An Update Seven Months Delayed

Hola mis amigos!!

Well I haven't updated this in a very long time. I could give all kinds of excuses and reasons, some of them decent, but most of them less than decent. Anyways upon suggestion from some friends and family who actually read this while I was away I thought I would update it, and let you all know how things turned out for me in Ecuador.

When I last wrote it was January, I was working at Manduriacos in the beautiful community of Magdalena. My placement lasted until April, and it was a wonderful experience. I spent my days visiting mico credit farmers, visting the various workshops, making lufas, doing paper work in the office and hanging out with some adorable children.

When visiting micro credit farmers, I would take a tour of their crops and talk to them about their participation in the cooperative. I'm going to share with you an experience I had while visiting one family in a community an hour or so away in San Roque. The family that I visited grew lufas through the micro credit program, they also had a very lush vegetable and fruit garden (as most families do in the area since they are sustinence farmers). After I was given a tour of their house- a two room cement structure with a tin and wood roof-, garden and lufa crops I was invited to talk with the woman of the household, and her 21 year old daughter. Her daughter was about nine months pregnant, and when I asked her when she was due she said, "ahora, ahorita" which basically means right now. She told me that she wasn't going to make the four hour drive on the back of a motorcycle into the city to go to the hospital, nor would the doctor ( who travels between thirteen different communities in the region) be available for the delivery, she was planning to give birth in her home with her mother and younger sister there to help her. The whole time that she and I were alone in the yard, I was praying that she would not go into labor right then and there, as I was not, nor am I now, ready to help deliver a baby!

Luckily her mother soon returned and brought in one large plate of sliced watermelons, and sat the plate down on my lap. At first I thought this was for all of us to share, but then I noticed that she had brought a smaller plate in for her and her two daughters to share. The watermelon was very fresh and really good, but I was unsure if I would be able to eat the two kilograms that were just placed on my lap. I managed to eat most of it, and then I fed the rest to the chickens who seemed to enjoy it as well. When visiting families and micro credit farmers they would be so kind and welcoming to me, they seemed indeed to genuinely appreciate my visit that they would offer me all kinds of fresh food from their gardens and crops, wanting me to sample everything, and would send me home with a few bundles of bananas or mangoes for the next week.

The youngest daughter also took me on a little hike through the woods, at first I thought we were going to look at some more crops but I soon discovered that we were actually standing just outside a little cave in the middle of a stream. I heard the sound of a gentle waterfall, as we slowly walked through the stream, and into the cave, the water was up to my knees, but it was clear and unpolluted by the nearby mines as some of the other rivers were. After walking for about twenty feet when we were in the middle of the waterfall, she stoped and began to whisper, pointing to the corner of the cave where there was a slight opening. There was a nest with a mother condor, and a few babies in it. The sound of the little baby birds echoed through the narrow walls, and the cool refreshing water from the waterfall drenched us.

That was one of my favorite days in Maduriacos, and definity a great memory to hold onto.

Leaving Ecuador in May was really difficult as I found myself even more attatched to the beautiful country, and its kind people then I had been on my two previous visits. Eventhough I got robbed nine times throughout the experience, and had various run ins with food poisioning, parasites, and spider butes, it was still incredible.

My host family that I lived with there are wonderful people who I still talk to once a week or so through email, and I look forward to returning and visiting them again, hopefully sooner rather than later. It alsowas really nice to spend time with the friends I had made from Universidad Catolica two years before.

I am incredibly inspired by the men and women of Manduriacos Solidario, and their dedication to their cause, their communities, and their families. Eventhough I am thousands of miles away I am still going to help them any way that I can to ensure that their struggle to preserve their families, communities, and beautiful lush cloud forest is not done in vain.

There are millions of worthy causes in the world, and I would like to encourage people to become more actively involved in them. We might not be able to change the world over night, but that doesn't mean that we should just walk away and pretend that poverty and inequality don't exist.

This year for my thesis I am going to be focusing on grassroots community cooperatives such as Manduriacos Solidario. I strongly believe that supporting just commercial practices, such as fair trade products. I have seen first hand how they can actually make a substantial positive differnce in people's lives. Please support your local community cooperatives- farmers markets- and buy fair trade products- coffee- whenever you can. Sometimes all the small things can really add up.

Thank you for reading,
En Solidaridad,

Lisa

If anyone that reads this is interested in getting involved in the cause, or has any connections that could be useful please contact me.

Updates from the primary forest and Lisa gets robbed again...

