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