Gender and Development, Peace Corps Ecuador

Within Peace Corps Ecuador are different committees run by volunteers to support sustainable growth within the country outside of our normal responsibilities in our sites. I am a member of PCE's Gender and Development (GAD) Committee. We work all over the country to promote awareness of gender issues as well as work in conjunction with the Kiwanis club to provide scholarships for high school girls. Recently, we decided to add a seminar on men's health, open only to men to create a 'safe space' for learning and questions. This past week, I traveled to Quininde, a small town about 2 hours from Ecuador's coast to assist with and attend our very first men's health seminar. We had 15-20 men show up, the majority from the town's taxi cooperatives. Not sure how the seminar would run, we were pleastantly surprised that the men were very involved and active, asking questions and giving their opinions. We had a discussion dealing with gender issues, heard a talk on men's health from a local doctor, and learned about HIV/AIDS. For a half-day seminar, I think we discussed some incredibly important issues and that these men will more than likely go back to their co-workers, friends and families and share the information with them. In November we have a GAD seminar planned in Guayaquil, one of Ecuador's largest cities where we will capacitate volunteers and their counterparts in gender issues and how gender is affecting the projects they are planning in their sites. GAD has a lot of amazing plans for the future and is definitely doing great things here in country. We will be asking for money to finance the November seminar so stay tuned to see how you can help!

We just wrapped up our mid-service conference over in Quito, marking a little over a year of service and the beginning of our last ten months. It was great to see everyone and to start planning our last year together in country. It was also nice to hear that most of us have been in the same boat concerning counterparts, housing, projects, etc. Somehow, being in Quito requires the spending of ridiculous amounts of money to take taxis (for fear of getting robbed) and eat delicious lunches, such a sushi or…Burger King. You can’t leave the Super Maxi without spending 10 to 20 dollars on pasta sauce, peanut butter or, for the newly acquired stove at the Runa office, brownie mix and an oven mitt. Another thing I’ve noticed about Quito is that no matter how long I spend there, be it 2 days or 1 week, it is inevitable that I leave sick. I sneeze, my throat hurts, my ears pop on the bus ride back and I’m miserable until I have returned to the jungle and things get back to normal. I just can’t handle the high altitude and cold weather. Being sick, in turn, makes my Spanish hard to understand since I’m too tired and lazy to enunciate my words properly. I hate being sick. This realization has caused me to reminisce back to the early days, when I first arrived in country and my language skills weren’t quite up to par – a combination of lack of knowledge, practice and self-confidence. I will now share with you, my faithful reader(s?), a few examples of what I am talking about: 1. When I first got here and lived at the caves, it was a daily struggle to get through meaningless conversations: what do you like to eat, do you have a boyfriend?, how much money do you make?, why do you only have one sibling?, etc. Through these conversations, I learned that the word for sandwich, “sanduche,” is in fact SANduche, not sanDUche. I also learned that the word for police, “policia,” is not polICia. It’s poliCIA. Everyone got a good laugh about my wrongly accented words. 2. One day, my friend Monica was asking for help with her homework (she had recently returned to high school after having a baby). She had to describe a “paisaje,” or landscape. I said, “That’s easy! It’s the money I give to the bus helper whenever I go to Tena.” I had never heard that group of people laugh so hard. “No no Sarita, that’s PAsaje. Not PAIsaje. But good try.” I laughed at myself for that one. 3. This next one isn’t so much embarrassing for a language slip-up as just plain embarrassing. Tena, the capital of the province and a city about 30 minutes south of me, is a very popular destination for rafting and kayaking, and therefore boasts a very high number of raft and kayak guides. Because these guys work with gringos (foreigners) so often and have heard stories and know people who have actually married one and moved to the states, they try very hard to hook one of their very own. So, hanging out at the bar scene one night, I meet “Pedro,” a raft guide who loves to salsa and lives near Laurel and Dan. After that, he calls me quite often to get me to go learn to kayak, salsa dance, accompany him to his cousin’s graduation party, etc. I eventually get so tired of saying no/ignoring his calls that I think it will be a fantastic idea to make up an excuse. I tell him I’m sick, can’t get out of bed, and that I think I will have my unknown disease for at least a week. I basically forget about that conversation and head on to my daily activities: English class at the caves. After class, I catch the 8:15 Jumandy bus as usual. I sit down in my seat on an almost empty bus and hear, “hola sarita” come from a not-sounding-too-happy voice. I look over and who is it but “Pedro.” I quickly let out an extremely fake cough and try to lower my voice to sound as though I’d lost it and muster up some kind of excuse. I basically end up laughing for the remainder of my 4 minute bus ride home, as I’m sure I’ve been figured out. This, however, is no deterrent for an Ecuadorian man. 4. On my final Language Proficiency Test before we were cleared to go to our sites, I completely messed up “my name is sarah.” I am generally a nervous person, whether it be interviews, oral tests or speaking in front of a crowd, and this was no different. Instead of saying “mi nombre es sarita” or “me llamo sarita,” I combined the two: “mi llamo es sarita.” Luckily my interviewer knew my personality and let it slide; I still ended up being an advanced speaker. 5. Actually living in a Spanish-speaking country, you learn things your high school Spanish teacher never thought it useful to teach you: flirting. Luckily, I have Lydia near me who I can text or call at anytime to ask stupid questions: how do you conjugate this verb? What’s a good way to say this without coming across rude?, etc. Unfortunately, in one instance I texted Lydia about one text too late. A guy I had met and been talking to messaged me and told me he liked me or, ‘me gustas.’ I, not knowing how the verb ‘to like’ could be conjugated between two people, conjugated it right back at him: ‘te gusto tambien.’ Which, I’m not really sure what that translates to. I decided to ask Lydia after sending him the message. She then informed me that “I like you” is always ‘me gustas.’ It makes so much sense now...after the fact. That's all I can think of for now, but I'm sure there are plenty other stories and there will be more to come.

