New Kids on the Cuadra

Hello MPIE readers,

Well the final cluster of the PDs of 2011-2012 left yesterday so my group has taken the reins and its safe to say that the Ecuador chapter of Manna is in safe, capable hands. This is not only my first blog post for Manna, but my first blog post ever so bear with me over the next few weeks as I get the tone of the blog and formatting under control. We started our summer camp on Tuesday this week and its been a huge success so far, however a more in-depth post on that will be coming in the next week. I just wanted to use this first post to introduce myself and my fellow bloggers who will be running Open Hands and Dirty Feet over the next year.

My name is Jefferson Deming, 22 years old, and a recent graduate from Vanderbilt University. Im from  El Dorado, AR, a small town in the southern part of the state. I've traveled a fair amount throughout Europe and South America and am looking to bring this experience to the blog. As aforementioned, this is my first go at blogging so am looking forward to learning the ropes. Im the director for Small Business Development, Agriculture, Computer Class, and the Teen Center so let me apologize ahead of the time for any bias.

A graduate in Health Sciences from the University of North Carolina-Asheville, Peter is looking forward to the next year and all the experiences ahead here in Ecuador.  He will be working in the Agriculture, Child's Nutrition and Preventative Health programs, as well as being an active member at Manna's Teen Center and Library. Pete will also be heading up our Video blogging which we hope to incorporate more thoroughly into the blog this year. 

Sarah Grossman is a graduate of Brown University '12 in International Relations. Born and raised in NYC, she has spent the last three summers working in community development in Panama, Mexico, and Ecuador. In light of her passion for serving impoverished communities, she joined Manna Project in Quito, Ecuador. She currently runs the Small Business Program, teaches Advanced Adult English, and does international PR. When she returns home, she hopes to pursue a career in non-profit and international development

Thats just a quick bio on the three of us who will running the blog and if you'd like to meet the rest of the PDs this year just follow the link below and read up on us all. And I think I speak for everyone when I say I am deeply sorry for how we all look in our pictures. 

http://mannaproject.org/ecuador-team

Cheers,

Jefferson 

Ecuador... you will be missed

This has been a week of lasts as the 2011-2012 Program Directors hand over our lives and programs to the new group. As my last blog post I compiled a list of things we “old PDs” are going to miss about Ecuador as we had back to the US. It is unbelievable how fast the time passed, and how quickly this foreign country became our home and these Ecuadorians became our family and friends. August snuck up on us, and while I do miss friends and family at home as of right now there is no part of me that is ready to leave Ecuador. Well, asi es la vida… Here are the things that made this year incredible and we are really going to miss:

The food! cevichocho, hornado, seco de pollo, humitas, encocado, encebollado

The music - especially the constant salsa and reggaeton mixes on the public buses 

Hugging kids in the library

Riding the Capelo

Being the tallest person in a 50mi radius

The community members who constantly make us feel appreciated and welcome

Reading with Matias

Crepes and Waffles ice cream

Fresh fruit juices

Playing rapido

The adventure! We woke up everyday not really knowing what to expect and in Ecuador, the unexpected usually occurred  

Family dinners in the Manna House

The Choclo

Doing work that is fulfilling

Gandalf

The weather in the valley

Speaking Spanish

Teaching exercise classes

Being called “vecina” and “mi hija” but mostly being called “profe”

Living in the same house with some of our best friends

Our English students and the Adult English parties

Being constantly surrounded by the Spanish language

The amazing hospitality of Ecuadorians

Living in the mountains, there is nothing like waking up to the Andes every morning

The natural beauty of Ecuador

This year’s blog will be managed by Sara, Jefferson, and Pete. One reassuring thought about leaving Manna, the new group is awesome. MPI Ecuador is in good hands.

Seventy-One Surgeries and a Changed Community

Here is a guest blog from Nicole about Manna's first annual pet sterilization clinic:

In the community of Rumiloma, stray dogs roam the streets, making bus stops or sidewalks their homes. Without medical attention, these dogs carry disease throughout the community and freely reproduce. While spaying and neutering pets is more common in the United States, cultural and financial barriers prevent it from being the norm in Ecuador. The surgery costs a minimum of $100, about half of the average Ecuadorian monthly income.

Emily Samson, lead PD on the PHC program, recognized this issue early on and began brainstorming ways to answer such a fundamental need in our community. This past weekend, we hosted our first spay/neuter clinic; not only was this event a first for Manna, but it was the first clinic for our community of Rumiloma. The clinic was thought up, designed, and executed by our Preventative Health Care program with the assistance of the other PDs, including the new 2012-2013 PDs – their first big community event! Protección Animal Ecuador, a local Ecuadorian organization, provided volunteer veterinarians and technicians. We were also able to obtain some supplies from local organizations, while the remainder was purchased with our monetary donations.

