Back from Ecuador

For the lasts two weeks I've been absent from home traveling with 27 grade 10 and 11 students on a humanitarian trip to Ecuador. We were three adults, my collegue Lyne, Mrs. BB and myself. We always hear that adolescents are self centered and indolent but let me tell you that my students are far from that stereotype.

After having landed in Quito after an unintentional side trip to Guayaquil (Quito airport was fogged in) we left for the small mountain village of Chilcapamba. There the students worked for 5 days digging trenches for the pipes that will eventually supply clean water to the village. We must have dug at least 4 kilometers of one meter deep trench for the pipes that will carry the water. Since there is no heavy machinery there it was all dug using picks and shovels. Working along side the villagers my students learned a lot about how to dig correctly using the minimum of effort. It was interesting to see the villagers teaching the kids about how to do the work. We were told later that the villagers were really pleased to have been able to teach something to the "gringos" since in South America there is quite a bit of prejudice against the indigenous population and they are often looked down upon.

Since there must be pipes in the trenches part of the money we paid was used to buy eight kilometers of pipe that will connect the houses to the water reservoir which has yet to be built. As they say one step at a time.

This was the third time that I have been to the village and we've made friends and memories that will last for a life time. The people of the village are poor but are always willing to open their hearts to us. We were a part of their family and when we left there were tears all around.

After having worked for five days we finally left to visit the rest of that beautiful country. We visited lake Cuicocha a sacred lake of the Incas in a caldera of an extinct volcano. On the way we stopped at the official line for the equater lat 0.00'.0". It is fun to see the line on the ground and have a foot in the northern and southern hemisperes. We also visited the town of Otavalo with its marked and artisans. Later we climbed the Cotopaxi the highest active volcano in the world. The bus took us up to 4500 meters and from there we climbed to the glacier at 5000 meters. At that altitude the lack of oxygen is like jogging while breathing through a drinking straw but it was worth the climb. We then went on to Baños at the foot of the Tungurahua volcano, which is still very active, to try out the thermal baths with the students. They really liked the hot baths but didn't appreciate getting up a five am to beat the growds. Finally we left Baños to spend time in the the Amazonian rainforest in a camp by the river Napos. There we walked in the forest with a very knowledgable guide, went down the river in an inner tube and panned for gold. The last night we drifted down the river to listen to the dark and mysterious forest around us.

After all of this we drove back lot Quito where we visited the old city and the next morning boarded the plane for Montreal.

 

Ecuador, Cotopaxi

Ok guys, after some distractions from Kindles and spring, I'll continue with the trip to Ecuador. After having shopped in Otavalo,  went on to Cotopaxi province which is named after the world's highest active volcano. We stayed at a really nice hostel called the "Puerto de Corezon" or in English the door to the heart. It was a really nice place, quite luxurious, with good food. The hostel is at 3600 meters which means that we went to bed exhausted.
The next day off we went to climb Cotopaxi. The bus wheezed up to 4500 meters and from there we hoofed it up to the glacier at 5000 meters. Believe me when I tell you that at 5000 meters (16400 feet) the old engine really pumps oil. ;o) At that a height you are only breathing in 50% of the oxygen you get at sea level, so the only way to go is slow but sure by just putting one foot in front of the other.

Cotopaxi

Good karma no less... travel to Ecuador part 2

While we were in the village, it was not always work, work, work. We were also invited to many festivities where we participated whole heartedly. They shared their culture with us and we shared our Québecois culture with them. One night, it was singing and dancing and another it was our "Souper Québecois" where we initiated the village to the good old sugar shack menu of eggs, beans and maple syrup. At first they were a little leery of beans and eggs soaked in maple syrup, but once they tasted it they were fans. We fed over 100 people that night and left them with a dozen cans of maple syrup that we had left over. We also visited their preschool and were treated to a native dance by the little ones to thank us for the donation of clothing and shoes we had made to them. (One of the things that we do each year is collect and buy school supplies, good serviceable clothing and shoes throughout  the year and each of us brings an extra suitcase crammed with 50 lbs of stuff we collected and bought.)

 Here are some pictures of where we stayed in the village.

After leaving the village, the first place we went to was Lake Cuicocha. This lake is in the caldera of an extinct volcano. We walked around the lake on the rim of the the caldera, a 3 hour walk along steep cliffs dropping down to the water below.

After our invigorating march around the lake, which by the way is at 3900 metres, we went down tho the restaurant by the lake and had a really good meal.
Then on to Otavalo to visit the artisans and do some souvenir shopping. We mostly bought directly from those who produced rather than from the stores, fair trade at its best, but we did, the next day, visit the market to finish shopping. We had already shopped for things in the small local market of Chicapamba but the market at Otavalo is much bigger and has a much more diverse products. I bought some really nice jewelry for Mrs. BB, some beautiful wool knit sweaters for my grand-daughters, a beautiful woven wool pull over for my son's birthday. Needless to say that we did our part for the local economy. ;o) I know it's materialistic but the things there are really beautiful and the price they ask is ridiculously low. Since we mostly bought directly from the producers, it eases our conscience a little. ;o)
So the next post will be onto the Cotopaxi, the highest volcano in the world.

Good karma no less... travel to Ecuador

I've been pretty much out of touch for the last two weeks since I have travelling with twenty three of my students. We left February 12th and returned today February 25th at midnight. Where did we go you ask? We went to Ecuador to help a small native village called Chilcapamba fix up their local church.
Each year in our school sends students from the International Education Program on a humanitarian trip. This year my colleague Lyne and I organized it with 23 Secondary 4 and 5 students, and off we went. The trip is organized so that we do the work at the beginning and then we get to play tourist so the kids can visit Ecuador's natural beauty.
This trip is not an easy cultural jaunt since we live in rather primitive (a least by our standards) but comfortable accommodations and it includes a lot of hard work. For example, a hot shower was almost impossible to get, usually we had to content ourselves with an ice cold shower that dribbled rather than showered. But there were compensations, the food was abundant and nutritious and the villagers quickly adopted us. When we left there were tears all around, we were family.
The village had built a new community centre which was attached to the church, but the church was in poor repair and there was the bathroom to finish between the two buildings. So we scrapped all of the walls inside and out, then put on a coat of resin primer over the brick and finally we repainted it with two coats of white paint with blue trim.  Then we cleaned everything up and we were in business. We also helped put the roof on the toilets and paint the interior. Besides our hard work, a part of the cost of the trip went directly to the villagers which permitted them to buy all the material needed for the renovations.
Here are some pictures of the work that we did.

 Before we started.

 

Sanding the walls

 

Painting the inside

 

Painting the outside

 

Finishing the blue trim with the help of the local children.

After we had finished.

I'll write about the rest of the trip in the next post. So hasta la proxima.