Quito & Guayaquil

The last few days here in Ecuador have been quite adventurous for Leilani and me. We arrived on Sunday and started work bright and early Monday morning. A lovely woman named Doris from the Plan Ecuador office is escorting us around to the different interviews and chats that they have lined up for us here. Because our investigation and report will be on Plan’s education in emergencies programs, we are talking with people from Ecuador’s Ministry of Education, from UNICEF and other UN Agencies, and from Plan itself. It’s been an amazing experience because we get to talk with so many interesting people who are doing great work in the field.

Me with the requisite NGO logo-ed Toyota field vehicle

Out of the blue on Monday we were asked to join Plan’s weekly Tuesday morning radio chat with a national radio station that broadcasts out of Quito. Of course we were quite taken aback and a little frightened to have to speak to an entire nation of people in our second language and on a topic that we aren’t quite experts in (disaster risk reduction and the environment). At one point the radio host asked me how I felt about the environment in Ecuador. Having absolutely no clue about any kind of environmental issues in Ecuador, I naturally sidestepped the question with a response which may or may not have made any sense, about how wonderful Ecuador is and how its natural resources in the environment should be protected for future generations. Despite how incredibly nerve-wracking the experience was, we had a lot of fun and I have to say that it was quite an adrenaline rush. Definitely an experience we will never forget.

At the radio station "Fe y Alegria" after our national radio debut. This guy had the best radio voice ever.

Later this week we traveled out to the field “el campo” twice, once to the small town of Cotopaxi up in the mountains of central Ecuador, and once to the field office in Santa Lucia, about an hour outside of the coastal city of Guayaquil. Guayaquil is a huge city and also happens to be the place where tourists come, either to see the city itself or on their way to the Galapagos Islands. It was very strange hearing English spoken (in a southern drawl, no less) at the hotel in Guayaquil where we spent a night before traveling out into the field today. We were able to talk to a lot of staff at the Plan Santa Lucia office and even had the opportunity to conduct a focus group with a group of teachers in a local school.

Tuk-tuk (rickshaw) rides are always more fun when crammed in with your co-workers and flying over bumps at

As always, things are ending too soon. We flew back on a little commuter plane from Guayaquil to Quito yesterday and from Quito to Panama to El Salvador on Sunday. For today, we are going to check out the Mitad del Mundo (“Middle of the World”) where you can stand with one foot in each hemisphere, the artisanal market, and possibly the old historical part of town. After such a busy week a few tourist traps are exactly what we need!

 

Lunch at a local Santa Lucia School with the teachers behind