Hello all and welcome back!
While this may be a little late for this kind of blog post, I wanted to share what my daily life has been like in Ecuador with you.
I have been living in the northern province of Imbabura, in the capital city of Ibarra. It is a fairly small city, but gives off a quaint, calm feeling that I have come to love. My host family and I live in district of the city called Huertos Familiares, which is about a 15 minute bus ride from the city center. Huertos Familiares is somewhat like what a subdivison, however there are various tiendas (corner stores run out of people's houses) and centro infantiles (child care facilities) scattered around between houses and plots of land that people use for crops.
Currently, I work with Aldeas Infantiles SOS, an international organization that works to protect the rights and needs of children. Some children are separated from their families permanently or just until a better family situation can be arranged. With Aldeas, I work in the main offices, helping with day-to-day tasks and occasionally doing activities with the children who live with Aldeas. It has been a wonderful experience getting to learn what foreign-based NGO's are doing in other countries and to see it's impacts firsthand.
Aside from my time with my family and my apprenticeship, I have taken on another community engagement activity called La Ciudad Verde (LCV). The goal of LCV is to create more sustainable cities and giving a platform for the voices of people to create change within their government. With LCV, I am currently helping them with an event advocating for the increase of awareness and accessibility for handicapped persons.
I hope you enjoyed getting a look into my life here in Ecuador and I can't wait to share what I have learned here when I get back to the U.S.
