Don´t go chasing waterfalls... (just kiddin´)
The last week or so of ¨training¨ has been so laid-back that it is probably more accurate to just call it tourism. I have done 4 hikes and 1 mountain climb on horse back in the past 6 days.
I don´t mean to make everyone jealous... but you all should be. Here are some pictures.
These pictures cover three seperate trips. The first was a hike around a lake that is in the crater of a volcano. It is actually only an hour or so from where I am going to live (Mira, Carchi).
The second was a horse-back ride that we took up towards Cayambe, the 3rd highest peak in Ecuador. We didn´t get even close to the snow, but I did ride a horse for the second time ever. I was scared out of my mind, but loving it, as my horse galloped for about an hour on the way down the mountain! (The computer isn´t working really well, so I only could put this one picture... which is of Paul. He reminds me a of a Stanford-educated Scooter.)
The third was a ¨work trip¨ that we took to the transitional zone. We stayed in a nice open air cabin in the middle of the rainforest and then we went on hikes to waterfalls where we could swim. Yup... it really was that awesome, I´m not exaggerating. (I was actually leaving out parts, like the fact that we saw a Quetzal... a ridiculously rare bird, and that we had to cross a river on a mini-wooden gandala in order to get to our cabin.)
Look Mira!
Bummer... I had just written something cool for all of you and the computer crashed causing me to lose all motivation to write it again. I will do my best.
I returned at the beginning of the week to my Training community and have just another 2 weeks before I head out to ¨swear in¨, become an official volunteer, and more out to my site and my work.
I am super excited and a little intimidated about the responsibilities and expectations that rest upon me as I head to work in the northern mounatins of this amazingly beautiful country. I will be working with mainly a mainly rural afro'ecuadorian population in the ¨canton¨ (or county) or Mira. In Ecuador, just like in the States and the rest of the world, people of African descent are the most oppressed and disadvantaged population. I am an exception in terms of the rest of the volunteers who will be working with youth, young adults, and their families, because I will be in a fairly rural area while my comrades work in urban areas(towns that range from 20,000 - to cities of 3 million... although those in the largest cities concentrate their activities in just one or two barrios). I will be based out of a town (also called Mira) which has a population of about 5-10,000 people, but will live in a community of 300-500, and then work in a few surrounding pueblitos that have similar populations.
Who knows how much of this work I will actually accomplish and what things I will do that I would never expect... but this is my general plan at this point:
The organization with which I am going to work is called The Youth Network. It is awesome becuase it was started three years ago by about 10 high school friends who decided that they wanted to change things, so they organized themselves and started to try and motivate other youth and young adults to do the same. They also got in contact with groups (soccer teams to knitting groups) that were already organized and encouraged them to work alongside them. Right now they get a little funding from the municipal government, have a little ¨office¨ where youth can come and hang out and where they can plan stuff, and about 15-20 groups affliated (these groups range in size from 5 people to 25).
I plan to work with some of the ¨youth groups¨ of rural communities where they haven´t had as much contact or interaction because it is difficult to travel between Mira and the surrounding little towns (only one bus in and one bus out every day and very few cars that travel the one mountainous dirt road). The opportunities seem endless but here are a few ideas that the people there want to see happen.
Capacitate the youth:
To look towards want they want to do and set goals in order to accomplish it.
Learn how to do basic business and come up with small business ideas (micro-business).
To start community banks (which are ways that they can save money and take out small loans to try out their business ideas).
Organize ways for the groups to get together and unify them so that they are a more powerful force and can work for more community change.
Leadership training.
Also I will be working in the schools (hopefully), teaching things like:
HIV-AIDS and sex education
Problem solving and conflict resolution
Helping with self'esteem
and all sorts of other random stuff.
Hopefully, I will also get the opportunity work with parents and facilitate groups on parenting, intrafamily violence (mainly domestic violence and child abuse), community banking, and nutricion (wow... me teaching nutrition... we will have to see!).
More than anything, my ¨job¨ is going to be meeting people, making friends, helping out with whatever I can, hanging out with kids, honing my soccer skills (and volleyball and basketball, because they like those sports too), learning how to fish and where all the good spots are, and just being the white guy that is always hanging out (when he isn´t meeting with people, working in the school, or traveling around).
I definitly don´t think that I will be bored. But I do know that know and again I will get frustrated, really lonely, confused, and overwhelmed.
Pray for me. Send me emails. Send me letters in the mail (or even packages!). Or... come and visit!!
My address from now on is:
PCV Steve Gisel
Casilla 10-03-10
Ibarra, Imbabura, Ecuador
Since you read this... you should now send me an email at stevegise@gmail.com and tell me what you think or just about what you´ve been thinking about lately. Maybe you could tell me a little story or just say, ¨whatup¨. I don´t care if it is 2 sentences long.
