Eco-Ecuador
Collaboration for a Long-Term Sustainable City
July 24-30, 2006 Although the week seemed like it was rather short, much was accomplished by our three international and two Ecuadorian volunteers. Construction in the greenhouse is now finished. Our seedbeds have had compost added, turned and been made a foot deeper. This increased depth, in addition to some drainage gravel, should allow for stronger root development in seedlings. The seed collection season has begun, […]
Valentina Carminati, Field Bioregional Education ManagerPlanet Drum FoundationJuly 26, 2006 Our trip to La Cruz lookout in the center of Bahia was as enjoyable as always! It was a great day; the sun was shining and the sky was completely clear. Perfect weather conditions to admire the view of the Rio Chone estuary from up there. Kids could see the integration between land and water. They […]
Patrick Wylie, Field Project ManagerPlanet Drum FoundationJuly 17-23, 2006 This has been the most productive week of my tenure here at Planet Drum! In addition to our usual watering of 400+ planted trees, we undertook major construction projects throughout the work week. On Tuesday we gathered up all the eco-locos (local term for greenies in the city) and had a construction work-party at the greenhouse. […]
Valentina Carminati, Field Bioregional Education ManagerPlanet Drum FoundationJuly 17, 2006 The remaining students each received a card describing a different characteristic of the plant required to assist their friend in getting healthier. As a group they needed to get all the information together and start looking for the exact plant. They also had to find the respective species as soon as possible otherwise their friends were […]
July 10-16, 2006 Bahia and the hills which surround it look drier and browner by the week. However there are streaks of green that appear throughout the landscape… seedlings we are maintaining in El Toro, Bosque Encantado and our other sites are growing strong! Some are nearly overhead now! We continue to water and tend to these sites twice a week. We have begun collecting […]
The trip to Ricardito’s (Bosque Encantado) farm ended up being a success. Students were very excited and they had a good time. The majority of the trees we examined were new for them. Ricardito talked about the principal characteristics (endemic, adaptable to the Ecuadorian coast…) of each class of trees, such as papaya, lime, cacao, chirimoya… I asked them to observe and describe the differences […]
July 3-9, 2006 Pretty quiet week here on the home front… dry and cool. Great time to be working and volunteering here on the Ecuadorian coast! Late in the week, with the help of local volunteers Jaime and Cheo, we raced through our watering sites (Cherry Tree, El Toro, La Cruz and Bosque Encantado). But what about early in the week you may ask? We […]
Valentina Carminati, Field Bioregional Education ManagerPlanet Drum FoundationReport, June 26, 2006 Last Wednesday we had a new student, Anita, who is only seven years old. Actually, she is too young to participate actively in the class nevertheless I am always trying to involve her in the conversations. All the kids attempted to solve the Bioregional crossword I prepared for them. They were still very confused about […]
June 19-25, 2006 This week the Planet Drum team worked at 4 sites and our greenhouse. On Monday we went to water at El Torro, where all the trees looked relatively healthy and happy, and the friendly farmer that gives us our water had more than enough to tell us about his pigs. It was our new volunteer Johannes’ first day, so we explored a bit […]
Valentina Carminati, Field Bioregional Education ManagerPlanet Drum FoundationReport, June 12-19, 2006 Today the Bioregional Education course started and Cheo kindly was helping me. Unfortunately only seven students turned up. I knew the main problem was going to be the lack of kids but I don’t want to put myself down yet. First of all the students introduced themselves (name, age, and institution). Six of them are from Colegio […]