Ok first of all I would like to say that it doesn’t feel like January. It can’t be January considering that it was 30 degrees Celsius today. This whole not having seasons thing is kind of messing with me. I kind of miss snow and hot chocolate with apple crisp. I just thought about shoveling snow and waiting for the metro bus to come during a blizzard, and now that thought has passed. Who am I kidding, tank tops and capris in January is pretty darn awesome.

Well, I’m back from Magdalena for a few days. It turns out that the electricity goes out fairly often in the community, as I discovered this past week. Without electricity there’s not a lot of working going on for me. One of the things I am working on right now, is designing new product labels for some of the products using this fancy computer software. So it is most likely that I will be making the trip into Quito or Sangolqui once a week to use the internet and electricity.

I went to visit the Tilapia processing plant which was interesting. It is in Rio Verde about a half hour drive from Magdalena. We also went back to the liquor processing plant to put up new safety signs, also very interesting as it took an hour to hang eight signs. Because of the lack of electricity my days have been full of driving around in the big truck visiting different projects and micro-credit farms. I also get to spend a lot of time in the Lufa workshop which is nice.

There is an orphaned baby pig in the community and after I fed him once he started to follow me around and hang out in front of my cabin, and sleep in my flower garden. When people try to shoo him away he hides under a bench. He’s a smart little pig. There are some rumors going around that he thinks I am his new mother. There is a rooster in my community that seems to be taunting me. He lives in the field behind my cabin and keeps on pooping on my deck in front of my door when I am at work.

Back in Sangolqui, the neighbor’s dog gave birth to Benny’s puppies. Benny is the proud father of three little cuddly black and white pups. Although I don’t think Benny realizes this, as he is only seven months old.

There are some interesting stories making the news over here, a new animal species was discovered in Loja, a city in the south of the country. It is a mix between a rabbit and a chipmunk it looks furry and cute. There is also a man in Manabí, a city on the coast, that has 96 children, now that my friends is just a little crazy.

Today when I was walking through the busy Sangolqui market this elderly lady bumped into me which wasn’t that strange considering that the Sunday market is incredibly crowded, and in general in Ecuador personal space means something entirely different than it does in Canada. Anyway, I kind of gave her a nasty look and then checked my purse to make sure it was still there. I walked another ten feet or so and then stopped to buy a water gun. When I opened my purse to get out a dollar I noticed that my wallet wasn’t in it, and then I saw that my purse had been slashed open with a knife and my wallet was most definitely gone. This really sucks because I had all my debit, credit and ID cards in there. Luckily, however Trevor is going to help me out by lending me money until my replacement cards arrive (which will most likely take two months) I’m really lucky to have a best friend like him, especially since he is making the trip from Riobamba to Quito to meet me (which is about four hours).

There have been so many other days when I have been in situations where I have thought to myself, ‘you are so going to get robbed right now’ and everything has turned out fine. I even saw it coming when my friend got robbed on the bus a few months back and we caught the guy with his hand in her purse, but for some reason I had my guard down today. ‘When you let your guard down is when you get robbed or you get parasites’ that is something that people have always told me and what I have always told my friends. It’s a very weird feeling getting robbed over here. It’s my third time getting robbed this year, and it has happened to pretty much all of my friends that are here. It sucks because you can’t really go to the police- they have much bigger things to deal with. And when it happens to you people treat you like a stupid foreigner. I have always been warned about having my purse slashed but for some reason I felt safe in the city of 50,000 people that I live in. Anyways it just sucks, so I will stop rambling and ranting about it now.

I’m sure tomorrow will be a better day, the weather is great, nice and warm and I am even getting a pretty good tan on my upper body. In Magdalena I walk around with big rubber boots on all day so my legs are still freakishly pale. The rubber boots are to protect me from cockroaches, snakes, and tarantulas. I am also searching for a very large rubber mallet to kill the giant cockroaches that I share my cabin with. Hope all is well friends.

Happy New Year!!!!!

Hey Friends, I haven’t updated this in a while because I have been busy and a bit lazy. Everything is going well, this is my first week of school since early December, so I’m just working on a few assignments. I spent New Years in Quito with a few friends, and things were pretty crazy. All day outdoor concerts, giant dolls that resembled various political figures, people dressed up in costumes wearing masks, and of course dancing in the streets. In the evening things got crazier, there were fireworks going off in the streets in all directions, and giant bon fires with people burning viejos. (life size dolls that represent the past year).

I would like to share some information on my work placement. I will be returning to the community of Magdalena this weekend and while I’m there I won’t have internet access or cell phone reception. Sadly, I don’t think I am able to receive mail either as I will literally be living in a cabin in the forest surrounded by roosters and frogs. And the dirt road to the community gets washed out every few weeks. I should be back in Quito for a week sometime in mid February, and then again in mid April. I am really excited to return to my work placement although I have been warned that from January to May it rains every day and is usually about 35 Celsius. YEAH for humidity!!!!

