Excursions and discussions

Hi all,

Sorry all for the lack of updates! Things have been pretty busy here the past two weeks. The five of us became friends with Ricky, one of the guys who works on the farm at the convent, along with his older brother, Jim (or Jimbo as we like to call him), who is visiting from Belgium. On Friday the 10th, Kate and the five of us took a bus to Intag to meet up with Ricky and Jim, who were already down there. As we snaked our way up and down mountains during the 2+ hour bus ride, the views outside our windows were truly beautiful. Our destination in Intag was a small lodging complex that boasted piscinas, or thermal pools. The 5+ piscinas were like small swimming pools, each a different size and a different temperature, depending on the natural source of the water from the surrounding area. We spent all of the afternoon and evening in and around the piscinas just talking and relaxing with friends. That night we had intended to camp outside in a tent. However, the campsite was infested with fire ants which, unfortunately, also got into the tent (Jimbo got bitten on the face), so we ended up spending the night huddled together under blankets on the volleyball court. The next morning we all jumped in one of the warm piscinas as soon as it opened to warm up and soothe our bug bites from the night before. We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon around the piscinas and beside the river that flowed next to the complex, before taking the last bus back to Otavalo.

These past two weeks have been a struggle for many of us health-wise with flus and ear infections (who knew you were only supposed to stay in the piscinas for 45 minutes at a time?), but thankfully, we are all healthy once again. For the past three weeks we have been walking to Araque, about a 45-minute walk from the orphanage, to have discussions with the women who work in the daycare center there. Each discussion has been focused on a different topic (sanitation, nutrition, sexual education), and we had our last discussion Thursday with the women on HIV/AIDS. The night before each discussion we prepare the information we will present and also prepare visual charts and diagrams that we can use while we’re talking, and that the women can keep to use with the children in the daycare center. The information we present is very basic, covering the foundations of each topic, but we feel the women have gained some knowledge they didn’t know before from each discussion. It was always interesting to hear the questions from the 2-5 women present during the discussion, and just be able to engage in a discussion about different health topics.

Last Friday the kids had off from school, so the Padre suggested we all go to Peguche to see the waterfalls there. We walked with the kids through a beautiful park with stone paths to the main waterfall, and then headed to the piscina in the park. Many of the kids and even Faima jumped into the piscina, clothes and all. It wasn’t very warm outside so when they all finally crawled out, we loaded back into the vans so they could get back to the house to dry off and warm up. Sunday was Father’s Day (in the US and Ecuador), so the Padge chose to bring all the kids to a lake that is about an hour and a half drive away from San Pablo. We spent most of the time sitting at outdoor tables at a restaurant, picking meat from fresh-caught tilapia cooked in their outdoor oven and served whole. Mmmm mmmm mmmm.

The last week of our project is pretty jammed-packed so stayed tuned! Thanks so much for reading.

