Spreading a little peace and friendship

Niños Promoviendo Paz y Amistad

My PC friend Stacia worked with an organization in the States called E.R.A.S.E who´s missoin is to eradicate racisma and discrimination in the world. One way they work to promote their mission is by donating pencils to kids in underprivledged villages....in hopes of ¨erasing¨ rascism. So, basically, Stacia had box after box of pencils sent to her by this organization. AWESOME, but the boxes arrived at the end of her service and she passed out as many pencils as she could in her community but ran out of time to get them all passed out.
Lucky for me, I inherited all the pencils with the promise to keep the project going.
This got me thinking....because International Peace Day is in September, Kristen and I decided to put together a mini-program in the elementary and highschools where the students not only receive a pencil but learn a little bit about geography, what kids their age like to do in other countries and particpate in a drawing contest. The kids had to draw their interpretation of a world filled with peace and friendship.
The idea took off, and Kristen and I had fun working with the kids!

The elementary school kids in Kristen´s site...so adorable

Peace : Paz

The group of high school students who participated in the drawing contest from my siteWinners of the drawing contest

Teaching a little geography

Peace links with the students commitments on how they are going to promote peace and friendship in their communities.

Paz y amistad: Peace and friendship

One of the winning drawings

Elementary School in Emaus where I live

The little kiddos learning about the E.R.A.S.E. program and the group of students who donated the pencils.

Preciosa

Alvy...love this little kid

Thanks Stacia! Thanks E.R.A.S.E.!

One year into my service....

(I apoligize for taking a break in blogging. I feel as though I hit my year mark in my service, and all of a sudden my workload increased tenfold. Now, that I have had time to prove myself and have pulled off some small successful events, my communities are finally realizing that this random tall blonde girl livig in their town can put together projects and be something of value. So, needless to say, I have had very little free-time, and I really couldn´t be more excited. So here are some photos from August and September)

My community had a festival celebrating Manabi culture and oral tradition. Groups from all over Ecuador particpated in the event. We had indigenous groups from the Andes mtns, Afro-Ecuadorian groups from Esmeraldes and local groups from Manabi singing, dancing and telling stories all through the night. It was one of my favorite events that we have had so far!A night filled with history, stories, folktales and lots and lots of dancing.

Even when the electricity went out, people pulled out flashlights and the event continued. I love these women´s performance....¨Las Tres Marias.¨ They got the whole crowd up and dancing while they sang and made sounds through their pretend trombones that they formed from with their hands. I wish this event was more than once a year.

On to Kristen, good PC friend´s going away party...

All of were VERY sad to see Kris go. Kristen arrived 1 year earlier than me, so her 2-year service came to an end. Lucky for me though, she accepted a position in Quito and will be living in Ecuador another year! So, although she will not be my Manabi buddy, we will still get to visit and spend time together.Hopefully all I have to do to get her to come visit is mention bailes or mangos! haha
Like I have said before, no party is complete without La Hora Loca...masks, ties and a full hour of dancing. It was so sweet watching as Kristen´s community talked about all their favorite memories spent with her and having them share heart felt speeches expressing how much she means to the them. It definitely makes me reflect on how I have integrated into my community and inspires me to want to spend more time visiting people than completely focusing on work. Thanks Kristen for being such a good neighbor, co-worker, counselor, dance partner and all around good friend! TQM

On to my gatita linda...

Anali being her curious self climbing all over the mounds of oranges and grapefruits in my front yard

Hope this isn´t too graphic :/ I decided that with all the kittens that are left here in Ecuador without homes, I needed to get my little cat spayed. So, I asked the vet in my town, and he ended up turing my dining room table into an operating table.
Everything was done very professionally and with anetestics but I still found it hard to watch in the beginning.
In the end, the surgery was actually very fascinating, and I am happy to report, that at this point, she is completely healed, stiches removed and running around like her wild little self.