Welcome to Ecuador

It has now been nine days since I arrived in Ecuador, and I am finally starting to settle into life here in Quito. I came in on a flight with two Californian dairy farmers who were part of a group of six people from the North American affiliate of Partners Worldwide (PW) who support Partners for Christian Development, the Ecuadorian organization that PW works with in Ecuador.

The last members of the North American group left yesterday, but before then, we jointly visited three cities, six businesses, participated in the graduation of a business training class, and had many conversations about the achievements over the past year and the goals for the future relationship between the Ecuadorian and North American group.

One of the highlights of the last week for me was a trip out to the rural community of Las Mercedes in the western part of the country. Four of us made the trek by car, plane, bus, and truck to reach this community of just over 100 families. In a country where recycling is rare and littering is still common, this community was spotlessly clean, had organic gardening classes, and was even working on plans for a recycling center. Leaders from the community were searching for new ways to improve their community, and one of those was the reason why we had come.

Several years before, three people from the community had been given financial support for businesses such as a dairy farm and a furniture leg shop. During our time in Mercedes we visited these two businesses, and I even got to milk one of the dairy cows! However, a meeting with over 20 community members was the highlight of the day. This past year there have been two business training classes offered in Quito, and when the community in Mercedes heard about these classes, they were excited to receive the training too. During our meeting, we heard from store owners, farmers, mechanics, and others who were all excited to have us visit and consider the possibility of offering training. We took stories from our visit to Mercedes back to Quito, and in the coming weeks I'll be able to report whether we will be able to offer business classes in Mercedes.

Coming soon: Snapshots of Life in Ecuador