Rock Climbing Paseo!

PD Nick Capezio recently joined Heather Kryzak and Kirk Turner on a rock climbing paseo with the Teen Center. They had a great time, read what he had to say about the trip!

With all the parents taking English midterms, the kids can get respite in San Fernando at the rock-climbing wall. Past a mother pig and her ten babies, a rainbow trout farm, a rickety bridge and a woman’s farm, the boulder emerges complete with carabineer hooks and climbing pathways. Joshua, a longtime friend of the Manna Program, is a certified mountain guide and in charge of testing the two mountain guide trainees as part of their graduation requirements from the 3 year degree mountain climbing school, the Associacion Ecuatoriana de Guias de Montañas (ASEGUIM). One of these graduation requirements includes a didactic portion- and as such we enlisted 11 library regulars between the ages of 8 and 13 to serve as practice climbers. The two climbing instructors, Stalin and Romel, get their teaching subjects, the students get to learn how to scale a boulder, everybody wins- especially Heather, Kirk and myself as we all get to learn proper climbing technique from some experts and get a break from being at the library.

We started out with some stretches- arm rotations, neck circles and grip exercises- many of the muscles used in rock-climbing are untouched by one’s day-to-day routine, and believe me the next day all of us climbers were made well aware of it. Following this, we learned the basics of carabineer control, the infamous climbing figure eight knots, how to put on a harness, and basic helmet safety. Even myself, as someone who had climbed before, enjoyed the refresher, and the kids were all very attentive. We were then given a basic introduction to the wall, and were allowed to transverse a shorter portion of it to get the muscles ready for higher scaling.

Maintaining limberness is essential pre-bouldering

Magnesium was given to the kids’ hands, to prevent the slipperiness of perspiration, and the kids lined up on the wall one by one, harnessed and helmeted up- good to go. With us both eager to lend a helping hand, Kirk and I offered to be the belayers- helping keep the kids secure and lending our voices to offer encouragement as the kids scaled the wall.

Kirk using outstanding belaying technique to keep a secure base

You can see the two climbing paths above

Every kid got a few chances to scale the two climbing routes, and many of the kids were able to get to the top. A couple of the kids emerged as climbing whizzes, and I think another future paseo would garner even more kids’ attention. After eating our snacks of bananas and chochos with a slosh down of Gatorade, the kids helped take down the wall carabineers and pack up the gear.

The first rule of climbing - never look down

With some kids initially intimidated by the task of scaling a boulder, not a single kid left without attempting a climb. It’s reassuring to see the group overcome these fears and try their hand at the wall. Revealing the inner climbers and getting them up the wall made for a rewarding experience, as we literally acted as their safety net, keeping them secured as they rose to greater and greater heights. I think the proposition of us keeping the kids secure as they aim for higher ground is a fitting metaphor for our biggest goals in community development. I plan on continuing these roles as the year progresses, whether it is in the classroom or the library- the metaphorical boulders never cease to exist, we just learn how to better confront them.

Children's Nutrition - 100 students in three 6th grade classes!!

Today marked the first day of Children's Nutrition at Chaupitena, teaching the Harvard Healthy Plate in three separate 6th grade classes! Nick, Abby, Cate, Claudia and myself headed to the school bright and early ready to take on over a hundred students and talk about healthy eating habits. When we arrived we found three classrooms full of eager and energetic 11 and 12 year olds. They were excited to have us and took extra care in creating their own 'Healthy Plate' models.

Profe Nico and our third class of the day showing off their healthy plates

Who knows the different parts of the Healthy Plate?

Each student put lots of care into their own Healthy Plate models (we were impressed when everyone pulled out a compass and protractor to draw perfect circles and portions)

Students taking a diagnostic exam while Profe Nico supervises from the back of the room

El Plato Saludable

Makeover!

Yesterday was quite an eventful day in the centro down here in the valley!  It had been decided that our community center was in desperate need of a) a good scrubbing and b) a serious makeover.  We invited friends of the community center to participate in our first big "minga" of this year.  A minga in Ecuador is basically a giant cleaning party where all of your friends come and help you clean your house, or in this case your biblio.  We were so pleased at the turn out and couldn't believe how enthusiastic the community was to help us improve our shared space.  There is still much work to be done, however.  Here are some pictures of the progress we've made.  Once the final touches are put on, more pictures of our new and improved community center will follow.  A huge thanks to everyone who came out to help!

