NOVEMBER 2007 UPDATE

November in Ecuador doesn’t bring cool weather. The leaves on the trees aren’t changing and there is no Thanksgiving holiday commotion. In fact, the Andean sun shines bright and intense each morning, followed by heavy showers every afternoon. Día de los Difuntos (Day of the Dead) is past, when families honor their deceased loved ones, and the week-long fiesta of Quito’s founding (which happens to be this week) has filled the streets with parades, music and celebration.

As we approach December, rounding MPI’s third month in South America, life -although busy- has settled somewhat and we have developed a steady and solid routine with our programs. The younger kids (“little ones,” as we call them) have worked their way through the alphabet, each day practicing writing and recognizing a different letter (today we’re focusing on “R”). The older children are working hard to earn MPI dollars, awarded for good behavior and noteworthy effort, which they save in the Manna bank and exchange for pencils, pens, erasers, or if they save for enough time, a soccer ball, backpack, etc. We have now enrolled over 40 children in our after-school program and started an evening adult English class that meets twice a week. Plans are in the making to re-vamp our programs, which will soon include more focused literacy, art, math and English time. Thanks to a recent donation, we have begun a collection of children’s books in Spanish. The younger children absolutely love reading time and their fast favorites include Caperucita Roja (Little Red Riding Hood), Ricitos de Oro (Goldylocks) and Cenicienta (Cinderella).

We are also excited to welcome Luke Lockwood, our ninth and final member, to Ecuador. Luke arrived just in time to attend a bullfight with the group, an important tradition of the Festival de Quito. Although a little queasy at first, we soon became enthralled in the art and skill of bullfighting. The bright colors, the showmanship of the matadors, the crowd filled with people in white hats yelling, “¡Olé!” and the overall excitement of the event were absolutely breathtaking. Plus, we looked pretty awesome in the free straw cowboy hats they passed out before the event (see attached picture).

On behalf of MPI Ecuador, have a wonderful holiday season, and thank you again to all of you for your continued support.

Abbie Foust


Annie and I with our little ones.


Parade during Fiestas de Quito.


All nine of the MPI Ecuador group, feeling really hardcore after a long meeting.


Me, reading with the little kids with some of our newly donated books.

OCTOBER 2007 UPDATE

Question: What do you get when you cross a chicken with a pirate, two super-heroes, Che Guevara, Batman, a matador and Justin Timberlake? Answer: The MPI Ecuador group on Halloween (see photo).




Just like our assortment of costumes on Halloween, the responsibilities we’ve shared during October in Ecuador have been varied and wide-ranging. Not only did we start leading classes in San Francisco (currently we run an after school program for children ranging from 3 years- 12 years), we also began teaching English to adults in Quito. By morning we prepare classes and attend meetings with UBECI. By afternoon we teach kids and lead programs. At night we can be found cooking, typing monthly updates on our laptops, hanging out on the roof, playing “Quarenta” (an Ecuadorian card game), and working on spring break volunteer schedules and logistics. We make attendance posters and incentive programs for our classes, and interact one-on-one with kids as tutors while they work on their homework. Mark finished building lots of shelves for the house. John, Craig and Seth summited Iliniza Norte, an 17,000 ft. mountain in Ecuador. Also, we managed to place 5th out of 36 teams in a rafting competition held in the Napo River (in the Amazon) last weekend.

Our programs, currently the heart and soul of our time here, are getting better and better with each day. We’ve become fast friends with our students, learning their various strengths and weaknesses. For example, Andrea, the six-year-old spitfire of the younger group, is an excellent writer but struggles with reading comprehension. She is quite a talented artist, loves the color “celeste” (light blue) and is about as spunky and determined as a little a six-year-old can be. Also, she really likes dogs.

