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1: Yaku is Vida

After waiting half an hour in the rain for the bus, we have finally made it to a cyber cafe. It has been an eventful first week at kilometer six. We arrived safely to puyo last sunday. It was an enjoyable yet bumpy car ride down to the oriente. The scenery was beautiful and the misting rain only enhanced the experience. We saw a lot of water falls, as well as drove through three or four cavelike tunnels to get to our destination. We were greeted by Maria, the ARP coordinator from Spain. She gave us a tour of KM 6, which is the new volunteer housing and community center. Previously volunteers lived in the city of Puyo but now it is on the Arajuno Road. On our first night we met Laura, who is the Director of ARP. She gave us a nice intro about the program and what are some of the programs that they are currently pursuing. As the week went by, Maria, who has spent a month here, talked about her experience immersing into Ecuadorian culture. She took us to the old volunteer house and introduced us to Carmen, who is a TEFL coordinator. Carmen is also from Spain and is here with her sister Natalia, who is also volunteering for ARP.

KM 6 is a former school which has been unoccupied for two years. Near this previous school, there are two families. As the week went by, we have gotten to know them. We have mainly gotten to know the kids, and are hoping to get to know the parents as time goes by. We have gotten to know them through playing soccor and having conversations with them. Also, we decided to go into Puyo on our own a few times. We explored the city and had a Ecuadorian rendition of lasagna. Rather than the kind that is mainly pasta and no soup, in Ecuador they make it using mainly soup with meat, vegetables, and the sheet pasta. It was a filling and good lunch.

Our first week here has been devoted to planning the summer camp, which will be our main project here. We have been coordinating with the school directors regarding the dates for the summer camps. We are thrilled to announce that we will be working with several communities, at four sites. This years theme is the Summer Olympics and we would be focusing on preserving traditional sports of local communities, Mariela will be joining Rodrigo, the co-director on a four hour motorcycle ride to Paparawa, the furthest community that we will be working with. They are Kichwa and from what we know, are the most removed from urban influence. On their way back, they will visit another site, Chuya Yaku, also a more indigenous community. This past week we confirmed with 10 de Agosto and San Ramon.

On Wednesday, we woke up before 6 to catch a 6:30 bus to San Ramon. Maria accompanied us to meet with the director. This was our first meeting with a member of the community without the presence of an ARP member. After confirming possible dates, he took us to meet with the presidente of the padres de familia to confirm the day of the minga, a community gathering where everyone works on a common project. On June 30th, we will join them to discuss our plans for the summer camp to the parents. We will join them in cleaning up the school before recuperacion – summer school, begins.

 

After meeting with them, we spent the day at the school with Becky, the TEFL coordinator in San Ramon who works with the local English teacher. We moved from classrooms, working with 9th grade, 8th grade and 10th grade. We were introduced to the students and had a chance to speak with them individually in English and Spanish. It was a cultural exchange as some were eager to share with us their native language of Kichwa. River is Yaku (we will share a more extensive list of words in the next posts!).  It was an exhausting yet enjoyable day getting to interact with the children and getting a glimpse of school life in Ecuador.

 

Yesterday, we completed our very first project, which was tackling cleaning out the old school computer room. This will be ARP’s main office. All that is left is a fresh coat of paint on the walls, restoring a couple pieces of furniture, and organizing the stacks of boxes from the old volunteer house.

 

Thank you for joining us on our journey along the Arajuno Road! Next stop, a restaurant to grab some delicious Ecuadorian lunch!

 

P.S. Pictures coming soon!

 

Con carinño y amor,

Kanika, Mariela y Maricruz

 

One thought on “1: Yaku is Vida

  1. Laura Cabral says:

    Your bumpy car ride sounds like something from a novel. I got goosebumps imagining that scene.

    I hope you can connect well with the students. What an opportunity! Im so happy those kids are going to learn with you. Im certain youll make a beautiful learning space.

    Reply

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