Projects
December 11, 2006 On Wednesday every student read about native species of trees of the Region. They were only familiar with the Ceibo. Ramon explained that their country’s flora is biologically extremely diverse, but is in danger because of people’s lack of awareness. He taught them about the importance of reforesting areas that had been cut down, in order to recreate natural habitats. On Friday we […]
December 11, 2006 Finally our damaged apartment roof got repaired at the beginning of the week. We’re really happy because after some overnight sprinkles we noticed little water puddles on the livingroom floor, and it won’t be long until the heavy rain starts. Unfortunately volunteer Sebastian has been sick for most of the week, but we still managed to complete the basic tasks and hope he’ll […]
December 3, 2006 This week’s Bioregional Education topic was Compost. On Wednesday they started off with a brainstorming on organic and inorganic waste, then Ramon taught them about the process, including different types and importance of composting. Further, he discussed the importance of separating organic from inorganic waste. Friday was a fun day when we all (Ramon, 16 Bioregionalistas, Jeff from Peace Corps and myself) took […]
December 3, 2006 We started the week with a house cleaning day. Then we went over to Bosque en Medio de las Ruinas (B. Ruinas), where we made a plan with Jaime concerning the work that has to be done there. For now, we decided to improve/rebuild all handrails and some sections of steps in order to make it safer to walk around the park. Tuesday […]
November 26, 2006 It’s been an interesting week of changes. On Sunday one volunteer left for an Spanish intensive course in Quito for 2 weeks, Wednesday morning brought us a new volunteer, Bienvenidos Matt, and on Thursday fellow volunteer and interim manager Dan had to fly home to the US. His great personality and horticultural knowledge certainly will be missed, thanks for everything Dan! Workwise the […]
November 26, 2006 On the 15th of November the Bioregional Course started and students from Bahia, Leonidas Plaza and San Vicente participated. On their first day they learned what a Bioregion is and about its importance for sustainable development. Further, they worked out a series of questions and answers and put them in an Ecogram. On Friday 17th they all went up to the La Cruz […]
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 […]