The Juvis

The Magical Weekend

It’s been an eventful few days here in San Pablo.  Great news: Sebastian took his first steps and we are all very excited!  The day after his monumental feat (pun intended) we headed off to Quito with Padre Alfonso.  Our first stop was the children’s hospital where Padre Alfonso needed to pick up lab results and medicine for the kids. After waiting with him for a little while, we left to explore all that the wonderful Quito had to offer. We started walking toward the center of town and on our way, stopped at the largest park in the city. While there, we decided that since we weren’t taking care of children for the day, instead we would act like them. Aside from the picturesque foliage, the park also had adult sized play structures including the largest seesaw that we had ever encountered. Needless to say, we took full advantage of it. After we had finished our parkour (Google it, Andrea), we continued on to the old part of the city. First on our list of sights to see was the basilica. Kelly, AJ, and Abbey ventured inside and made their way to the top to experience one of the best views of Quito in the city (the highest point in northern Quito), while Faima and Kristin went to a nearby café and enjoyed some bonding time and awesome milkshakes. Next we explored the rest of the old city and then took the trolley to meet one of Faima’s friends from high school, Kika. Kika then took us on a tour of Quito, first showing us some of her favorite places to chill. One of which was a small photo gallery and the other was a jazz bar, which she told us was in one of the oldest buildings in the area. Then she drove us around so we could see Quito’s underground street art scene. We were very impressed with several of the murals. Next she took us to a place where we could see “the magical hour”. This was around dusk and we sat down with a cold Pilsener and watched as the sun faded away and all of lights in the city came on. After that, we headed back to Kika’s house for some delicious cheese followed by a delectable pasta dinner. The house was located in a small, gated area in which 7 families decided to buy land and each build their respective houses. The houses were all beautiful with architectural styles mixing modernism with an indigenous style that made for some of the most visually appealing abodes that we had ever seen. Kika’s neighbors invited us all over for some barbecue, salsa dancing, and hanging out later that night. We had a great time, but several of us decided to call it a night early as we were very tired and had been up since 5 in the morning. Kika offered her house for us to crash in for which we were very thankful. The next morning we made breakfast, cleaned up, and headed out. We meandered over to the supermarket to buy some groceries, and then made our way over to the bus stop, which turned out to be a little more difficult than it sounded. Eventually we did find our way back to San Pablo, and if we thought Pepe’s haircut was the only thing we’d missed, we were sorely mistaken. Apparently earlier that day, one of the horses managed to fall in a muddy ditch and get stuck conveniently right next to a beehive.  Before we got back to the house, in an effort to smoke out the bees, the other volunteer, Kate had burned her arms and face (she’s alive) but had managed to light the hive.  With bees still swarming Julian, Don Eliseo, Oscar, AJ and the husband of one of the señoras that works in the house managed to free the horse from the ditch.  We celebrated with some delicious pizza that we made ourselves!  The next day was our lasagna cook off- Kelly and Kristin vs. El Padre and Faima.  The first team made lasagna with red sauce and the second team made lasagna with white sauce.  After an intense few hours the judges (kiddies) ruled it a delicious tie! After an intense weekend we relaxed with some wine and baked brie with jam.

Hasta luego!

Juvis

We have adjusted to life in Ecuador very well in the first week and a half. Although we haven’t been working on the farm as much as we expected, we did get to help build a fence and spread compost a couple days. Mainly we have been helping keep the house clean (which is quite a feat with 21 kids) and providing care for all the kids. In the past week JUVILUS has taken in 3 more kids. The youngest, a little over a year, only weighed 8 pounds when he arrived. He already looks better, though, and we are hoping he will gain a pound a week while we are here! The other boys, Alex and Jheiko, are both 11, and seem to have made a smooth transition with life in Ecuador. We have adapted well to our homemaking duties, and even baked homebread the other day. To our surprise, it turned out really good!

Through many conversations with the Padre after the kids go to sleep (around 7:30), we have been able to learn a lot more about HIV and how it is regarded in this society. Sadly, many people have very negative and uninformed views about HIV. JUVILUS began in Quito around 13 years ago, but was violently forced from the city when people found out the children were infected with HIV. Here in San Pablo a few years later, the kids were forced out of a private school when the nuns found out they have HIV. Many of the kids also have tragic personal stories about how they ended up in the orphanage because of the virus. Luckily, there are many people in Ecuador who want to offer care and support for these children.

This weekend there were 2 groups which threw parties for the kids. Although they had good intentions, their visits helped us appreciate what we are doing here much more. Because of the length of our stay, we will be able (and already have been able) to form deeper relationships with the children and really know and love them well. Today the oldest, Julian, showed us how to ride the two horses on the farm. AJ even dared to ride bare-back for a while, which he is regretting now. This morning we went to Otavalo, the largest indigenous market in Latin America, and almost lost each other. The market on Saturdays is crazy, and we were overwhelmed by seeing so many other Americans. The city is much cooler on other days when you can get a better sense of what it is really like.

First Adventures in Ecuador

Hello JUVIS’ fans,

After eight intense months of planning and anticipation we finally made it! We are in San Pablo, Ecuador! During the last three days we have been arriving one by one from all over the US: New York, Los Angeles, Raleigh… and every hour has been filled with amazing experiences.

Flying into Quito was like getting to another world. 9350 feet above sea level, the city welcomed us amid snowed volcanoes and steep green hills. After some hours walking the old streets of Quito we had a memorable two-hour journey to San Pablo. Juanito, our taxi driver, who raced the narrow mountain roads like a cross driver, blasted his favorite romantic hits for us so we ended up crooning James Blunt and Celine Dion among others in the back of an Ecuadorian taxi.