Magdalena- Cotacachi, Imbabura

The community I will be living and working in is absolutely beautiful. It is located in a sub tropic valley and is surrounded by primary rainforest. Everything is so lush and green, and the Patchwork Mountains surround the community. There are pumas, tigrillias, toucans, parrots, frogs, turtles, snakes and lots of insanely huge and gross looking bugs. Not to mention the regular animals found all over rural parts of Ecuador, roosters, horses, donkeys, cows, and llamas. Alright, I should stop bragging but it is seriously beautiful.

Manduriacos Solidario- It’s more than just Lufas

Maduriacos Solidario is an organization that was established in 1998 as an alternative to mainstream commercial development. The organization aims to defend and protect their communities from unsustainable and unethical development practices, in an attempt to give more value to primary products found in the area. The Valley of the Manduriacos is located in one of the most biologically diverse regions of the world. The Cotacachi- Cayapas Reserve is located near the Valley to the north east, and the Valley itself is surrounded by primary forest. Unfortunately the Valley of the Manduriacos is also home to several gold mines which have had disastrous effects on the environment as well as social relationships within the area.

The organization consists of twelve different community cooperatives within ten different communities. While most of you have probably heard me talking about the lufa products before, the organization also produces many other things such as, aguadiente (fruit flavored rum), peanut butter and peanut products, grains (corn, beans, soya products, flour), tilapia, milk and milk products, and animal food.

The men and women of Manduriacos Solidario are incredibly dedicated to preserving and protecting their lands and livelihoods through sustainable development practices. They are working together in solidarity with other cooperatives to promote and establish Fair Trade and just commercial practices.

After all the costs are covered and the workers have been paid, the profits from Manduriacos Soliadrio go into a community solidarity fund. This fund provides benefits for the workers and services for the communities. In the past this fund has purchased a truck for the communities to transport their products to Apuela and Quito, and has helped fund the cost of bringing electricity and lights into the area. It also funds micro-credit loans to local farmers, pays the salary of a nurse and provides an ambulance service. The community solidarity fund also helps cover costs for la Casa de la Ninez. Since the organization was founded in 1998, over 120 families from the different communities have benefited from the organization through its sustainable and ethical development practices.

While I am in Magdalena I will be translating the product catalogues into English, and contacting companies in Canada and the United States in search of permanent vendors for the products. So if anyone has some connections, or would like to help out please drop me a line.

The project and organization are important to me because it is a form of asset based community development that is actually working. In the areas surrounding Magdalena there are several gold mines, and open pit copper mines are planned. Mines in general and especially open pit mines are quite horrible for the environment as they virtually destroy all of the surrounding plant and animal life. Manduriacos Solidario is dedicated to creating ethically and environmentally just alternatives, so that community members don’t have to work for the mines or leave the communities to find employment.

Alright amigos that’s it for now. Thank you for your continued support.

Back from the Jungle

Hola Amigos!

Well, I returned from the Jungle nearly three weeks ago. It was an incredibly beautiful and wonderful experience. I saw tarantulas, scorpions, boa constrictors, frogs, turtles, alligators, parrots, and crazy monkeys. There were also so many beautiful flowers, giant trees, and vibrant butterflies. The heat was intense and so was the rain. Our trip started off in Puyo at the edge of the Amazon region, we made our way to Tena on a very bumpy bus, then visited a very small secluded Indigenous community near Rio Blanco. The community was incredible, we stayed in little huts next to the river and heard the scary sounds of snakes, frogs, birds and other animals all around us. Then we took a five hour canoe ride to Misahualli, which is a small fishing town that is full of absolutely crazy monkeys. These monkeys stole my bracelets and money from my pockets. They also took Sunni’s bag of granola and banged it on the ground until it exploded and then picked out the raisins and left the rest for the stray dogs to eat. Then we traveled to Cocoa which is basically an ugly oil town that’s full of wealthy foreigners, cement buildings, and sin.

For the last few weeks I have been studying the effects that oil exploration, logging, and mining have had on the country. The complex economic and social problems that these industries have created within the country alone are horrible. The environmental effects have also been quite atrocious. I’m going to go on a little oil rant, after I saw with my own eyes some things that I am still trying to understand.

