Day 3, January 5, 2010

Message for the day from Sue: Carpe Diem; Seize the Day

This group was eager to do so. After the reading of a clever account of Monday´s activities, assignments were discussed over breakfast and we set out with Pili for site 2 and to work. Everyone seemed to have a good day.

Meredith reported that she was able to read a storybook to the ninos in Spanish upside down. Shannon worked in the anteroom where the children glued pieces of paper on a tracing of their names. Joanna started out in the art room and then the mural project beckoned and she ended up helping out downstairs as well. We are all excited about the murals being painted to complete the work on the 2nd floor. Team 136 leaving our mark!

Jackie reported that the babies were especially vocal and that she was able to quiet 1 of them successfully. Judy was glad to get her group of children outside playing catch and soccer. She did rescue the escapees who ran upstairs. Glenda is working on the mural and again led the tias in the maracas project. Cora worked with the babies and expressed particular appreciation of Paty. Barbara installed another toilet seat, peeled potatoes and is painting ARCA IRIX rainbow upstairs.

I enjoyed my time in the kitchen and peeled more garlic than I ever have. Late in the afternoon after a session with books and coloring , volunteers sang active songs with the ninos.

Ending the day with stop offs at stores, supper and salsa Lessons. A day properly seized!

By Sue

Day 2, January 4th 2010

Message of the Day from Glenda, NOTHING VENTURED NOTHING GAINED

I write this journal in between arriving back to the hotel and dinner. And I must say this was one amazing day.

The official day began with breakfast and the journal reading, then onto the bus to view the other day care sites. Then on to work.

The facility was clean and tidy and the classrooms, ninos, and tias were welcoming. We were ushered off to our designated classes and from that time on a frantic, frenetic pace through lunch.

At lunch I asked my colleagues for comments regarding their morning and here are some responses regarding jobs accomplished.

Meredith- I did slicing, chopping, and dicing. I am a Vegamatic!
Sue- Wonderful little 2 year olds!
Judy- I swept 2 rooms and made ¨pelota¨ small paper balls.
Cora- beautiful babies
Shannon had to change one dirty diaper and Cora only had to do a wet one.
Barbara installed 6 toilet seats and organized the office.
Chip-cur off some of his finger and Shannon used her first aid kit to keep the man still chopping.

I witnessed and heard Joanna´s lovely voice made magic with the children. They all became quiet and listened too.

After lunch we returned to the work site where I was able to do paper Mache with our team and the tias and the kitchen ladies. If all goes well, at the end of this week, everyone will be shaking their maracas.

by Glenda

Day 1, January 3rd, 2010

Message of the Day from Jennie-EXPECT SURPRISES!

Global Volunteers 136th service mission to Calderon, Ecuador begins with a day of orientation. Judy, Glenda, Sue, Jackie, Meredith, Joanna, Cora, Shannon and Barbara gather for breakfast, introductions in pairs and then a meeting with our FUNDAC hosts. Yolanda, Marujita, Elvita and Pilar seamlessly translated by our fearless leader Jennie. We learned about the two centers -#1 has 60 children including 10 kids of the tias. Children are in a nearby house. Center # 2 has 40 children completing 2nd floor construcion. Curriculum includes art, reading, legos, puzzles, homemaking and science "rincones." There are 15 tias-8 at the first center, 6 at the second center plus Lili the administrator. The children range in age from 7 months to 5 years. The women were warm, open-hearted and repeatedly expressed their appreciation for the work of Global Vonunteers. Hugs and gratitude all around.

Jennie then reviewed our possible roles in Calderon, practices and policies. People volunteered to coordinate food, water, celebrations, journal, first aid and free time. We signed up to write Journal entries and "message of the day." Jennie reminded us of the GV principal mission to "Wage peace and Promote Justice."

We then did an exercise beautifully facilitated by Jennie where we each wrote 3 "to verb object" cards indicating our most important reasons for coming to Ecuador on this trip. All of the cards were posted into five categories by a group decision making process. We then chose one statement that best exemplified each category as follows-
To Learn Spanish
To be an ambassador of good will from the US
To serve children, teachers and the community
To appreciate Ecuadorean people and their culture
To enrich my life

The morning ended with the group spelling out some characteristics of an effective team as follows-
Respectful, Cheerful, Coorperative, Energetic, Flexible, Open Hearted, Friendly, Cohesive, Teamwork, Accountable, Appreciative, Enthusiastic, Prompt, Attentive, Giving, Sharing, Generous.