Home Sweet Home

I'm leaving tomorrow to return to Ecuador. Its been a busy but bittersweet vacation! I got to see friends from high school, college and camp and the majority of my TN family. I saw Laura graduate high school and Michael graduate Elon Law (good luck on the bar!), met girlfriends, marveled at the amount of clothing still in my closet, made canteloupe juice, did not eat chik-fil-a (kind of sad about that), drank tasty beer at Racks by the Tracks and traveled to North and South Carolina and Atlanta. The things most appreciated from being home were sitting on leather couches, hundreds of channels on the TV, walking around barefoot and hot showers (not to mention everyone buying me lunch!). I'm eager to get back to life in the jungle - I miss my all of my friends and my puppy, so that's a good sign! I have one year left with the Peace Corps so heres to more adventures to tell you all. Love, Sarah

water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink!

Last night, it started raining here in Archidona around 7 p.m. and did not stop until this morning around 8 a.m. It also rained in Tena, the capital city and in the surrounding communities. I woke up a few times last night noticing the strength of the rain, but thought nothing of it. Laurel, who lives in Tena, called me around 7:30 this morning to let me know of the destruction the rains had caused there. The water rose higher than it ever has before. It completely covered the roads and flooded many of our favorite restaurants there by the river. Houses and belongings were being brought down the river which eventually took out the bridge to the zoo on the island where the two rivers, the Pano and the Tena come together. There is still a family stranded there waiting for the waters to reside. The bridge was made with steel-reinforced concrete, which you can see by the picture above. I went out to survey the damage this afternoon and it was truly incredibly. The roof of a dance club by the river was completely destroyed, stores with their merchandise strewn across the road, everyone helping and doing what they could. To top it off, there is no water in the pipes and the river water is too muddy/dangerous to use. It's ironic. Two girls died here in my town because they couldn't get out of their house fast enough to escape the rushing water. No schools here in town had classes. It was truly a sad, interesting day. Tena has alot to clean up and rebuild in the coming days. The waters have started to reside, but as of this afternoon the Misahualli river that runs beside Archidona and eventually into the Pano river was still very high. Everyone out here from Peace Corps is safe and accounted for, thankfully. It just started sprinkling in Archidona....

