Eco-Ecuador

Collaboration for a Long-Term Sustainable City

The tour of El Bosque went well.

By Heather Crawford | August 21, 2005

August 15 to 21, 2005 (I forgot to say in my last report that we also watered and picked up trash at El Bosque last week, and I worked on a tree ID sheet and quiz for Genesis School as we will be taking them on a tour there soon.) Well, no more burning at the Cherry Tree site.  David and I had a hard day […]

Drama with the Cherry Tree site.

By Heather Crawford | August 14, 2005

August 8-14, 2005 The Planet Drum House is not the same anymore. The summer chapter of girls has closed and we are in transition to a mixed bag of fall volunteers. Right now there is only one volunteer, David, who arrived Thursday, and the next volunteers will be arriving about the end of August. Jaime (“Flaco”) and Thea (Peace Corps) each helped out one day […]

The gas station leak.

By Kristen Lansdale | August 11, 2005

On Tuesday we had a very interesting day of class. The gas station Repsol has been leaking gas into the estuary for what seems to be about eight years, or since the earthquake. It became such a problem that they could no longer turn the blind eye and have had to close the gas station and do some major clean up. So Friends of the […]

Collected seca seeds.

By Heather Crawford | August 7, 2005

August 1-7, 2005 Well, this week the house went from being full to empty as we had the three Canadians leave on one day. Now it’s just Jackie and me until David gets here next week, which is Jackie’s last. She has been sick with a stomach virus type thing and wasn’t able to work for a few days. It will be just David and […]

Properties of the estuary and the contamination there.

By Kristen Lansdale | August 4, 2005

  This has been an interesting if not a bit frustrating of a week. On Tuesday I spent the better part of the afternoon planning class with Maria Elena who has done her thesis work on contamination of the Estuary Rio Chone. We had put together a presentation which when we tried to print. It wouldn’t and then the computer shut down all together. When we […]

We watered all the main sites.

By Heather Crawford | July 31, 2005

July 23-31, 2005 We’ve been getting slight sprinkles here but no rain to speak of. The plants are hanging on, but I can tell they’ll need more water as the dry season progresses. Some have lost their leaves but I am assuming it is because they are naturally deciduous, being native to the dry tropical forest. The ceibos and algarrobos are doing the best, and the colorados the worst. There is enough […]

Ecuador Project Report: Heather Crawford, Jan.–July 2005

By Heather Crawford | July 30, 2005

Heather Crawford, Field Project Manager Planet Drum Foundation  March 15th to 20th, 2005 We are doing fine according to our timeline. The Dairy Farm site was planted three times this week with the help of Carlos Franco (son), Andrea (Renée’s friend), two traveling volunteers from Quito, and two workers from Bella Vista who came because of the meeting I had with the Municipio’s agronomist working on […]

Fanca eco kids club make recycled paper.

By Kristen Lansdale | July 29, 2005

  This week we worked with the Fanca eco kids club to make recycled paper. On Tuesday they showed us how to rip up papers, what kind to use, how to soak them, blend with aloe to make it sticky, and then use frames to create papers. We left them to dry until Thursday when we completed the project making boxes, notebooks, frames, cards etc. We […]

Our piles are composting really fast now due to the above-ground method and doing smaller piles so they get more aeration.

By Heather Crawford | July 22, 2005

July 16-22, 2005 The two brothers who were here short term left midway through the week, and the two Canadian girls, Jenny and Elisabeth, moved in. They will be here a month, till mid-August. They are friends of a past volunteer. Now we have 5 people in the house including me. Carley leaves at the end of the month and Jackie in mid-August. We have […]

Students are preparing to go and talk at schools.

By Kristen Lansdale | July 21, 2005

This week in Bahia I have been focusing on educating the educators. That is to say that my students are preparing to go and talk at schools about what they have learned. The two themes are Mangroves and Dry Tropical Forests. We spent both Tuesday and Thursday preparing materials, posters and discussing activities and ways to present information.  I am working with Marcelo to organize times […]