The event started with a Friday night charla (lecture) at the Centro where people received their coupon for the next day’s clinic. The attendance was overwhelming, with more than 70 people in attendance, and our good friend and veterinarian, Christian, agreed to add an additional 20 surgeries to the agenda. The next morning, we were beat to the plaza by an eager group of community members waiting patiently and excitedly with their pets. After set-up and extensive training for all the PDs, we began the constant stream of surgeries that lasted from 9:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. PDs and vets were all hard at work with stations including: registration, shaving, administering medicine, operating on the animals, cleaning the tools, nursing the animals back to health, and returning them to their owners with extensive follow- up instructions. We all got our hands dirty—some of us very dirty—as we worked together to cover every need and step of the way. Despite a late start (an early one, on Ecuador time!), everything ran incredibly smoothly from start to finish.

While I loved being by the operating table watching and taking pictures of the swiftness with which our amazing vets did everything, some of the most memorable moments were returning the animals to their owners and being greeted with such heart-felt thanks by them. New PD Peter Wagner got to work closely with one of our vets and even at the end of a very long day reported that “the sterilization clinic was a great success and very rewarding to be a part of. I couldn’t think of a better project to get our feet wet working with Manna and the community.” Sometimes community development work is difficult; you do not immediately see the benefits of your work. However, 71 pets and a crowd of happy and extremely thankful onlookers are hard to overlook.

A very special thanks to all of our donors, who helped us purchase the supplies, Christian Guachamin and Protección Animal Ecuador for their collaboration and hard work, and Emily Samson, who instills in all of us a love for animals and desire for their health and well-being, whose dream and determination made this possible.

The charla held the night before the event attracted over 70 community members 

Joaquin keeping order with the waiting list 

New PD Pete was a huge help 

Christian getting the job done 

A very thankful pet owner

New Profes

The past week has been crazy with the arrival of the new PDs (our replacements…), the ending of our last quarter of classes, and lots and lots of transition work. The new PDs spent their first week living in Quito with host families, getting to know the city and taking intensive one-on-one Spanish classes. On Friday we moved them into the valley, where they will spend one more week living with families and studying Spanish at the library. This is the first time we have done home-stays in the valley, and we are thrilled with how things are going. We had several really great families volunteer to host and the new group is one step ahead by already making bonds and connections with community members. A few of them got to attend a wedding this weekend, and they are already making their presence known in Rumiloma.

Another great thing about having them here in the valley is that they are already seeing programs first-hand and taking part in our end of the quarter events. We held our last Adult English party at the Manna house on Saturday after the final exams. This was awesome because the new PDs were able to meet our students and friends, which will make the start to next quarter much less awkward. It will also hopefully ensure that more students come back, since they have already met their new profes. We made each of the new PDs stand up and introduce themselves, an uncomfortable experience for those who still aren’t confident with their Spanish. It was funny because I remember being forced to do the same thing last year, and it is amazing how far we all have come. Our students were appreciative and welcoming, several standing up to give speeches themselves to thank us for everything, and to make the new profes feel at home.

Meeting the new group has brought up a lot of new emotions for me. It makes our leaving a reality, reminds me how fast time goes by, and makes me a little jealous that they still have this whole experience ahead of them. I’m really glad we have these few weeks together to get to know them, share our experiences, introduce them to our community, and impart our wisdom. Their enthusiasm and eagerness is encouraging, we are all excited to see where they’ll take Manna this year. 

Our neighbor Cesar welcoming Jenni 

Hanging out with English students 

Pete introducing himself to our students

Finally learning how to use our Sambos

Some of the new girls, enjoying dulce de sambo 

Pete and Cesar- fast friends

Au revoir Guillermo!

Here is a guest blog from Emily about one of her favorite English students:

This past weekend, I had to say my first goodbye. One of my English students, Guillermo, informed me that it would be his last class. He is a UN peacekeeper and is relocating to Haiti for the next 6 months. I was caught off guard by his unexpected goodbye and it has left me nervous for the month ahead, which will be full of goodbyes.

Guillermo is one of the funniest individuals I have had the pleasure of meeting here in Ecuador. I remember the first day he came to class – extremely quiet and standoffish; but over the last six months, boy have things changed….

Every time he enters the library he now greets us with a warm ”Bonjour!” or “ça va?”, because knowing two languages just isn’t enough for Guillermo J. He loved to tease me by randomly throwing in French vocabulary to see if I would notice. He also had his 2 favorite English phrases: “of course!” and “cooome on.” It’s hard to explain how funny these two phrases became, but just imagine them in a thick New York accent. At first, I thought I was the only one to notice his overuse of these two phrases, but the rest of the class soon chimed in and began using them as well.

A great example of Guillermo’s wonderful personality was displayed at one of our adult English parties. This particular party transformed into a yard-work party and Guillermo was the first guy to pick up a machete and get to work. He spent several hours clearing heavy brush from our backyard. And as if that wasn’t enough, he offered to come bright and early the next day to finish the job.  “We were thinking about starting around 6am” we joked. “I’ll be here at 5:30,” he responded in complete seriousness. But that’s just the kind of guy Guillermo is:  always willing to lend a hand and keep everyone laughing with his wonderful sense of humor.

I wish Guillermo the best of luck in his future endeavors. He will be greatly missed not only in the Super Advanced class, but also in the Manna community as a whole.

Guillermo helping cook for our Adult English party 

Emily's super advanced students at the Manna house 

Guillermo taking down our jungle