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!