Jim attempting to...change a light bulb?  Maybe?

Profe Tay Tay knows her way around a broom.

MPIE: helping communities help us help them.

CAUTION: Men at work.

Meet Luna! The new Ecuador house puppy.

After a few months of consideration and prolonging, we have finally adopted a dog! Our original plan was to adopt through a local shelter with the help of some vet friends. However as fate would have it Luna (the new pup) fell into our hands in a slightly different manner. The Friday before we planned our weekend trip to the shelter to scout dogs, Cate was walking into the biblio when 4 of our regular attendees ran up to her with 2 dogs in their arms. They explained that the had seen a woman bring the dogs to the field across the street, (or cancha as we call) drop them in the grass, and run away. At first we were skeptical because many of the dogs roaming the streets of Ecuador have owners and are let out during the day to do as they please. The kids, however, insisted that the puppies had been abandoned and wanted us to take both of them home with us. Cate reluctant to agree to this, told the kids we were not able to take the dogs, but after Joel brought one of the puppies up to the library, the 4 of us that were there were sold and Luna took her first taxi ride back to the Manna compound.

Little Luna in her new house

Luna's first camioneta ride

At this point we were not sure we would be able to keep her but we wanted to make sure she wouldn't be out in the streets, at least for the weekend. That night Cate and I gave her her first bath, which was a terrifying experience for all parties involved as Luna tried to crawl into the shelves with all of our shampoo to hide and screamed like a baby being tortured. Later we named her Luna, which with some coincidence was a name that came with it's own theme song by Juanes. Very fitting indeed.

Luna's first hike (she loved it!)

I am now happy to say that she has settled into the house very nicely, although not yet potty trained she still leaves the occasional present around the house for us to find and has taken a liking to socks and toilet paper rolls. Despite this she is definitely finding her way into all of our hearts and becoming a member of the family.

Bottles on Bottles! Recycling Program Continues to Grow

The bottles continue to pour in! In a previous blog, I mentioned the recycling challenge we introduced during the last week of our summer camp, during which we collected 233 bottles in less than 3 days. Since this first challenge, the program has continued to develop and the lead PDs have made progress towards establishing a permanent environmental program focused on environmental education and sustainable development within our community. As part of this, we have adapted the previous Agricultural Program into a new Environmental Health Program. Recycling remains the first big focus of our new Environmental Health Program. We have continued to collect bottles and, with inspiration from the bottle school recently completed at the Guatemala site, we are planning to construct a rooftop greenhouse (made out of plastic bottles of course) with the help of our fall volunteer group from Vanderbilt.

Recycling charla

Learning how to make the 'bottle cap curtain'

We also recently held a charla (chat) in the library about the benefits of recycling. Many neighborhood kids attended, some of whom brought bottles to contribute to the project. After the charla, we used tops from the collected bottles to begin making a "bottle top curtain" that will be used to separate a currently open doorway between one of our classrooms and the main area of the library.

While we are saving all of the uncrushed bottles for the future greenhouse, many of the bottles brought in are already crushed or flattened. Today, Cate and I took the first load of these bottles to the local recycling plant. The plant began an incentive a little over a year ago to pay a small amount for each kilo of bottles recycled. Our Ecuadorian friends have told us the incentive has been immensely successful, and as a result the streets are much cleaner. By providing a collection point in the community, we hope to promote a culture of recycling and act as an outlet for community members who want to recycle, but don't have the means to bring bottles to the plant themselves.

Local recycling center

Carlos and I watching as they weigh our bottles

It was somewhat of an odd experience, with a security guard who became very suspicious of Cate taking photos. Luckily we had our friend Carlos with us, who was an immense help! All in all we recycled 23 kilos, an estimated 800 bottles all together. After the bottles are recycled, the plastic is turned into fiber that is later used to make jeans. We will continue to collect bottles of all types and recycle those that are too damaged to be used in the construction of the greenhouse. Stay tuned for updates!