SALUDOS! IT'S TRANSITION TIME IN ECUADOR

Saludos de Ecuador! Our team of Program Directors arrived in-country on July 18, and it’s been a whirlwind ever since! We spent the first week exploring Ecuador’s capital city, Quito, with the help of our homestay familias and the Guayasamín Spanish school. We learned how to dance salsa, viewed Quito from 13,000 feet at the Teleférico, and got to know our new host city. 

Week two brought us to the Valle de los Chillos, where our year with Manna Project was kicked off with a bienvenida/despedida (welcome/farewell) party at Manna Project’s Centro. It seemed like the entire community came out to say goodbye to last year’s Program Directors and to meet the new team! 

The party was a great beginning to a productive week. We spent time getting to know our new neighbors, hosted a community meeting, held a fun and successful game night for kids in the community, and decided which programs we’ll be taking on this year. 

On Saturday evening, a community member invited us to his traditional Ecuadorian music and dance concert at the Casa de la Cultura in Quito, which we all thoroughly enjoyed. This week, the transition begins in earnest as the past year’s Program Directors depart for home. And so it begins!

by Kristin Sorenson, Ecuador Program Director

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VAMOS AL JARDIN BOTANICO

Last Saturday, a group of 27 children, three interns, and two program directors boarded a bus and rode to Quito to visit the Botanical Garden in Parque Carolina (the central park of Quito). This marked Manna’s first official “paseo” (field trip) and it was an overwhelming success! As the bus descended the hill that leads into Quito, cries of excitement among the children rung out upon spotting well-known landmarks of Quito such as the Panicillo, the Basilica, or even just a large building. The children’s excitement was infectious and even the volunteers began to get giddy as the bus neared Parque Carolina.

Upon arriving at the garden, the workers wasted no time and led us to a theater to watch an informational video about frogs and their habitat in the Amazon. After, the kids were divided into two groups and began a guided walking tour of the grounds. The garden was gorgeous and contained plants from all ecological regions of Ecuador. Unsurprisingly, the kids were most excited to see the carnivorous plants and koi ponds, but their interest in the whole tour was truly amazing. Some children were as young as six years old and stayed attentive during the entire tour, which lasted about an hour.

After leaving the garden, everyone was very hungry so a lunch of cevichocho (a traditional Ecuadorian street food containing plantain chips, beans, toasted corn, tomatoes, onion, lime, and pork rinds) and jugo de coco (coconut juice) was served to all. With fully bellies, the kids were given time to play in the park before hopping back on the bus to Sangolquí. Such a successful trip certainly calls for more adventures with the kids!

-- Sydney McKenney

*Manna Project International * Program Director * sydney.mckenney@mannaproject.org *

3 TAKEAWAYS FROM INTERNING WITH MANNA PROJECT ECUADOR

1. Finding Independence:

You call this place home. You know the bus stops, how to take a taxi, how to live independently. To actually live in a country, not only tour it and learning with hands on experience, has helped me recognize my positionality within a workplace, a community, and a society. -Kevin

2. Finding Comfort:

Learning how to get around independently on public transportation is a freeing feeling and a right of passage to living in this beautiful, crazy country. -Allie

3. Thinking about the Future:

Being here reinforced my desire to teach English in Spain. I learned how to teach the students more effectively! -Ben

Manna is doing great things in Ecuador, keep yourself updated and consider donating or volunteering! 

-Amber

10 Impactful Experiences for our Manna Interns

Interning at MPI-Ecuador is life-changing. You receive hands on experience by working closely with the people, developing the programs for the community, and participating in fundraising and other organizational roles. Stepping outside of your comfort zone and immersing yourself in a culture extremely different than ours can be a daunting task, but with very few days left in this beautiful country, we’d like to share some of our experiences with you!