Along with a growing understanding of our students comes a greater appreciation for the needs we aim to address during our time here. In order to address those needs effectively, we need resources, which is why we came up with the 2007 Manna Project Ecuador Wish List:

1. Educational books in Spanish (To name a few: Viaje Por El País del Sol- $6, Interactive ESL, K-5 English/Spanish- $30, Easy & Interactive ESL Activities and Mini-Books for Every Classroom- $11, Matematicas Para Niños -$30)
2. Projector -$1,000
3. Pipe cleaners - $5
4. Felt- $5
5. Tempura paint- $8
6. Puzzles for young kids -$10
7. Stickers -$10
8. 15 passenger van- $23,000
9. Construction paper -$10
10. Glue- $3
11. Poster board- $20
12. Spanish Children’s Dictionaries -$40
13. Pens, pencils -$5
14. Children´s story books in Spanish -$2 each one (there are 20 that we´d like)


If you’d like to donate for any of these materials, please send me an email or go to http://www.mannaproject.org/DonateNow.asp and designate your donation to ´MPI Ecuador.¨

Also, THANK YOU to everyone who donated school supplies at the MPI Benefit Dinner in Denver in July. Those markers, crayons, rulers, bottles of glue, pencils, packets of construction paper, etc. are what we are using right now in our programs- we couldn’t have started so strongly without you!


(For more pictures and stories, go to www.mpiecuador.blogspot.com and click on the links to our personal blogs- they’re on the right side of the page).

Gracias otra vez y hasta pronto!

Abbie




The group on opening day of classes. Since then, we´ve gone from 20 kids to over 30 in our programs.


Andrea, the 6-year-old spitfire of the group.


Me reading to the little ones with one of our two children´s books (it´s their favorite, El Lobo y Los Siete Cabritos).


Craig in front of some alpacas in Quilotoa (with alpacas on his sweater!).


Introducing ourselves at the opening ceremony for our programs on October 15th.


Annie and Melani working on an art project.


John on Iliniza mountain.


Seth and Craig in front of the class putting on a skit about respect- part of the ¨values¨program.


Andrea, me and Marjorie at programs.


Craig and Seth on top of Iliniza Norte- 17,000 ft high.


The boys teaching the older kids.


Rafting at the 2007 Competition in Chaco, Ecuador (Mark is on the front right hand side, Hilary is in the middle on the left side).


The group rafting in Chaco.


Team Ramrod at the rafting competition.

SEPTEMBER 2007 UPDATE

Group after hiking Volcan Pichincha


My mom always used to ask me, “If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?” Sorry mom, but apparently the answer to that question with the Manna group in Ecuador is… yes (but for the record, we did wear helmets). Yesterday, Zak, Craig, Seth, Annie and I jumped off a bridge in Baños, Ecuador. One hundred meters over a gorgeous river that is nestled between two lush, green cordilleras covered with waterfalls, each of us took a turn to literally dive off a bridge. The ropes attached to our harnesses caught us after about two seconds of freefall and gently swung us to the opposite side - like a giant swing. I might have cried at the top of the bridge I was so afraid (as did Annie), but valió la pena (it was well worth it).

The bridge-jumping was a nice celebration of our completion of month one in Ecuador. Since we arrived 30 days ago, we’ve finished four weeks of language school in Quito, lived with Ecuadorian families, found a house, bought furniture, appliances, etc. for the house, started volunteering with UBECI, learned the basic steps for both salsa and merengue, planned our opening ceremony in San Francisco (scheduled for Monday October 15th when we start leading classes), learned how to cook several traditional Ecuadorian meals, and have (almost) figured out the complicated bus system in Quito. Oh yeah, and Hilary even got her appendix removed in a nice Ecuadorian hospital about a week ago (she’s recovering quickly from surgery and is feeling much better now).

Our house, now with pretty brick-red paint in the dining room on the first floor, is about 35 minutes outside of Quito in a quiet, charming little town called Conocoto. Complete with a central plaza, a beautiful Latin-style church, and several small bakeries and produce stores, Conocoto is about 15 minutes away from San Francisco and Santa Isabel, where we will be teaching classes. Our house has an incredible roof-top terrace with a 360 degree view of the Andes mountains (including snow-topped Cotopaxi, the second highest peak in Ecuador standing at 20,000 ft!). We buy our food at local open-air markets and are currently in the process of building shelves and planning a house-warming party for our Ecuadorian friends and new neighbors (it’s tomorrow!).

For more stories and photos, check out our personal blogs (links can be found at http://mpiecuador.blogspot.com.

Thanks for reading! Abrazos y besos all around.

Chao,
Abbie


Craig and John playing musical chairs with kiddos at UBECI


John on top of La Basilica, overlooking Quito


Zak painting with kids at UBECI's market program


Me, Annie and Hilary before zip-lining over the jungle in Mindo


At one of the markets where we buy food


Group shot in Mindo


Craig jumping off the waterfall and me cheering him on!