After a welcomed night of sleep we woke up in what is going to be our home for the next six weeks. A former monastery, the orphanage is now a humongous colorful building that Padre Alfonso has transformed in a beautiful home not only for the 19 children currently living here but also for two cows, two horses (that we will ride on weekends!), three dogs (that just love chewing on AJ’s arms), a bunch of pigs and hundreds of cuyes (a few less given the ones that will be served for tomorrow’s dinner).

Life in the house starts at 5.30 am for the children as they get ready for school, and after that the buzz is non-stop. We get to sleep in a bit more until the little ones wake up and demand breakfast. Indeed, feeding Juan Carlos, Ariana, Edwin (one year, two years and four years old) takes up a big chunk of our day. Time flies by as we run back and forth chasing Pepe (the tsunami) to make sure he does not hide in the oven, hanging up clothes (that have to be washed after every meal), washing endless piles of dishes, and cooking huge pots of delicious rice, frijoles, pasta, fish, etc. in Doña Isabel and Doña Ines’ kitchen.

In the afternoons when the older children get back from school Kelly and AJ impress them with their soccer (futbol!!) skills, Abbey teaches the girls how to ride their bikes, Kristin plays with Sebas (who she is already planning to kidnap at the end of the trip) and Faima dances some salsa with Julian and David.

Although all of the children seem to live as happily and normally as any other child, little by little we are finding out the heartbreaking stories that brought each of them here under Padre Alfonso’s care. We have already declared that Padre Alfonso is a G (re-chevere). He is always full of energy no matter if he is making dinner for all twenty-plus people, saying mass in his long monk robe or joking with us in Spanglish. When he is around the room is filled with dozens of children shouting “Papa;” and he certainly has become the caring and committed father that all these children needed.

After a day of running, cleaning, playing, laughing, jumping, singing, eating…we are more than ready for bed (even if it’s just 8.30 pm), but there is always time for a game of UNO (we probably beat the record of the longest game ever last night).

Well y’all this is it for now, we will keep you updated on more of our adventures in the next days. Thanks for reading!

Days before the departure…

Hola a Todos!

Thank you so much for your support and interest in our trip to Ecuador this summer through UNC-Chapel Hill’s chapter of Nourish International. Our team members Kristin Bevilacqua, AJ Karon, Juan Pablo Pacheco, Kelly Peuquet, Faima Ramírez Hirschauer, and Abbey Wells are all extremely excited about the work we will be doing with the JUVILUS foundation. As we alternate between working with the children of the orphanage and the guinea pigs (cuy) on the farm, we hope to learn a lot about the Ecuadorian culture and ways of living. We look forward to building strong relationships with the organization, children, and each other.

Since our team’s formation in late February, we have been working together to prepare for our upcoming trip. We have educated ourselves about HIV/AIDS (which all of the JUVILUS children have), developed group and individual goals to determine the success of our project, worked through potential conflicts we may experience as a team, and researched Ecuadorian culture. Most importantly, we have laid the foundation for a strong and beneficial relationship with JUVILUS. Through many emails (scripted by Faima in Spanish, of course) we have finalized trip logistics, talked about expectations for the project from both parties, and learned basic information about what our lives will look like for the six weeks we will in the orphanage. Luckily, we do not have to wake up at 5:30 in the morning with the children. Padre Alfonso, the fransician monk who helps run JUVILUS, seems very excited about our coming and the work we will be doing to expand the cuy venture. His warmth and reception of our ideas for the project have been extremely encouraging as we have planned for our trip.

We will keep you all posted as our summer develops and we learn more about the JUVLIUS organization. There will definitely be some amazing stories to tell—some challenging, some funny, some tragic, and some hopeful. But first, we must make the trek to Ecuador! Fingers crossed, we will all arrive safely from New York, Philadelphia, Greensboro, and Los Angles. We will be in touch!

Abrazos,

The JUVIS

What is this all about?

Seven university students will travel to Ecuador for six weeks during the summer of 2011 to implement a Nourish International project with community partner JUVILUS in the Santa Maria de Los Angeles village, located in the larger community of San Pablo. The project team will aid in the development of JUVILUS’ financial self-sustainability by expanding the organization’s cuy-raising business venture, and will further contribute to JUVILUS by supporting the domestic staff, working with the children in the orphanage, and assisting with the HIV education and awareness campaigns that JUVILUS runs in the local region.

Follow us in the comming months on our project in San Pablo, Ecuador!