Week 7

July 19, 2007
Week 7
Margaret Novak
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Last week was yet another interesting experience!! Throughout the week I worked on the Ecotrackers web page as well as numerous web blogs. I corrected some of the English writings as well as translated some Spanish writing into English. I also had numerous talks with Max and various other people that came into the office, and I learned much about the problems that affect Ecuador and the people that live here. For example, I learned of the negative affect that technology can have on a village. Cell phones were recently introduced into a town called Atacames. Before cell phones, people got along alright, but now, they feel as if they are a necessity. However, cell phones cost money, and the people there don´t have that extra money. Therefore, girls at the age of 12 and 13 want cell phones, and so they go into prostitution. Now, there are 12 and 13 year olds pregnant and sick just because they want cell phones. This is an extremely sad thing to have happen to community, and something must be done to put a stop to it. We talked about creating an education program that offers information on sexual health. I think that this would be extremely helpful to the community in Atacames.

Over the weekend, Max, Inti (who is originally from Otavalo, but he now teaches at a University in Australia), and I went on a trip to a community near Chimborazo. The bus ride to Riobamba took about 4 hours; we got there around noon and went directly to the large open air market. Apparently, Riobamba is the largest produce market in Ecuador. There were fruits and vegetables of every kina; there were about 25 different kinds of bananas at one stand! It was really neat to walk around and see all of the different produce. I learned which ones were native to Ecuador and which ones were not. I learned much about the extinction of various plant species due to genetic breeding; about 10 species of plants go into extinction every single day just due to farming practices. We ate at the market, and then continued on our way to the community that we were supposed to meet with, called The New Generation. However, once we got to where we were supposed to be, no one knew of the community. We couldn´t find it, and unfortunately we had no way to contact them. So, Max called a man named Baltazar, who lives in a community very near to where we were. Baltazar came into Ecotrackers about a month ago with two volunteers from Switzerland to talk about a community ecotourism project that would involve reforestation and organic gardening. The community was recently certified to grow organic produce, which is a very positive thing. Now that they won’t have to worry about chemicals leaking into their water sources and it will be much better for the Earth. It turned out that the Swiss girls were leaving the following day, so we had a community meeting that night to talk about the continuation of their project with Ecotrackers. We all gathered in a small building with a dirt floor, and had cake and tea that the Swiss girls had made for their last night, which was quite nice. It was very interesting to hear about how such a project is formed; we talked about how the community, their environment, and Ecotrackers would all interact to create a successful project. After the meeting, we went to sleep in one of Baltazar´s families´ homes. They fed us a good meal of soup and tea and we then went to bed. We woke up early the following morning so that we would be able to walk up to the Mirador (lookout), a lookout above the community, where you can see 5 different volcanoes. It was cloudy and rainy, so we only got a glimpse of Chimborazo, but it was still a breathtaking view. The wild wheat fields, the bright purple flowers, and the rolling mountains were gorgeous. We also crossed over the ancient Inca Trail, which was awesome. It is so cool to think that this trail has been there for hundreds and hundreds of years. We hiked back down (there isn´t much oxygen up there, so it was a little hard to breathe…), and then made our way back into Quito. It was a great experience, and one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen! I think that the project will be very successful because not only is it a beautiful place with wonderfully nice people, but it is also quite near a railroad, the Pan-American Highway, and the Incan Trail. I think that with this new project, they will be able to preserve their culture and their environment while bringing more opportunities to their people.