10 IMPACTFUL EXPERIENCES

1. Climbing Cotopaxi:

It was time to sign up for events for the morning at our hostel. We had no idea what we should do. Allie stated that she sort-of wanted to hike to the glacier line of Cotopaxi. I had been thinking about it all weekend but, reading a book and laying on the hammock staring at Cotopaxi and the surrounding mountains was just as tempting. I turned to her and said “Allie let’s do it”. We signed up and left bright and early for the most grueling, beautiful hike I’ve ever been on. P.S. Hiking shoes are advised when climbing on sandy volcanic ash. -Amber

2. Manna English:

My most memorable moment working with MPI was the first time I got to teach a whole English class. It was so much fun teaching the students and seeing them light up and be so excited to learn something new. I'm really going to miss them! -Ben

3. Adventure:

I never thought I would be able to scale a waterfall, swing jump from a bridge, and climb to the glacier line of the tallest active volcano, let alone do it all in less than a week! -Allie

4. Mamitas:

I’ve never had a younger sister. I really enjoyed playing the role of an older sister to the girls over the past couple of weeks. To let them know that they matter and someone out here cares about them, has made this program my favorite. -Karmyn

5. ESPE University:

I’ve always enjoyed public speaking, but my clinical exercise science major is far from the classroom teaching experience. I would have never dreamed that traveling and volunteering would lead me to teach an

English

class to my peers. The class was on the pronunciation of “ed” words. It was my first time teaching English but the class was a success, hope they enjoyed it as much as I did! -Amber

6. Friendships:

Forming some of the best friendships of my life through shared experiences, trials, and a lot of hard work is a priceless treasure that brings a lifetime of memories. I love you guys! -Allie

7. Yoga:

I was worried about not being able to communicate with people as I'm not a Spanish speaker. This fear was proven to be unnecessary as soon as I taught a yoga class at Manna however! It was amazing that I was able to connect to the community members through yoga and share my passion! -Erica

8. Children:

One day when I was working in the library, it was pretty rowdy. I started playing the kids and we went up stairs and started playing tag with the exercise balls shouting “mine” in spanish. That was my favorite library shift! -Amber

9. Community:

I never imagined I could be surrounded by so many people with such beautiful hearts. The Ecuadorian experience is always a humbling experience that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. -Karmyn

10. Día de los Niños:

To celebrate the Ecuadorian holiday Día de los Niños, the interns organized a party in the library. I helped out in the art area, making maracas (because we really needed more noise.) A couple little girls got into the box of art supplies and started making jewelry. The group sent one little girl up to me; she showed me an impressively crafted pair of earrings. “Que lindo,” I said, “they’ll look so good on you.” But she giggled and shook her head. She reached up and tugged on my ears as she exclaimed, “tuyos!” in that adorable high-pitched voice only kids have. Did she just make earrings for her profe? This is the sweetest thing that has ever happened to me. I lean down and let her put the earrings in for me, then give her the biggest hug in the world. I’m still wearing them now!   -Sara

La Vida Saludable! Weekly Health Club at the Manna Centro

Recently, with the help of the new Manna interns, we have started a weekly health club out of the Manna Centro to provide community children with fun, interactive and educational health info. Our first week, we covered dental health by teaching the kids new facts and healthy habits about their teeth. After making them practice brushing for two full minutes to the tunes of an Ecuadorian pop song, we played trivia with toothbrushes as prizes. Did you know that you're supposed to brush the six different sections of your mouth for twenty second each? Well, the kids of Sangolqui do! 

This past week, our interns prepared a lesson on "Eating the Rainbow" by emphasizing the importance of getting a wide variety of colors through different fruits and vegetables in your diet.

Each kid colored and decorated their own rainbow plate and learned the benefits of each of their favorite fruits and veggies. This was of course followed by a very competitive trivia game and a healthy carrot snack for everyone. So far I have been surprised by the high attendance and interest of the kids in our new health club! We can't wait to see where this program goes in the next few weeks as we try to cover all the important aspects of a vida saludable/health lifestyle!