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Pam & the students
Pam began this whole project 5 years ago. It has grown and changed and flourished! You can see the gratitude in the faces of the children. Hola friends and faithful readers!
Greetings from Quito. I made it back from another adventure high up in the Andes - another fabulous group of volunteer engineers. Of the seven who came this time, five of them were return volunteers (Brad was back for his 3rd visit!) Their repeat commitment speaks volumes about what a worthwhile and gratifying experience it is to work with the people of Malingua Pamba.
We braved horrendous road conditions to get there. Just before we arrived, a minga (villager work group) had to work late into the night to clear the mudslides blocking our way. On the way out we drove under a rockslide in motion; we weren´t about to sit and watch it - we just drove right through holding our breaths! During the welcome meeting, the night we arrived, someone arrived with a message and immediately 40 people or so grabbed shovels and hoes and went running down the dark road to dig out a vehicle stuck in the muck a few miles down the hill.
The first 3 days we were there, the electricity had been knocked out due to high winds. We
The Ante Family
After collecting grasses for their animals (goats, llamas, guinea pigs, sheep, cows, dogs, cats, etc.) this lovely family posed for a photo on their way home. had all arrived with our various electronic devices, and were unable to plug in our "umbilical" cords to hook up our phones, cameras, i-pods, walkie-talkies, etc. Morci´s cigarette lighter was especially useful for charging the most urgent devices during the power outage. The first few nights we had additional visitors with us, and there simply weren´t enough beds, so in the resourceful fashion of the Malinguans, they made "natural" beds out of wood pallets, "mattresses" of hay and straw covered with wool blankets. I must confess, after that first night, I snagged a REAL mattress for the remained of our stay!
Brett, the Spanish speaking Aussie chef who is managing a hostel in Peru came along to cook for us again. It was fun helping out in the kitchen, cutting and chopping in the light of our headlamps. I was again grateful for his presence as he was willing to go trekking up and down the mountainsides to interpret for the engineers in the field. This left me available to help out at "base camp" - interpreting for meetings and translating an instructional document. The one time I hiked down to the tank site, the walk back
Spinning Wool
It´s amazing how these women can multi-task; spinning wool while walking, talking, caring for children, etc. It takes the wool of 8 sheep to make one poncho. up was agony - with the high altitude ice-cold wheeze burning in my lungs.
The attached photos give you an idea of our activities this visit. Brad had designed and created a reusable tank mold, which was transported in dozens of 40-50 lb bundles free of charge thru American Airlines Ambassadors. Aside from all the work to gather and transport the materials to the tank sites, local "experts" were trained in the assembly and disassembly of the tank forms. During the visit, two concrete capatation and sedimentation tanks were poured, and this same mold can be used 50-100 more times! The community now has the tools and the knowledge to continue expanding the water system.
Whenever possible, I brought materials and workers to the trailhead in my truck, but it was still a long, steep trek down, carrying heavy loads. The engineers said they were shamed by 70 yr old women packing double the weight they could manage! Despite the awful road conditions, I only got slightly stuck twice and was easily pushed out both times. We were lucky that it didn´t rain too much while we were there. The steep curvy roads turned
Teaching Plumbing
Engineer Joel is giving a classroom session on pipe-fitting. These 3 members of the Sacatoro family were eager learners. into impossible mud slicks with even a slight drizzle. My truck isn´t 4 wheel drive, but I am!! One volunteer commented that he thought a had a little bit of rally driver in me!
Just before leaving to meet the engineers, I did some "shopping" at a "flea market" that a friend of a friend was holding at her home. I bought jeans and shoes and sweatshirts to distribute in the village. Janeth, an 11 yr old I met when she was 9 and caring for her 4 younger siblings, was the recipient of a pair of chunky soled black leather shoes. Most everyone wears $2 plastic shoes, which can be repaired when they wear out by cutting up other damaged plastic shoes and applying the plastic with a metal knife heated in the fire. Janeth was thrill with her REAL shoes, and later that afternoon invited me to eat at her house. She prepared for me, all by herself 3 kinds of boiled potatoes and 3 hard-boiled eggs.
Doña Fanny, a lovely lady in her 60´s, humbly asked a favor of me. Would I come down by her house (20 minute drive to
Bending Ribar
Using the high tech tool of nails pounded into a tree stump, these local men carefully bent metal rods for use in the tank mold. where the road became impassable, then a 20 min walk) and take pictures of the mudslides and damage caused to her house and her fields by extreme rains. Her daughter lives in Spain (like many lower middle class Ecuadorians who has emigrated to work there) and she wanted to send the photos in hopes they could send help. I have already printed the fotos and sent them back up the mtn with the owner of a hostel in the village where the Malinguan kids sing in the church choir. Isinlivi is a 2 hr walk each way from Malingua Pamba, but the young people think nothing of making the trek each Sunday.
Don Manuel Otto accompanied me and Doña Fanny. and it was good thing since he had to push me thru a muddy patch. It ends up that he´s Janeth´s father, and on the way back up the hill he asked if I would be godmother to his two youngest daughters, Blanca and Cristina, who have not yet been baptised. I mentioned that I´m not Catholic, and not even Christian. "Do you believe in G-d?" he asked me. Yes. Then it´s all ok! I agreed and
Vinicio, the youngest helper!
Six year old Vinicio wanted to be a part of everything that was going on. Steve found simple tasks that made him feel involved. the baptism will probably take place when I next return with another group of engineers (early Nov). My acceptance of the role of godmother entailed being invited back to eat at their house again; this time they had roasted an entire CUY (guinea pig) for my dining pleasure. I ate as much as I could and then asked permission to take the leftovers to share with the engineers (those brave few who were willing to try it!)