As long as exciting things keep happening down here, you lucky readers will have something to waste your time on! After I got back from the weekend with the dentists - completely exhausted (I went to bed at 7 p.m. on Monday!) - it was back to work at Runa. All of the 'tecnicos' from the Archidona office have been working for months building our new tea drying racks, garden, and firepit behind the office. After all of this work, Wednesday was the big day - the inauguration of the new equipment and the chance to get the important people from governmental agencies to come see what Runa is all about. Fundacion Runa has a main office in Quito and two field offices here in Archidona and down south in Puyo. From the field offices, there are 'tecnicos' that travel into the communities to teach them how to plant the guayusa and give them technical assistance along the way. Each farmer plants 625 plants in 1 hectare. In about three years, they will begin to see more income from selling the leaves of these trees to us. We buy at .35 cents a pound - almost double the going rate. Also in three years, Runa will see increased primary materials because the plants will be ready. We bring the leaves (from the farmers in Napo and Pastaza provinces) to the Archidona office to pre-dry the leaves, dry them in our industrial dryers, crush them and then ground them even smaller to be ready to put them into tea bags. Right now the business is online (http://www.runa.org/) but in the future we hope to move to small organic food stores like Whole Foods and also into small cafes and coffee shops. The founder of Runa is Tyler Gage, a 24-year-old graduate of Brown University. I've gotten to spend some time with him in these few weeks I've been working here and he is a remarkable person. To be so young and already have such a successful business is amazing and I definitely admire him and everyone that has been working for Runa. Tuesday night, all the staff was treated to an amazing dinner at Huasquila Lodge, north of Archidona in Cotundo. It was a nice way to start the inauguration and realize all of the great things we are doing. Wednesday was a long day - we were up at 7 a.m. to start setting up the tables, chairs and promotional materials outside. At 9, we all headed to the minicipal government for Tyler to give his presentation. After a successful presentation and much publicity, everyone headed to the office to begin the festivities. We had plenty of guayusa to drink, traditional dancers, a toast and then all went to lunch. In the afternoon, a few more people showed up to see the open house, and I was exhausted. Lydia, my friend that also helped with the dental translatng, had traveled up that morning from Puyo. Lydia lives in a community where they have Runa guayusa and helps the farmers in the area of technical assistance and also has school gardens. It is cool to be working for the same foundation but in different levels of the tea-making process! After a quick nap, we headed back to the office to see if we could help with anything, but everyone was already heading to the karaoke bar across the street! The owner of the bar is helping us out with the drying process so it is a place they frequent often. After plenty of Pilsener, singing, and dancing, we headed to eat. Thank you to the only restaurant open in Archidona late-night! I am very lucky to be working for such an organized, driven foundation. Thursday and Friday were holidays leading up to Easter so there was no work to be done. I hope everyone had a relaxing and happy Easter!

Translating

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to work with a group of dentists from the United States who had come to Ecuador on a medical mission. They came through The Judith Lombeida Foundation and the Children's International Dentist Project and worked here in Ecuador in conjuction with the Ecuadorian Air Force. My friend Lydia Montes, who lives down south near Puyo, came up to be the other translator from the Peace Corps. We met the group on Thursday for lunch at the Air Force base and then headed to the first site, Santa Rita. Santa Rita is a small Kichwa community just outside of Archidona. After set-up, Lydia and I returned to Archidona and watched the SandLot, a movie that is frequently quoted here in Tena cluster but I couldn't remember watching in my childhood. Friday morning, the commander of the Air Force base here in Tena picked us up on my street corner in Archidona and we headed out for the first day of our two-day mission in Santa Rita. We saw about 85 patients - pulling teeth, filling cavities and teaching the kids and their parents about good hygiene. I worked mainly with a dentist from Colorado Springs and his wife. Because it is a Kichwa community, my little knowledge of Kichwa helped me out quite a bit. We returned to Tena after the long work day and had dinner with Tena cluster. Saturday morning we met the Air Force bus in Archidona and headed back to Santa Rita. Our second day went by faster and we broke down the rooms around 330 to head home after the closing program. The dentists we were working with treated us to dinner at The Marquis (steak!!) and then we went dancing with some of the dentists and Air Force men. Sunday we met the bus in Tena and headed out to San Pedro which is my friend John's site. We set up the equipment and got to work. It was a smaller school so we could see all the students in one day. All of our machines kept tripping the breakers so we had to work around it. John came out to show his support before losing his soccer game in the Sunday tournament, 9-0. We packed everything up around 3:00 and Lydia and I headed back to Archidona to get ready for the closing dinner and program at the Air Force base. We had dinner and watched a video of the past three days then headed out to receive certificates (from the foundations and the air force!) and see some indigenous dancing. It was an incredibly exhausting weekend but I felt really good about being able to help these dentists out with the translating. This week, it's back to work because here at the Foundation Runa tomorrow we have the inauguration of the new dryers where we dry the guayusa leaves. Busy busy! Take care.