Annie dominating at keep-away


Mark and Craig with the wine and cheese we bought to celebrate our first purchased furniture for the house (plastic table and chairs for the rooftop).

AUGUST 2007 UPDATE

ECUADOR OR BUST!

To my right there’s a pile of jeans, toiletries, shoes and fleece jackets all waiting to be packed. To my left, there’s an empty REI backpack (it’s new, I love it), my recently acquired Ecuador Visa, my passport and (thanks to mom) a trusty money belt. I leave for Ecuador in about 33 hours and wow, I’m excited. This is really happening!

I imagine the rest of the Ecuador team feels the same way. The month of August has been spent scrambling to get Visas (quite a difficult process, as it turns out), finalizing flights, tying up things State-side, and being jealous of Mark (since he’s already been there for a month now). It’s okay though, because in less than a week we’ll all be together in Quito.

Speaking of Mark, his month in Quito has been pretty incredible. Working with UBECI (the non-profit we’re partnering with), he’s been teaching various classes (English, math, etc.) twice a day, playing baseball (Ecuadorian style), laying in hammocks, playing the “requínto” (a small guitar) and eating lots of home-cooked Ecuadorian food. And, true to Mark style, he’s (verbatim) been “thinking too hard and too much about Ecuador’s macroeconomic growth.”

This next month we’ll all be staying with host families in Quito and taking Spanish lessons (and dancing and cooking classes!) at Guayasamin Language School (www.guayasaminschool.com/), in addition to familiarizing ourselves with Santa Isabel and San Francisco, the communities where we plan on working.

Some fun links you might want to check out:

1. Photos -

http://mannaproject.smugmug.com/Ecuador

2. Videos -

http://youtube.com/user/MannaEcuador

3. Mark’s location on Google Earth –

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&t=k&hl=es&msa=0&ll=-0.34294,-78.482981&spn=0.00243,0.003616&z=18&om=1&msid=103233291434980264922.000437fd3133e1961e863

4. Our monthly updates blog –

http://mpiecuador.blogspot.com/



And on that note, I’m going to go pack now.

Cheers!

Abbie


Mark and kids in Ecuador


painting faces!

JULY 2007 UPDATE

“On a scale of one to awesome, how would you rank Manna Project?” was one of the questions I was asked at the MPI Benefit Dinner in Denver, CO on July 28th. Trying to be as realistic and honest as possible, I replied, “Way better than awesome.” I only speak the truth. Manna Project IS way better than awesome.

The benefit was a huge success. Hosted at Crestmoor Pool, about 60 people attended, nearly everyone brought donated school supplies or sports equipment for MPI, and in total we raised over $3,000. Zak flew in from NY for the event, John cooked paella, Annie set up a beautiful silent auction and I made a few pitchers of “Abbie’s knock-your-socks-off sangria.” In addition to a slideshow and presentation, we also set up candles, red tablecloths, played South American music to set the mood… and managed to have a lot of fun in the process.

The month of July has flown by and it’s hard to believe that the Ecuador site will be launched in about 30 days. Our Ecuador team has returned from their adventures around the world: Hilary is now home from Nicaragua, Craig is back from Spain, Seth has returned from his time in Taiwan, and I arrived home from Kenya about two weeks ago. And just when you thought we’d all be in the same country at the same time, Mark packs his bags (for 2 years!) and will head off to Ecuador in a few days to get things started.

We’re counting down one month until Ecuador- so while we get everything set to go, please send us happy visa thoughts (we’re in the process of applying) and wish us luck… because the next update you receive will be sent from Quito!

Take care and until next month,

Abbie Foust


Annie, John, me and Zak at MPI Benefit Dinner in Denver.

p.s. Our apologies: Last month, another organization mistakenly added the MPI Ecuador listserv to their own. We have corrected the problem, apologize for any unsolicited emails you may have received, and promise to do better.

If you'd like to find out more about that organization, check out www.studentmovementusa.org.

JUNE 2007 UPDATE

Green grass, barbecues, sunshine, conference calls and fund raising letters means that it's officially summer time for the MPI Ecuador team. As our departure for Ecuador comes nearer and nearer, we're all excitedly preparing (applying for grants, sending out fund raising letters, publicizing, etc.) and of course finding time to do some other really fun things on the side.

