding the hacienda. We had a lot of fun dressing up in the traditional “Andean cowboy” attire and hearing stories of horseback riding history in the Cotopaxi region.

We are now back in our home-base of Eugenio Espejo de Cajas, where we are working  as hard as ever on our community projects. We have already completed our re-roofing project of the communal gathering house, and are now painting the exterior of the Apangora cheese factory. We are also very excited to report that this week marked the formal beginning of our afternoon English classes for youth and adults within the community. The students have also begun to work on their independent projects, which range from learning the cheese making process to rebuilding a swing set at the local elementary school.  We are very busy these days!

Saludos!
Eric and Maka

The group at Cotopaxi

at the refugio

Allison's birthday!

On Sunday we traveled through the mountains of the Pichincha province to our new home in Eugenio Espejo de Cajas. We were warmly received by the community with a Fiesta de Bienvenida in the evening, with fresh trout, local songs, and dancing.

Monday marked our first day of work on community service projects. We began with a re-fencing project for a communal cow pasture.The milk from these cows will be used in the cheese factory that our community runs. It was hard work, but we have nearly completed the fence after our first week!  Our team has simultaneously been working on a re-roofing project in the community meeting house, where we plan to hold our English lessons in the weeks remaining.

We are happy to report that our students really dove into the experience of living in a rural community. They have seized every opportunity to play with local children, while also teaching them some English. Other highlights have included cow milking excursions, hand-washing laundry, preparing food with our beloved cooks, and also some time to reflect on the significance of their time in Ecuador. We hope you enjoy the photos below!

Tomorrow will mark our first weekend excursion together, to Cotopaxi National Park. We are all extremely excited!

The boys' living quarters

Our first encounter with the local children

Upside down hammering on our re-roofing project. Our arms are feeling it!

Our first fence posts going up

Julia and Marissa getting a laundry hand-washing lesson from Yolanda, one of our nice cooks

Duck, duck, goose!

This blog was written on July 2nd, 2011 (challenges with internet connections delayed its arrival until now)

On our first morning in Ecuador, Quito woke us up with beautiful sunshine so we were all eager to get out and explore. We headed to Parque Itchimbia which has one of the nicest views of the city and the perfect setting to start our time here in Ecuador! We got a chance to get some nice snapshots but also to get settled into what our life will be like for the next four weeks. We have a great team and everyone is very excited about the upcoming activities. We then went to Cafe Mosaico for a delicious lunch and another stunning overlook of Quito’s Colonial Center.

After lunch, we headed to Ritmo Tropical for two hours of high energy salsa lessons. Everyone put their dancing shoes on and had a blast learning the basic moves together. At night we took a walking tour of the Historic District learning legends and facts about the colonial era and finished off with the tastiest hot chocolate around (it’s been serving Quitenios for over a 100 years!).

Tomorrow we head to our project village, Eugenio Espejo de Cajas. Everyone is very excited to meet our new community and start learning about a different way of life. More updates to come soon!

Saludos!
Eric and Maka

We’ve received word from the leaders that the group has arrived in Quito. All is well and they were getting settled at their residence.

We know that parents love to keep up to date on their kids’ activities during our programs.  While we expect that most of our participants will take the time to be in touch occasionally, we have found that it is helpful to parents for our leaders to post periodic updates on this blog.  Obviously, blog posts will not provide detailed information about your child, but they will let you know about some of the group’s activities, projects, and excursions.

The frequency of blog posts varies from program to program depending on internet access (which can be limited), and each group’s itinerary and busy schedule of activities.  Please rest assured that we can reach leaders at any time and that we will discuss any important issues concerning your child directly them and with you.  As you know, you can reach us by phone at our office during business hours, and on our emergency line 24/7 if necessary.

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Have a fantastic summer!