SK

I actually updated my blog!

Hola a todos:

Sorry for not updating in 2010...and half of 2009. I'll start where I left off:

In December, Mom, Dad and Michael came down for about two weeks. We spent a few days in Quito touring the Old Town, bartering for goods in Otavalo, visiting the 'middle of the world,' taking a gondola up an extinct volcano to take int he views of about five snow-capped volcanoes surrounding the city, eating good food, celebrating the holiday and spending time together. After a week in the busiest city I've ever been in, we boarded a bus and made our way to the jungle. The hosteria we stayed at reminded me of summer camp. It's a huge island that rescues monkeys and other jungle animals and rehabilitates them. We spent the weekend there and relaxed a bit and then I sent them to a hostal in Tena (the only one with air conditioning!) We visited the caves, the zoo, walked around Tena, took a trip to the Super Tia, hung out with Tena cluster, and enjoyed each other's company. it was a really great trip and I guess it was fun to be a tourist/tour guide for a bit. My family enjoyed their trip but did comment on how poor the country is - something I think I've started not to notice since living here.

I moved into a cute, safe new house in the city and had to give Nina (the bigger white dog) away. She's with a good family a few towns over and so I know she's happy. Beso is still small and awkward and most likely not going to grow more and is a good dog. My neighbors and the people in my barrio are extremely nice so I've made some good friends here in town. January went by quickly and we moved into February: Carnaval. Ecuador has more parties and holidays than the United States will have over a period of twn years. Carnaval is probably the craziest holiday. We had over 700 people at the caves one day over the long weekend and the last day we got to play. Carnaval = water balloons, silly string/shaving cream, mud, flour, etc. It wasn't much fun trying to wash flour out of my already wet hair but I will say that joking around that day with everyone, pushing people in the pool, throwing flour, etc. was one of the best days I've had here so far, although I did somehow lose my shoes...

March has arrived and with it some big changes in my Peace Corps life. I no longer work at the caves and have shifted my attention to wokring with kindergarteners in the mornings and Fundacion Runa in the afternoons. Working with the kids is incredibly fun - it's like having 70 automatic best friends that all want to hold your hand. I teach environmental education and English. You would not believe how hard it is for a three year old to distinguish between 'apple' and 'purple.' In the afternoon, I head over to the offices of Fundacion Runa (http://www.runa.org/) It is so nice to be in an office setting and use the skills that I came here with. The people I work with are all great and I'm so happy with my 'new life.' Last week, all the kindergarten teachers in the area had a soccer tournament. My team lost 2-1 but that one point on the scoreboard was all thanks to yours truly! It made me realize I actually enjoy playing soccer. Strange, I know. After the match I headed to Quito/Cayambe for our 'little brother/sister' picnic with Omnibus 103 - what a fun group of people! A good time was had by all and it was great seeing everyone from 101 as well. This week I get to help translate for some dentists that are coming to the smaller Kichwa communities to give check - ups and perform surgeries. We'll see how much dental vocab I can cram in before Thursday! At the end of April, my friend Jaime from training is coming to visit, then it's May which means...HOME! I'll be back in the states May 13-26th so I expect to see all of you there!

Much love,

Sarita