In early June, John, Luke and I met up in Colorado and hiked a 14,000 ft. mountain called Quandary. This was the beginning of what we've named the "Fun-in-the-Mountains Committee." In addition to testing our physical endurance we realized a few things: (1) that John is insanely in shape, (2) oxygen at 14,000 ft is essentially non-existent, (3) mountain goats are beautiful, (4) Zak (the New Yorker) didn't know what a "14er" was, and (5) we'll definitely be repeating the mountain adventures in Ecuador and educating Zak on mountain-lingo.


Luke, me and a mountain goat (see to the left?) hiking Quandry in Colorado.

In terms of fund raising, John, Zak and Craig submitted the Kellogg Foundation Grant application (we'll hear within a few months). Also, everyone (yes, this includes YOU) is invited to attend a Manna Project Benefit Dinner on July 28th in Denver, Colorado hosted by John, Annie and I. Email Annie at abachmanster@gmail.com if you're going to be in the area and would like to join us.

Mark will be headed down to Ecuador on August 3rd so he can get to know UBECI (our partner organization) and their programs before the rest of us arrive the first week in September. Our first month in Ecuador will be spent at Guayasamín language school , where we will have the opportunity to live with Ecuadorian families and take both salsa dancing lessons and South American cooking classes. Prepare to be dazzled on the dance floor and in the kitchen when we all return from Ecuador.

Meanwhile, our Ecuador team is spread all over the world. Seth is traveling in Taiwan, Craig is leading a language trip in Spain, Hilary is with MPI in Nicaragua, Zak and Austen have 'real jobs' in NYC, Mark and Luke are down south in Louisiana, John and Annie are hiking mountains in Colorado, Stephanie is working hard in Houston and I am leading a Vanderbilt service trip to Kenya.

Thanks again for your support, and we'll be in touch again in a month!

Abbie



Part of the Ecuador crew on top of 14,000 ft mountain, Quandry, in Colorado.

Manna Project International Ecuador

We made this video after traveling to Ecuador in January for the feasibility study.

FEASIBILITY STUDY, January 2007

On January 11th, 2007 four other MPI volunteers and I boarded a plane to Quito, Ecuador, for eleven days. The goal? To start a new Manna site in Ecuador.

I'd never been to South America before, and was taken aback at how beautiful it was to fly into Quito. Long and narrow, Quito is sandwiched between the two cordilleros of the Andes Mountains. Approaching Quito, it's easy to start dreaming of hiking Cotopaxi and Pichincha (two huge, dormant volcanoes close to Quito), considering that from the center of the city all you have to do is look up to see their ominous, snow covered peaks. Women walk around in traditional Incan attire with babies strapped to their backs using colorful, hand-embroidered cloths. Northern Quito boasts modern buildings, clean streets and an impressive infrastructure that helps business flourish. Southern Quito, on the other hand, is home to great poverty. The dichotomy is striking. For MPI, it means access to resources and communities of real need all in the same geographical proximity.

The days were full and wonderfully exhausting, as we spent the week networking, locating a community where we could work and finding a partner organization. I personally found solace in the brief hot-water showers at Casa Victoria (a huge treat because we don't have hot water in Nicaragua at the Manna house) and the occasional cup of coffee from Café Oro, the best coffee I've ever tasted.


Highlights of the trip:

1. We found several potential sites. Our favorites are a quiet little village south of Quito called Santa Isabel, and San Roque, an urban site in the heart of Quito.

2. The boys from the trip will eat anything, including hot chillies that will make you cry and guinea pig. Yes, guinea pig (they say it tastes like chicken).

3. The organization that seems to fit best with our needs as a partner is a small community-based organization in Santa Isabel called UBECI. UBECI is looking to expand the programs they already run - which is where we come in.

4. We'll begin in early September, 2007 (woo hoo!).

So what are we up to now? After finalizing our Ecuador team in early April (it will be an amazing group of 9), we are busy solidifying partnerships in Ecuador. We're working on getting our visas, continuing to network with our contacts in Quito, researching Spanish schools, getting in shape to hike Cotopaxi and fundraising, fundraising, fundraising. And I'm counting down the days when I can get my hands on some more Café Oro coffee. On behalf of the MPI Ecuador team, we're pumped, and we look forward to keeping you updated on our progress.

Abbie