Working group with the community leaders

Hike in Boliche on our train trip

Presenting about preventative health

Winners of the food pyramid challenge

Before leaving on the train

Life as a PCVL

It’s hard to believe that it is already the end of October! Transitioning into the life and work in Quito has been extremely easy and the time is going quickly. I couldn't be happier with the work I am doing, the people I am meeting, and the connections being made.

I had a lot of work with Sister Ruth during the month of October because we had our Saturday workshops with the Caritas leaders from the communities around Quito. The group consisted of about 30 people, all of whom were great participants, very interested in the topics and actively contributing to the work. While I absolutely LOVED my work with the kids in Chibuleo, it was really refreshing working with a group of adults who were there on their own incentive and very willing to learn. We had a great time together and I think they took a lot away from the workshops. We are currently in the second phase of the project in which we are coordinating with the participants and planning dates when Sister Ruth and I can go to their neighborhoods to help them replicate the workshops with their various groups (youth groups, church groups, schools, senior citizens, etc.). Hopefully this works smoothly and we empower them to continue teaching hygiene, nutrition and HIV prevention in their communities!

Sister Ruth gets invited to many different events, both in and outside of the church. Today we attended a working group meeting hosted by the Ministry for Disabled Persons, which included representatives from both the public and private sectors. The new ministry is trying to improve access to information and resources for people with disabilities and we used the time to network, share all the resources that each group has to offer, and brainstorm the needs and the areas in which improvements are still needed. I met a lot of neat people and one woman in particular who is a mother who founded a support group for parents of children with autism. Not much information exists here about autism and diagnoses are often not made for many, many years, so the kids miss out on therapy during critical times. I really liked the woman and her passion for her work, so am going to see if I can help out every once in a while when I have time.

Peace Corps work is also going well. I spent the past few days doing site visits with my boss Veronica to visit volunteers in their sites. I tagged along to get a better sense of how I will conduct the visits when I go on my own, and just to accompany Vero. It was really fun to get out and see the volunteers in their communities, hear about all the work they are doing, the things that are going well and the challenges they are facing. I feel like I can relate to a lot of it after my two years in the community.

I started working in the garden at the office with Kristin, and I hope to plant sometime next week. We are going to grow a little organic vegetable garden to share with staff and hopefully teach them a little bit more about our food security goals in the Community Health program. I am also planning my sessions for the reconnect meeting for Omnibus 110. They will be at the meeting in Tumbaco in a few weeks, which means they have almost been in site for 3 months. I am excited to be able to plan and lead some of the sessions!

Apart from work, I have been having plenty of fun! Last week I got to go with Sister Ruth on an office retreat and we took the train from Quito to Boliche in Cotopaxi National Park. The train is a significant monument in Ecuador’s history and has been restored for tourism purposes in the past few years. It was fun to spend more time with people from the office and it was a beautiful ride. Tomorrow I am flying to Guayaquil after work because Carlos’ best friend is getting married on Friday. For various reasons the date suddenly changed to this week, so it was a last minute trip, but it should be nice! It is just the legal marriage and the church ceremony will be sometime in December. Since Carlos and I are the only ones going from outside of the family, we will be going to Cuenca after to celebrate with the bride and groom and enjoy a day at the fiestas in Cuenca. One month from now I will also be enjoying to Caribbean with my mom on our little “work” getaway to Jamaica J

That’s it for now, hope everyone at home is doing well!

Un abrazo,

Kerry

Colorado to Quito

After leaving my chilly home in Chibuleo, I got to enjoy some Colorado summer for the first time in a few years! I spent a wonderful month at home, full of visits with family and friends and just soaking in the Colorado sunshine and beauty.

During Liam and Jamie’s wedding parties, I got to see a lot of family (both local and from out of town!) and good family friends. It was a fun and joyous occasion to celebrate the marriage of two people who are perfect for each other. It was so nice to have Darcy there too – it was the first time the three of us have been together since I left for Peace Corps 2.5 years ago!

Once things settled down after the wedding party, Carlos came to visit. He saw Colorado for the first time, met Liam, Jamie, extended family and a lot of friends, and got a little taste of where I come from. We did all sorts of touristy and Colorado-y things, including the Denver Zoo, Botanic Gardens, Rockies game, Sky Sox game with fireworks, Garden of the Gods, Air Force Academy, State Fair and rodeo, Red Rocks Canyon and of course the outlet mall. It was an amazing week having him there and getting to know more about my life and the people I always talk about.

I spent my remaining two weeks in Colorado doing lots of shopping and hanging out. It was so nice to be home and not feel completely rushed, but rather enjoy everything about my time there. It was even easier coming back to Ecuador this time since I enjoyed being home for so long, knowing I will be home again shortly for Christmas, and looking forward to starting everything in Quito.

So far, Quito has been all I had hoped for and more. I live in an absolutely beautiful apartment with Shannon and Kristin, the two other PCVLs in Quito. It is a 4-bedroom place for the three of us with a big kitchen, dining room and living. I have my own balcony off my room that allows me to look out over the city and see the volcano Cotopaxi. The apartment is 25 minutes walking from the office, 5 minutes walking from a huge park and mall, and about 15 minutes down the trolley from my counterpart. It is so nice to be independent, creating my own schedule, making my own food and just living how I am used to.

My work as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader is good. I work in the office 3 days a week and really like my two bosses (one who is with me in Quito and one who is in Guayaquil). My work consists of calling and checking in on volunteers, holding cluster meetings for the volunteers in the two provinces I am responsible for, making newsletters and bulletin boards, developing training sessions, doing site visits to volunteers in the field and any other jobs that pop up.

Apart from my PCVL responsibilities, I am working with a new counterpart 2 days a week. My official counterpart is Sister Ruth, a nun with the catholic organization of Caritas. She is in charge of the health portion of the organization and we are currently holding Saturday trainings for community leaders from around Quito. Sister Ruth provides the spiritual, religious health training and I give talks about hygiene, nutrition and HIV prevention. We have only had our first meeting so far, but it went well! When I am in their building I have my own little office with a computer and supplies and everyone who works there is incredibly kind.  There are a lot of international workers, so people from Italy, Mexico, Argentina and more. It is a great environment to work in and the organization is well founded, so there is plenty of work to be done.

I am certainly kept busy between my work with Peace Corps and Caritas, but I am enjoying them both immensely and still have time for myself. I have been back to visit my host family once and have spent most weekends in Ambato with Carlos and his family. We have lots of visitors passing through our apartment as other volunteers travel to or through Quito for various reasons. We have already decided to host Thanksgiving dinner, which will be made complete with pumpkin pie from the pumpkin I brought back with me. It is a lot of fun having roommates, including Shannon’s new puppy. I couldn’t be happier with my decision to extend for a third year into the city and I think this is a great transition from my two rural years with Peace Corps into whatever comes next.

I hope everyone is doing well at home – I see that the cold weather is moving in, which I’m looking forward to over Christmas!

Un Abrazo,                                                                                                                                             

Kerry