Eco-Ecuador
Collaboration for a Long-Term Sustainable City
November 6-11, 2006 This is our first week as a group without Patrick as acting Project Manager. Instead of relying on Patrick as the sole leader and teacher, I think we could all sense that we were beginning to pool together our resources and skills to compensate for the loss of such an invaluable mentor. There were a few hitches along the way reminding us, like […]
Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador There is an intriguing cultural paradox mixed in with the conflicted assortment of values and human experience that have evolved from contemporary globalism. How can there be “world” identity and preservation of diverse cultures at the same time? Eating fusion-nationality food, working as an importer of flowers from Ecuador, discussing Saudi Arabian Islamism, wearing running shoes made in China and a shirt […]
Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador August rain is nearly unheard of during the desert-like dryness of summer and fall in Bahia de Caraquez and the State of Manabi. So when there was a week of it last month with two days of memorable monsoon downpour people were bewildered and out of their confusion sprouted divergent theories. One universally understood truth is that this is Ecuador where […]
August 28-September 3, 2006 The greenhouse received a lot of love and affection last week. After nearly two months of construction we began a fresh inventory of the seedlings. With nearly 2300 seedlings we began reorganizing to make room for the upcoming growing season (November). It is incredibly helpful to have nearly double the amount of space following our renovations — thanks to all who […]
August 21-27, 2006 What a difference a week can make! Following a light sprinkling of ash from the recent volcanic eruption of Tungurahua to our east, the weather here has changed. Every day for the last 8 days it has rained. Not only is rain in August unheard of here, but we are receiving five or six hours of torrential rains. It is quite reminiscent […]
August 16-20, 2006 Greetings from the Pacific Coast of Ecuador! The dry season persists here in Bahia, and with the lack of rain we continue to water the 500+ trees that are planted in the surrounding hills. As our site at La Cruz had recently begun being cooked by the sun, we have increased the amount of water we are giving the trees. Unlike most […]
August 16, 2006 On Friday morning (August 11, 2006) we finished the Bioregional Mapping topic. Kids managed to finish off with their own maps quite quickly. The last element of the previous lesson was incorporating the soil to the drawing, so students continued by introducing native species such as animals and plants. Kids were drawing trees such as Ceibos, Papayas, Mangos, Platanos, etc… and animals […]
August 7-13, 2006 Our last week was filled with the smiles. While celebrating the Ecuadorian Battle of Independence (10 de Agosto) we welcomed 13 students from a local scool to our greenhouse. As part of the continuing Bioregional Education Program children’s seminars being held, these fifth graders were another success. After watering, transplanting and composting at the greenhouse we hiked overland through a new trail […]
August 10, 2006 Last Wednesday the Bioregional Education Program students made their third and last “work of art”: a picture frame. They had a choice of plenty of materials such as colored paper, pieces of newspaper, rose petals, leaves, seeds, brilliant sparkles, etc. Kids were told to bring a personal photo but, aware that some of them were going to forget it, I remembered to bring […]
July 31-August 6, 2006 We worked extensively this week in Bosque Encantado. The volunteer group is really efficient these days and we have been able to complete a lot of trail and maintenance work. All the trails have been cleared of the verano (summer) shrubs and we have been able to begin the inventory/labelling work for our seedlings. Catherine has begun preparing GPS maps for all […]