A delicious lunch was served featuriing lacro de papos-potato soup
pollo-chicken arroz-rice papas fritas-fried potatoes, forsas con crema-strawberries and cream and maracuya-passion fruit juice.

A break after lunch. Some went to the mall. Then we gathered for a review of Safety and Health suggestions.
Remember safety trumps.
No personal gifts
No intimate personal contact
No illegal drugs
There must always be matched labor.

An animated Spanish class followed highlighting greetings, ages, marital status, family composition and body parts which culminated in a body song.

Martin Mioanda coordinator of Ecuador-Quito.com then spoke to us about available tourist opportunities for weeknights and next weekend. There was considerable interest in our group for many of his exciting offerings. He generously proposed lower rates and a free salsa class at the hotel. These activities will be coordinated and we will get back to him. More hugs all around.

Dinner featured trucka-trout arroz-rice papas and sopa de verduras-vegetable soup jugo denaranjellas-juice. Dessert was a pear like fruit called babaco.

After dinner we met to discuss free time plans. It was decided that most of us will go to Otovalo, a trip that included leather, lake, equator and market on Saturday Jan. 9th. We will go to Mindo, the cloud forest for nature on Jan. 10th. Jacchigua the National Folkoric Ballet on Jan. 13th and the Night Tour including churches lit, Panecillo and La Ronda on Thursday Jan. 7th.

We requested a better rate and Martin has offered the Tour for $20 each. He´ll let us know about the Salsa class on Tuesday Jan. 5th. Final event was a birthday song and gift to Evan. Exhausted volunteers retired before 9 pm.

by Barbara

"May the world go around with your smile- unknown

Calderon, Ecuador

So I’m going to start out my journal entry with a little excerpt of my own personal journal, outlining my two goals from our first day together. As you may or may not have noticed, I tend to talk a lot, so here’s the unabridged version of my three-word goals:

“1.) LEARN FROM THE CHILDREN.
I think there’s a big difference between learning about children and learning from children. There’s something we can all learn from the naivety of young children. Ignorance is bliss, right? They have so little- practically nothing- yet their joy is infectious and inspiring. It’s something I can’t wait to witness firsthand, I think the idea of it will sink deeper and allow me to be more grateful- or at least aware- of the privilege I have.

2.) MAKE PEOPLE SMILE.
If I can help bring joy to others, I think I will personally be more content with myself, and note further whatever I will be able to get out of with the idea of simplistic joy that I talked about with my other goal. I don’t care who it is that I make smile; I just want to make people smile, to see that tangible form of joy- even if just for a second.”

And I think I expected it to be as easy as that. Easy smiles and piggy back rides. What I failed to recognize— and tend to always do because of expectations I unconsciously set—is that it’s a hell lot more than that. I think I expected to be in a state of utter admiration at these children, but what I didn’t realize was that I wouldn’t have time to stand back in admiration. Runny noses, incessant crying, legos being thrown, running with scissors… and all progress hindered by the language barrier.
It’s been a lot of work, and for me, hardly with enough time to reflect. Other team members have helped me realize throughout the past week that I’ve been trying too hard, and I have to just let the kids come to me. Our team goals really ring true with me, I think. I have to find patience within myself instead of wasting my energy trying to please everyone else. And it really has gotten easier since then.
Sure, Anthony—the four year old who many of you know as the one with the mushroom haircut who craves attention—spent the entire interval between breakfast and snack today crying for no apparent reason, but he eventually stopped. And that’s all there is to it. In that time, I wasn’t able to make Anthony stop crying, or even help him focus on his artwork. But in that time, I got to know some of the other children better instead of devoting all my energy on just one of the seven. And that’s how we have to look at it.
I find it hard to be gratified with the work we are doing, and constantly find myself wondering whether or not I am making a big difference in these people’s lives. I find myself living life as a series of memories in the making… Always thinking about how I can’t wait to share the stories and the photos. I need to start focusing on breathing, on living in the moment. I’m waiting to get something out of this experience, expecting not only to be able to run an extra mile when I get home because of the altitude difference, but also, like I said in my goals, to be more aware and gracious.
I think once I start focusing on the present moment, I will begin to learn to be more tolerant of Anthony’s tears, Abel’s tendencies to not listen, and all the other quirks of the other children.
A singer named Jonah Matranga, who one of my really good friends back at home knows personally once said:
“I am most definitely naive, and proud of it. I am also very pragmatic and rational, but I think being naive, keeping that child-like core, is important for keeping any sort of moral center.”
And once I learn to keep my child-like core, I will begin to joyfully serve the children.