My Oil Rant- It’s the Crude

The Ecuadorian Rainforest is one of the most biologically diverse areas of the world. Within one square kilometer there are over 300 different plant and animal species. In Canada as a whole there are only 268. This seems absolutely crazy to me, as I’m a girl who grew up on the east coast of Canada where we have lots of different varieties of trees, plants, raccoons and squirrels. I honestly saw trees, plants and bugs that I didn’t even know existed just while I was making the two hour hike into Rio Blanco. I’m also a person who is not very fond of snakes or bugs, however this experience has opened my eyes and I am now starting to realize that these snakes, bugs and crazy plants have existed on this earth for a lot longer than any of us. And even though they might be huge and scary they still have the right to live in their home, which just happens to be the rainforest.

On the last day of our Jungle adventure we left Cocoa and drove for about 45 minutes in the back of a pickup truck into the forest to see the devastation that has been caused by oil exploration and oil extraction. We met a man who gave us a tour of the different pits, ponds, and lakes that are now full of tar and crude oil. He had lived in this area for his whole life, and he explained how he had seen the area change dramatically over the last 30 years. He also told us that because he was such a strong activist against the oil companies he had to sleep at different houses within the community every night. He explained that there was a price on his head of 20,000$ USD. He took us to the graves of his mother and brother who had been killed because they had been outspoken critics of the oil companies as well. This sounds like something out of movie, but its not.

When we saw the oil pits it was almost unbelievable, there were rusty barrels full of tar next to the pits, and a few small plants struggling to survive in the pool of oil. Even in pictures it just doesn’t look the same as it did in person. We saw three oil pits and one large lake that were full of oil and tar. The oil pits were about three feet deep and the lake was at least eight. There were empty, rusty barrels floating and half sunk in the lake. Security officers from the oil companies followed us the whole time, and didn’t like that we were asking questions and taking pictures. Oddly enough all of this disastrous mess was created by Texaco who was the largest oil company in Ecuador up until the 1990’s when the government took over the exportation with the national company Petro-Ecuador. Texaco left behind this truly hideous mess and now it’s the Ecuadorian government’s job to clean it up. Since Correa was elected the clean up process has begun, and although that is a positive, there just really is not anywhere to put the mess, or any real affective methods of properly cleaning up the countless gallons of oil that are slowly seeping back into the earth.

more updates

Lisa gets robbed again

I got my wallet stolen on the bus ride from hell. We were on an overnight bus from Puerto Lopez to Quito. For part of the bus ride I was sitting in the aisle seat and I’m guessing someone took it from my purse while I was enjoying a good gravol induced sleep. I only got 65$ taken along with my Canadian ID card, health insurance card and my Ecuadorian residency card. It sucks but I’m guessing that whoever took my money needed it more than me.


Puerto Lopez

Other than that the beach was a great time. Since it’s the rainy reason in Ecuador there wasn’t a lot of sun but it was still beautiful. Puerto Lopez is this tiny little fishing town with great waves and a beautiful beach. We ate some great seafood, had some lovely pina coladas, and basically relaxed all weekend on the beach. The hostel we stayed at was lovely; it was right on the beach and was surrounded by beautiful flowers and butterflies. There was a little Brazilian restaurant in the hostel and they served organic coffee and chocolate. The owners also had a huge dog named Scooby; he was some sort of Dalmatian and other giant dog mix.

Valle de los Manduriacos (Loofas)

Last Monday and Tuesday I visited the Valle de los Manduriacos, where the loofah cooperative is. It is an incredibly beautiful community and I am very excited to start working there in December. The area is sub tropic so it is full of lush green plants and beautiful flowers. There are lots of bugs, mosquitoes, and cockroaches too. I will be working on various projects within the cooperative such as administrative things- taking inventory, and organizing and shipping orders. I will also be sorting and packaging organic grains- corn, beans, soy nuts and lentils. The community also makes organic liquor from cane sugar and fruits, and once the new roof is put on the building I will be making some rum. (I know it’s like a dream come true!) And of course I will be making a few loofahs. It was very exciting to see all of the new loofah designs that they have created. There are now loofah penguins, loofah carrots, loofah turtles, and loofah lobsters.

When I am working there I will be renting my own little wood cabin, nothing too fancy- bunk beds with mosquito netting, with a simple bathroom and kitchen. Although I will have my very own hammock and little balcony so I can relax and watch the roosters and pigs. There is also a little store that sells everything from ketchup to propane, and a small restaurant that serves simple meals like fried fish or fried chicken, rice, beans and juice for 2$.

