In the fall of 2007, Manna Project began a new site in Quito, Ecuador. The mission of Manna Project Ecuador is the same as in Nicaragua: to connect college students and recent graduates with opportunities to apply their education, expertise, and passion for service to communities in developing countries.
MPIE is committed to demonstrating both the short- and long-term
value of its soon to be completed community assets survey. To show
immediate benefits to our survey participants we will be quickly
launching programming in response to the information they provide.
Based on survey results to date, we are currently planning programming
to help community members start micro-enterprises, learn sought after
skills like tailoring, and arrange a series of community work days to
improve public spaces. We are currently soliciting funds to get this programming off
the ground.
Motivated by the enthusiasm with which they've been received in the
community, the team has been working diligently on developing impactful
and sustainable programming. Embracing an asset based approach to
community development the team is working with key community leaders to expand local access to healthcare and microfinance
services. They have enjoyed early successes with preventative
healthcare programming, English instruction for adults and sports
programming and continue to expand upon these efforts. In every
initiative the team pursues they do so with an eye towards
sustainability and meaningful community involvement. With this in mind they are conducting an asset-based community assessment and mapping
exercise in partnership with a local school for underprivileged
children. Focusing on the skills and interests local residents have
rather than on what they lack, MPIE is positioning itself to be a
matchmaker between residents and local organizations, fostering job
opportunities, targeted volunteerism and increased community
involvement. Harnessing the enthusiasm of program directors and
the limitless possibilities of a blank canvas, MPIE has grown from a
wishful idea to a full fledged community development site in less than
a year. And they're just getting started.
Monthly Updates: Click here to see MPIE pictures and monthly updates. If you’re interested in receiving monthly updates, please email holly@mannaproject.org.
For eight ex-pats living in Ecuador, April was the pause, the deep
breath, the cool breeze from the mountains. Nestled between three
jam-packed weeks of March spring break trips and the onset of May
summer sessions, April filled our South American lives with peace and
normalcy. Ok fine, as much normalcy as could be expected from life in
the Manna Ecuador house.
Programs in April carried on much in the same vein. Serena’s women’s exercise class continued, amazingly, to attract new members each day. Along with organizing all five of the Spring Break trips, Jocelyn
managed to teach her advanced English class the lyrics to a new techno
song (which we still hear them singing to themselves while reading at
the library). Under Seth’s
guidance, the kids in the teen center held elections to form their own
“Board of Directors” in charge of organizing events and making sure the
center runs smoothly, a notable result of which being an increase in
Friday Movie Night events. Eliah and Dana hosted another successful agricultural charla (presentation) in the library space, this time focusing on pigs, and Dunc continued to accumulate more books for the library while taking care of it’s day to day functioning along with Mark. My children’s art students studied Diego Rivera and perfected their self portraits, while Seth and I began a new teenage art class in conjunction with the teen center.
We also began a new series on the Daily Life Blog, aptly named “Interview a Program Director”.
Each week I sat down with one of the PDs and filmed their responses to
questions submitted on the blog. They are definitely worth watching
whenever you have a pause in your day!
Also in April: we traveled, we had family dinners on the roof, we
read in the hammocks, we got caught in afternoon rainstorms. Life
continued on.
And then came May. If April was the pause, May
was the dive. On the 12th we welcomed nine college students into the
apartment (or Manna Hostel as it’s now been renamed) for the start of Summer Session One.
Between the nine of them they re-organized the entire layout of the
library, built a ping-pong table for the teen center, taught an
intensive three week English class
for 30 students, shadowed at the Ministry of Health (and helped deliver
a baby!), taught yoga at women’s exercise, led art classes, organized a
health fair,
baked some wickedly good desserts, and traveled to some of our favorite
spots around Ecuador. We as PDs were really just along for the ride.
With the recent arrival of both Summer Session Two and our
fantastic new Country Director Bibi Al-Ebrahim (more to come on that
front, clearly) the craziness around here has only intensified. Today
we look ahead at our remaining two months in Ecuador with bittersweet
excitement and anticipation for the end of the rainy season!
If you're looking for more updates, you can always check out the Daily Life Blog, where posting is a little more consistent and on-schedule.
Sweet summer wishes from a house in the Andes,
Holly and Team Ecuador
For corresponding pictures, check out the online version of the update here.
Current Daily Life Blog, as written by Eliah McCallah:
"Life as an American in Ecuador
inevitably requires you to become accustomed to practices and
circumstances that would be never occur in the US..." to read more, click here.
