A New Beginning

Hola a Todos!

Well, here I am in my new community of Chibuleo, about 30 minutes outside the large city of Ambato and 45 minutes from Riobamba. While I didn’t think it could happen, it is MUCH colder here than it was in Zhoray…ay chai chai! What’s really scary is that we’re in summer, so come July I might be an icicle.

The best news about the move is that little Cora came with me! It was stressful for a while because she was at the vet in Cuenca and I didn’t think I could bring her, so I tried to find a home among other PCV’s, looked into leaving her at the vet for long-term boarding, and looked into finding her a home in Cuenca. When the driver came to get my stuff with me, he asked about her because Rebecca, the health Program Manager, had told him I had a dog at the vet. He said I should just call my counterpart and see what she thought, so I did. My new counterpart, Teresita, was very kind and told me to absolutely bring the dog. She said my host family had a back yard she could stay in with another dog, and that she could go to the foundation with me. Miguel (the driver) and I went and picked her up last-minute from the vet in Cuenca Saturday night and she came to Chibuleo with me on Sunday!

I think the host family was a bit hesitant at first, but now have no problem with her, and seem to like her a lot! They always ask if she’s had enough food, if she’s too cold, etc. Similarly, she instantly became a star at the project. There is a lot of room for her to run around and she was very good on her first day about not running away (even though the door was open!). She is an energetic, but very sweet puppy, so when the kids came in the afternoon she played and played and played with them. By the time classes came around, I went up to one of the classrooms and peeked down on her and she was sound asleep among the pile of backpacks strewn across the playground.

At home, I was nervous to let her loose, but there really is no option because I can’t keep her leashed all the time. I think she knows well where she lives and there is hardly any traffic around here, so I’m not too worried about her. Tuesday I went to give her some breakfast and she had left the yard, but one of my host sisters came out to say she had gone out the front to the school, which is the next building over. I went to the front porch and called her and she came running in for food.She walked with me and my host mom and sister to the foundation, but then continued on with my host sister up to the sheep.  I ended up working until late that night and hadn’t seen her at all during the day, but she was asleep with the family’s dog waiting for me at home! I think she is going to live a very nice, free life here in the campo of Chibuleo, and she seems to be very, very happy here, like me!

My host family is incredible. I already feel so welcomed into the family and they are both sweet and fun. My host mom is absolutely adorable. She is the cook at the foundation, so she makes lunch for 100 kids each day. I went with her my first two days and helped around the kitchen a bit, but mostly just hung out with her. It’s nice because she’s a very good cook, and there is also a nutritionist who decides the lunch menu at the foundation, so I am eating well. There are 3 girls in my host family, probably between the ages of 18-25, so it is a lot of fun to be around girls my age! One of them has a 1.5 year-old daughter, Dalila, who is absolutely adorable and very loved by all, so she is the focus of most of our time together, which is great! There is also a teenage son who is very nice and they are a very kind family who loves spending time together. My room is right in the middle of it all, so I feel like I am part of the household.  While it has only been a few days, I love being here in the house and spending time with the family. It is also nice because when I am in my room, I can still here the family and it’s nice knowing there are others nearby. I also love the surprise visits from Dalila, although she usually just opens the door, looks in, and toddles away. She isn’t too sure about me yet, but I’m definitely growing on her, indicated by the two pats she gave me on the leg yesterday! I think we’ll be very good friends.

The foundation I’m working for is called Kinder Not Hilfer (KNH), a German foundation. My counterpart is the directora of the foundation, and only 5 women work there – my counterpart, the accountant, the two educators and my host mom. It is basically an after-school program for kids where they come for a nutritional lunch, then do their homework and can get help with it. There is a huge playground for those who don’t want to work, as well as a computer lab (WITH INTERNET!), and a few classrooms. I’m going to get my own classroom to be able to continue and start new groups with different kids, as well as give all my charlas. I will be starting with hygiene charlas and charlas about personal values, splitting the kids to work with 3 different age groups. The kids at the foundation rage in age from 4-17 years old, so there is a wide range to work with, which will be great! I will also be working with some nutrition charlas leading into my tire gardens, which should be a lot of fun. The foundation doesn’t have space for me to start a regular garden, but they have a ton of old tires on the roof, so I’m going to use those to begin tire gardens and identify the kids most interested in them. From there I hope to work with those kids and their parents in starting family gardens on their own plots of land. It is nice to work with the foundation because they have some funding for different things, which will help with projects I want to do! Aside from the foundation, I’ll go to the subcentro in the mornings (at least that’s the plan for now…) to help there and maybe start some projects with them too. I’m not sure they have anything for me to do, so I’ll see how that goes.

The community is very indigenous where I live and the majority speakKichwa, so I’m hoping to learn some too. I was talking to Martha, one of the two educators at the foundation, about it today and she said that the adults almost all speak Kichwa and the kids understand, although some can’t speak it. I am around it enough because both Martha and Maria Eugenio speak Kichwa, so that is their natural language when they’re together. My host mom also understands it, although I’ve only heard her respond in Spanish. While I’m sure I won’t be able to get great at it, I should be able to learn at least some of the basics!

That’s about it for now. It is only 8:30pm, but I have to go to bed to shake the cold. I’m sitting here on the computer and can see my breath (yes, inside my bedroom) and my fingers can hardly function anymore. Luckily I have sheets, 6 wool blankets and a big comforter, so nighttime is the only time I feel like I can actually get warm! Things are all very new here still, but the transition has been smooth and I’m excited to see how things play at. I came into this community with many more skills and ideas about how to enter a community than when I was in Zhoray, so things are coming much more easily. While I know there will still be plenty of roadblocks and hard times, I have a wonderful feeling about my new life her in Chibuleo J

I miss you all very much and am happy that I will now be able to be in closer contact with many of you! I will be sure to share my new mailing address once I get it assigned from Peace Corps. While it’s the heart of winter there, I at least hope you are all able to stay warmer than me here!

All my love,

Kerry