Projects
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 […]
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 […]