Tuesday Afternoon

So for lunch today my host grandmother prepared this Ecuadorian speciality, apparently it is really popular in Guayaquil and on the coast. I should also explain that I was a vegetarian for 10 years and just starting eating meat again in August in preparation for my trip to Ecuador. So as I take my first bite, I’m thinking gee this meat is rubbery and chewy and kind of tastes weird. It was cow intestines. It took a while for me to get this out of them, at first it was just carne de res, then carne de vaca, then estomago. At first I had thought it might have been lamb, but I had forgotten the word for lamb so I just started making lamb noises, which didn’t turn out well. Luckily they weren’t offended that I didn’t like it, it was kind of like the ceviche incident all over again. Ceviche is raw seafood marinated in garlic sauce. So that’s my little take on meat in Ecuador. The chicken is delicious, as is the seafood when it is cooked and your on the coast of the country.

I am on way to pick up season one and two of LOST from this nice man that owns a bootleg dvd store. I cannot possibly explain my happiness over this! Its kind of strange the things I am missing…. my bicycle….joel plaskett cd’s…..breakfast at the pyramid café…..and LOST!!!!

Loofahs will have to wait

Hola Amigos!
Well there have been some changes... this morning there was road blocks between Sangolqui and Quito, angry taxi drivers. The cops showed up and brought out the tear gas. My profesor was trying to drive to our school and she ended up getting stuck in the middle of it. She was going to drive us to the Intag region and the Loofah cooperative so looks like thats not going to happen till tuesday.... I´m in Quito now and I´m going to go to Otavalo tomorow. Hope things are great with everyone. Cheers!

Loofahs and other things

LOOFAHS!!!!!

I am leaving tomorrow to visit the Intag region of Ecuador, it’s probably about a 2 hour drive from Quito and there are several work placements available there. On Monday I will travel another hour or so by pick up truck or donkey to the Valle de los Manduriacos where the loofah cooperative is. I am looking forward to finally meeting the women who make the loofahs. The loofah cooperative is a possible work placement for me, and I am very excited to check it out. Back in Canada, Savon Poppulaire is interested in our loofahs, and if everything goes well I should be shipping out their order by the end of next week. This is really exciting because Savon Poppulaire has many stores in Quebec, Ontario and some on the east coast. Although this shipment will only be sold in one or two stores, it’s still a great stepping stone.

Transformers are Taking Over My Life

Yes, I have seen the Transformers movie 8 times in Spanish. My host brother Alex, who is three loves this movie and insists on watching it 3 times a week. In fact we just finished watching it; or rather Alex fell asleep so I turned it off. He also recently got a new toy, a yellow transformer I don’t know what its called but it has several buttons and when you push them they makes all kinds of noise. This new toy eats with us as well; luckily it sits next to me at the table. I don’t mind it, although I did like it better two weeks ago when Spiderman was cool because then I got to wear my Superman costume when we played super heroes.

Benny el Perrito

Benny the dog has had two baths this week. He is a white mix of some sort (kind of resembles Cookie, only white and about 5 pounds bigger) and he insists on digging holes in the backyard daily. He actually likes the sweater that I got him, and he wears it all the time. We also tried to take him for a walk the other day because Alex wanted to show people Benny’s new sweater. When we opened the gate Benny just stood their terrified. He has never been outside of the gate, although he does spend a good 2 hours a day barking at the other dogs in the street. Personally I think he is scared of the street dogs and likes to be safe hiding behind the gate. So my host mother bought a leash for Benny (it’s very rare for dogs to have leashes in Ecuador) and we are going to try to go for a walk again tomorrow.

Field Trips are F-U-N!!!!!!!!!!!

This past Sunday we went on a field trip. It was very exciting, 12 students crowded into a tiny van and we went to visit an Indigenous Quechua community where our Quechua Professor is from. It was very beautiful, and we learned all about the plants that grow naturally here in Ecuador that can be used as herbal medicines. There’s this giant plant that has spikes on it, and it kind of resembles an aloe vera plant and you can drink the juice from it and eat its heart and it’s full of protein and gives you lots of energy. It tasted kind of like water and sugar with a hint of onion and a tangy after taste.

We also visited this “Casa del Cultura” that is trying to preserve the Quechua culture. The house is a community centre and it hosts weekly Quechua classes. It also has an amazing organic garden and a green house and all of the meals that are made there come entirely from their garden. We had a very delicious meal consisting of potato, quinoa, and onion soup, a tomato, lettuce and thyme salad, and a desert made from comates. There are four people who live in the house and they built it without the help of any real construction workers (and used only recycled wood) they use carbon and sea salt to brush their teeth, and they eat out of handmade clay bowls with hand carved wooden spoons. It might sound a little strange but it was really nice. They are trying to go back to their roots and live off the land, growing their own food, eating traditional meals and avoiding capitalist society. It was the closest thing I have seen to a functioning commune, and it is surrounded by the Andes. Very inspiring.