I did a lot of driving up and down, back and forth in the truck. Each time we pulled out from the village onto the main road, I had my passengers check for traffic. A big joke since MAYBE one vehicle a day would pass by the village. The buses had not been running for several months, due to road conditions. On one trip, a group of students begged me to take them in the back of the truck. I thought they lived down below, the way I was headed. When we arrived, they all set off walking back UP the hill. They just wanted to go for a ride!! Lots of times when I offered lifts, people didn´t know
Tank Mold Set-up
Before carrying all the materials down the hill, the engineers and the local workers did a trial set-up. Pleased with the results, the project moved forward. how to open or close the doors! On one trip down we gave a lift to an ancient, hunched over blind women. She was feeling her way along the muddy, pitted road with a gnarled branch. She was at least a 40 minute walk above the village. The local boy who helped her into the front seat of the truck told me that she had never been in a vehicle before. When we got to the village, she was totally disoriented as to where she was. The boy steered her along the right way to her son´s house.
Most evenings, I was so exhausted that I just crashed right after dinner. In the past, we had all been housed in one big room; eating, sleeping and working in the same place. Since our last visit, Paulino (the village president) had completed a 2nd story with 4 semi-private sleeping areas. What luxury to be able to "go upstairs to bed" while the others played cards, finished paperwork, drank wine, taught the kids to make card houses, etc. I missed out on some of the evening fun, but I know I need my 8 hrs of sleep to stay
Romance in Morci´s Truckbed
Steve claims he fell into the back of the truck with all these lovely local ladies. They didn´t seem to mind one bit! healthy. Each morning I was awakened by "alarm quacks" - the ducks below waiting to be fed. Or then, there was the extremely loud donkey bray echoing up from down the valley. And then there was the little boy who was taking his squealing piglet for a drag!
In the downstairs eating area, we had a challenge to keep the door closed and the animals out. One particularly mangy dog with matted fur loved to hang around. We named him Rasta Benji, but I later learned that his Quichua name, Chiripe, means "fur that clumps together" (doggie dred locks!) I encouraged the lady of the house NOT to feed her chickens and ducks right outside the door. They kept hanging around there and pooping in our path. One of the engineers rigged up a spring so the door would close, and he even affixed soft pompoms to the doorframe so it wouldn´t slam too loudly. This new door closing system proved challenging for the ducks who tried to follow someone in, and then had to run back as the door closed automatically. Great fun to watch. The pigs, however, were strong enough to push the door open,
Gathering Gravel
Filling burlap sacks with gravel to carry them down the hill to the tank construction site. and more than once we had to shoo them out during dinner. One pig was wearing a 6 ft long branch tied to a string. I was told he was being punished for wandering too far away.
During one of the minga work group gatherings, there was a misunderstanding of where they were to meet, and it fell to met to set the "intercom" system into play. I drove several school kids to the edge of a steep drop-off where they started "shouting down the valley" to get the volley of shouts started. All who needed to know were informed in no time at all where they were supposed to report for work. I felt very important with my own Motorola walkie talkie (Dad would be proud...all his years of work on Motorola communications coming back around to me in Ecuador!).
My official name tag read "driver-interpreter" but Pam added to it, Jewish Mama. Part of my self- appointed duties included wiping kids´noses, bandaging owies, keeping the toilet paper stocked, filling plastic jugs with filtered water, and even applying tea tree oil to a lice-riddled scalp. I helped to clear and set the table
Blue Shawl Sand Minga
A Minga is a community work group. These women are filling sacks with sand for mixing concrete. for each meal (engineers sure expand to occupy all available surface space!!) and even helped to interpret conversations about condom distribution, training and use. I gave advanced Spanish lessons to Brett in the kitchen during supper prep, beginning English lessons to William Sacatoro, and learned how to count to 99 in Quichua! I pantomimed correct use of composting toilets and walked the preschoolers to snack time (three little hands in my one bog one!).
When the first group of volunteers left, there was an informal farewell gathering. The floor was opened for all to express their gratitude. The Malinguans didn´t catch on that they needed to pause so I could interpret a little at a time. As I result, I found myself in my first situation of simulatneous interpretation. It is a challenge to listen and speak at the same time, but I was surprised how well I did.
It did help that most everyone was saying more or less the same things!!
There are always unexpected adventures when I travel with Pam and the Engineers without Borders. My truck gets really thrashed, but will I do it again? FOR SURE!! My repeated experiences
Carrying Cement
Each bag of cement weighs 50 kilos (over 100 lbs!) One young man carried two at a time to impress his girlfriend! in this village have inspired me to sponsor the little school on the coast near where I live. (see blog entry before last, "Seeking Donations"). Thank you to those of you who have contributed to the 24 de Mayo School fund. If you´ve been meaning to send a check and haven´t yet, please do! So far we´ve only raised enough to cover 6 months of one teacher´s salary. Thanks in advance.
In a few weeks I´ll be headed to LA for my nephew´s HS graduation. It will be good to spend time with family and friends in the US, but the truth is, my home and my heart are here in Ecuador now. If you are planning to come for a visit, please let me know! I would love to receive you and be able to plan my schedule so I can spend time with my visitors. I already have a visit booked for Jan 2009! Sending you all best wishes for a great summer. Jill
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Debbie Chapman
non-member comment
Wonderful project, wonderful people
Hi, Jill! Just want to say that this blog brought tears to my eyes. Be sure you stop and see me this summer as there are people I'd like you to meet who would love to hear about the kinds of things you are doing.