Ecuador, Community, Program Director
Manna Project International
When Soccer Isn't Just a Sport: Futbol in ...

Growing up in Maryland, I played soccer until around middle school, when I realized I wasn’t all that good at it and that I was in love with basketball instead. Since then, I’ve been known to kick the occasional ball around, but I was pretty nervous when I was invited, along with my friend and fellow PD Patrick, to play for Once Valientes B (in English: eleven brave ones) in the Shandia soccer league.

When Soccer Isn't Just a Sport: Futbol in Shandia
Ecuador, Community, Events
Manna Project International
Music, Colors, Foods … and lots of Laughter - ...

As in many parts of the world, this past week in Shandia was all about the celebration of Carnaval. Originally coming from an area that calls the local Carnival the annual “fifth season”, I was especially excited to see what Carnaval in Ecuador would look like. What would the local customs, foods and music be like?

Music, Colors, Foods … and lots of Laughter - Carnaval in Shandia
Manna Project International
A Day in the Life of the Amazon Rainforest: ...
A Day in the Life of the Amazon Rainforest: Welcome to Shandia!
Abby Pauley
Discomfort as a Sign of Growth
Discomfort as a Sign of Growth

Women's Exercise Party



Round table discussion on wellness
Janine thinking deep thoughts

People of all ages made it

A final exercise demonstration to round it out


This past Saturday, we had a party for our Women’s Exercise program to attract more women to our classes and to address a health topic that’s on the minds of most Ecuadorian women.  The topic of this party was how to get rid of belly fat, which sounds ridiculous as I’m typing it out, but it’s a big concern to women here.  However, we didn’t just want to focus on the exercise aspect of burning fat.  We also wanted to stress the importance of having a healthy diet and a balanced lifestyle.  So, we merged the party with our cooking and nutrition class in order to draw in people who were interested in both exercise and nutrition.

It ended up being a huge success!  We had around 15 women there, and they were so attentive, some even taking notes, as we talked about exercising and eating healthy in order to decrease belly fat.  Before the exercise talk, Madeleine and Janine led the cooking and nutrition talk, handing out a healthy smoothie recipe that we then made with the women.  Then Heather talked about foods that are good to eat when trying to cut down on belly fat, Jenni led the discussion on the health risks of having belly fat, and I talked about exercises and lifestyle habits that help to reduce belly fat.  After that, we showed them some exercises that target the belly area and did a zumba demonstration to give them a taste of what our exercise classes are like. 

Because of the great turnout and enthusiastic responses to the party, we’re hoping to see an increase in attendance in women’s exercise classes!   

Lucy

Tingo Pools

All work and no play...

This saying does not exist for us here in Ecuador.  Combining our work with play, we took the jovenes on a field trip to Tingo, a local water park.  Spending all morning splashing around with our swim caps on (my first time sporting one), somersaulting into pools and riding the slides, a fun time was had by all.  Returning in the back of a pick-up truck (normal mode of transportation here), we shared popcorn and jokes as the sky turned gray, an afternoon storm quickly approaching and ending our day at the water park. 

 Playing in the kiddie pools
Just floating around..
 El tobogán

¡Fiesta de Rumiloma!


 Joey and Jefferson testing their strength.
 Ecuador's Spiderman.
 JUMP!
 Bird's-eye view of the party.
 Firetruck rides.
 Diana and her daughter Martina getting groovy.
 Jefferson networking with Nancy from one of our partner organizations.


Mis Amigos,

This past Saturday the Manna team hosted the annual community celebration known as Fiesta de Rumiloma, or FDR.  We were under the impression FDR was a day of celebration for the great President Franklin Delano Roosevelt; turns out we were misled. 

Rising early from our cozy beds to clear views of Cotopaxi and Iliniza Sur, both majestic mountains to the south, the crew began setting up tables for our partner organizations, a face painting station for the Red Cross, as well as numerous other activities to keep the community members entertained throughout the morning.  The Cooking and Nutrition Program had a bake sale while the Preventative Health Center distributed health information.  We had inscriptions for classes open to the public, signing more future students up for our English courses.  Local bomberos, firefighters, showed up later in the day for an equipment demonstration and a fire safety discussion followed by free firetruck rides through the community.
The Women's Exercise team demonstrated the wide variety of exercises they offer with short workouts from all different classes.  We had tug of war, a jump roping contest, corn hole, and soccer games all going on simultaneously.  We had a raffle, offering everything from free English classes for adults and children to free language exchange lunches with some of the Program Directors.
But most importantly we had a great time putting on this event for the community in which we work and live.

All in all, the day was a huge success.  Severely sun burnt and exhausted, all group members returned home after another successful day down here in Ecuador.

Thanks for stopping in and we will keep you posted on more Manna happenings to come.

Thanks,
Pete