By Zoe

***
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. There is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.

-Henry David Thoreau

Hasta Luego!

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." -George Bernard ShawBuenos nochesThis report is brought to you from Once ' 11 aka, StanleyHave your coffee, this is a two partner.Ecuador, a land of ancient culture and modern technology bridging the gap as it straddles the equator, looking for true North, Upward mobility. A land of artisans, street vendors, and centuries old cathedrals and beautiful museums. Shopping malls of upscale brands sprouting like new blades of grass in the valley of Quito ' 200 years Free.We Global Volunteers who came from East and West USA. Came to Ecuador to be of service to the babies, learn the culture, and to support the people. This past week, we have cleaned and feed and nurtured the babies of Calderon. In return, we have been showered by the babies with smiles, laughter, tears, and looks of love. We have washed walls, cleaned carpets and wondered, Is this the service I signed up for...and at the end of the day, we smiled at each other and verbally and non'verbally said, YES IT IS!, Job well done.We have fretted and worried about the safety of the children. The seesaws, and concrete playgrounds. will it hurt one of our Charges, but we see they survive and flourish and smile. They smile with the innocence of babies.This weekend our team spread out to various parts of Ecuador from Octovala, to the rain forest, to the thermal spa of Papallacta. And as we start this second week, we sadly say goodbye to four of our beloved team. We say adios to mother and Son, Margaret and Tayte, aka Marten, and mother and daughter, Marsha and Sara. they will be missed. Hasta Luego.

StanleyB

"Someone to tell it to is one of the fundamental needs of human beings." -Miles Franklin

The rich and the poor meet together, the Lord is the maker of them all.

Just what are those Calderon children made of?
Is it snakes and lizards and puppy dog tails?
Is it sugar and spice and everything nice?
Just what are those Calderon children made of?
Is it hugs and kisses,
Smiles and near misses?
Is it potty chairs and banos
Runny noses and manos?
Is it crayons and cut outs
Playing hard and sleep outs?
Eating it all
The bananas the salads the soups
Is it holding lightly to tia’s shirt
While waiting for
Mama, papa, hermano, o abuela?
I know
Calderon children are made of hugs and kisses
And loving each of us
Both the misters
And the misses

By Pat

Ecuadorian Leaders Request Your Service

FUNDAC (Fundacion de Damas Calderonenses) is an organization legally constituted since 1993, is conformed by 20 voluntary women whose mission is offering social help to the needy classes of Calderón, specially worker women, poor children and old people. The social services help that we bring are centered exclusively in the Day Care center Nuestra Señora del Carmen, now we have two functional local that harbor 130 poor children whose ages go from the 3 months of age to the 5 years old. We also work with people mature adults for who we offer Shops of growth and identification of their list of third age with recreational and occupational days.

Welcome to Calderón!
Calderón is a rural communiy in Quito’s Metropolitan District, are located to the north from the capital to 30 minutes of distance, its climate is dry of nature, with temperatures of up to 30ºC. The population has increased in these last 10 years due to their benign climate.
Calderón is characterized for bread handcrafts and for carved in wood being these of national and international recognition. Their people are kind and simple, at the same than other places here it has migrant indigenous population that left their children under the care of third people and to who we also offer our contingent of social help.

The day care centers are located in the first one in center of Calderón next to the Municipal Market and the modern local N. 2 in San Rafael's sector

From the year of 1998 we have the great opportunity to have the help of Global Volunteers, their annual brigades have left us samples of shared work, solidarity, friendship and mainly its economic contingent has been good for the execution of construction projects.
We should indicate that yours generous contribution in this last season has been excellent to finish the first one and second plant of the new construction of the local N. 2 located in the neighborhood San Rafael to 2 kilometers of the center of Calderón, in a same way the donations of educational material for the good operation and attention to the benefitted children.

Our recognition and gratitude for all the volunteers that visited us, to their directors and coordinators that every day is pending of our necessities a thank you infinite, God blesses.

Lourdes Erazo
FUNDAC REPRESENTANT