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Published: July 12th 2010
Community Centre at the beginning
This is what the community centre looked like before we planted any plants.We had a couple of days of dreary clouds and drizzle but today is sunshiny! All of a sudden we have a lot more energy. ;-)
Those rain boots that Kwesi said we had to bring have come in handy.
Meghan: “We are not getting and taking rain boots”
Kwesi: “I’m not going without them”
Kwesi was right.
Thursday and Friday we painted and planted a garden for a community centre in a small town nearby called Puerto Rico. It’s a town of 500 people that come from about 10 families. They have a beautiful church made of bamboo and next door is this community centre. Kwesi helped to paint the first day (white wash) and I got to help choose the plants for the garden. It was interesting choosing plants when you have no idea where they grow or how big they get! Correction Kwesi did provide a lot of guidance in the plants that he knew about. Plants in Ecuador are very similar to those found in Ghana… Duh they are tropical plants. I am sure the locals will be very pleased when the plants take root. All said and done we all thought
Progress on the community hall garden
Here are some of our friends working on the garden. it looked pretty good when we left. We weren’t able to finish the painting as it was drizzling the second day so only the first coat was finished.
After we were done volunteering yesterday we had the opportunity to talk to the community (through an interpreter) about how they live. We learned they have a mixed economy with agriculture (oranges and coffee being the most important), fishing and dairy. They are happy about tourists coming as it provides more jobs and interesting interactions with other cultures. Kwesi asked about new technologies and a woman explained how they are happy about washing machines. They used to go to the river to wash and it was quite time consuming. An older woman pointed out that the young women are now lazy and have too much time to socialize instead of working. Can’t win!
This morning we went early to the beach in Puerto Lopez. We went to see the fish market and talk to a fisherman (again through an interpreter) about this small city. It has a population of about 18,000 people. There are 150 boats and about 800 fishermen. The fisherman here had a similar story to the ones
Kwesi with a local gramma
Kwesi helped plant the palm trees with the ferns underneath! He had some local help. in San Pablo. The big boats (shrimping boats) are catching all the fish and it impacts them. I asked if he knew who owned the big boats and he said he didn’t know but that it was “big industry”. The fishing schedule is different in that city though. The fishermen go out for 2 days and then come back and sell their fish.
We also stopped in Salango. That’s where we saw the fish-flour factory. Apparently they cook the fish, and then grind it up with cereals to feed it to animals. I wonder what the business case is behind that! Doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to take fish out of the ocean and then feed them to animals (who aren’t designed to eat fish). But anyway, that, I think, is the factory the fishermen talked about in San Pablo that will buy up any extra catch.
We always ask about pollution and if things are different in the environment now than they were before. The small village of Puerto Rico said that the forest surrounding them protects them and that the ocean is ok. The fisherman indicated that the catch is less than is
Church in Puerto Rico
This is the beautiful church beside the community hall we helped out with. used to be in his father’s time and mentioned one species of fish you don’t see anymore. It’s hard to know exactly what is going on as we don’t even know if the number of fishing boats has increased or decreased. The fisherman did say that his father fished without nets or a compass. So, the technology of communication and nets probably enhances how many fish each boat is able to catch.
Tomorrow we are going to the Isla de la Plata. It’s an island and apparently it’s called the “poor man’s Galapagos”. Haha! We are going hiking and then snorkeling. It should be a fun day and we are really really really hoping that it is sunny! Or, at least not raining…
We are having a wonderful time here. Learning lots and we have more interesting experiences to come!
Here’s to rubber boots and mud!
Meghan and Kwesi
PS We saw a humpback whale at the beach! We uploaded a short video of it. Watch carefully...
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anne davies
non-member comment
What next.
Hi again. I find your trip very interesting and exciting, I laughed when I saw the word {rubber boots{ we have had rain Sat. and Sun. for the Stampede. Loooks like rain for Wed. hope it stays away till after the breakfast. Nice to hear from you to-day. Keep safe. Anne