Shell - Welcome to the Jungle

Our Group

Ok, we weren't really in the jungle, but it's as close as we will get this summer. HCJB has a hospital and a mission compound in Shell, 5 hours SE of Quito. At 3000 feet, it is much warmer there than it is in Quito. I sent 7 day there, Thursday to Thursday. To summarize my time there, here's a list of "firsts."

This week was the first time I have:
1. Climbed behind a waterfall
2. Driven a 4-wheeler
3. Had cheese in my hot chocolate
4. Heard wild monkeys chattering
5. Taken a steaming hot shower
(it wasn't the first time in my life, but the first time in a long time)
6. Ate fresh maracuya
(a delicious fruit that is abundant here)
7. Climbed a tree, picked lemons, made fresh-squeezed lemonade
8. Taken an aerobics class led by a man in the military

Maracuya - those are the insides in the bowl

I guess some of this could use some explanation. The first three days there, all the interns and our leaders, were in Shell. On our way there we hiked to a gorgeous waterfall. In addition to simply looking at it, we climbed up a small crawlspace cut into the rock that led to an overlook feet from the pounding waterfall. Of course we were drenched, but it was a beautiful view of the falls and the water below. The next day, we drove four wheelers up to the top of a mountain. How incredible! The views of the valley below were breathtaking. I guess my breath also might have been taken away because it took me a while to get used to driving. With switchbacks on the side of a cliff, I learned to drive well (and keep away from danger) quickly. To warm up (it was cold on the top of the mountain), we had hot chocolate. However, it is common in the area we were in to put a soft, homemade cheese in the hot chocolate. I tried it, but I think that I will stick to traditional hot chocolate!

After the other interns left, our task as engineering students was to survey the land around the hospital. They need a new wastewater treatment system, so we needed to know the characteristics and layout of the available land. Never having done a large scale survey before made this surprisingly challenging. "Jungle" as we called it, covered most of the area. There were trees, reeds, and ferns reaching far over our heads. The guys hacked paths through the jungle, while I stayed safely away from their machetes. After a week of work, we finally had all the land surveyed.

1. Surveying (that's me!)

2. Adeline sharpening a machete

When we weren't surveying, we had time for some other activities. We bought and ate lots of fresh fruit. I love that most fruits are always in season! We went swimming in a pool formed by a dyke. It was a hot day and there were lots of people there, which made people watching a lot of fun. I went to an aerobics class. It was all in Spanish and led by a man in the military....and so I spent lots of time laughing at myself. An engineering couple who works for HCJB and lives in Shell has a 9 month old baby. I enjoyed playing with him....he's the cutest, happiest baby that I have ever seen! In the evenings, I could often be found relaxing in a hammock.

We also had the privelege of getting to know several other missionaries who live in Shell. One of my favorite things about the trip was hearing people's stories. It is interesting to hear how people get involved in mission....when they heard and heeded God's call and how He led them to Ecuador. And stories of their time in the mission field....I wish I could remember all of them - there are some incredible testaments to God's faithfulness and His creativity in the ways He decides to work in people's lives!

The suspension bridge leading to the guesthouse

El Corazon

This past week, Steven (a fellow summer intern), Adeline (a working visitor here for a year from Northern Ireland), Bruce (one of the people who heads up Community Development/Water Projects), and I joined a veterinarian team in the town of El Corazon. Adeline was in charge of meals for our group, so the days before we left were full of shopping and chopping. It's amazing how long it takes to prepare, serve, and clean up after a meal for 30! My hands smelled like onions for days but Adeline did a great job feeding us all! While in El Corazon, the only engineering work we did was water testing. But we were definitly kept busy in other ways! The veterinarian students doctored several peoples' cows, pigs, and dogs. We often went with them. Coming from Warren County, I thought I knew my fair share about animals....but I sure have a lot more to learn. It was interesting to see them at work in the community and I learned a lot about how to care for animals in a very rural setting. In the afternoons, we led a vacation Bible school for the kids. That was the highlight of the trip! These kids are adorable. And even though I had difficulty communicating - please pray that my ability to understand and speak Spanish will improve - we had a lot of fun. At the beginning of the afternoon we played soccer, jumped rope, and simply ran around with the kids. After that their was a Bible lesson and usually a lesson in hygiene - hand washing and tooth brushing for example. We finished with a craft. It was always hard to let the kids go home, but by that time, most of the group was pretty worn out.

In El Corazon I learned about life in a different culture. Many of the cows that the vets saw were not reaching their potential milk production. One of the huge limiting factors in this is lack of water. The people in El Corazon have water near their homes to drink, but it is not enough to supply their animals with as much water as they need. Because the area is mountianous and it is a terribly long trek to bring the animals to water, they only get watered once a day. In El Corazon, cows were producing on average 3-5 liters of milk a day. At this altitude good production is between 20-30 liters! Also, in Ecuador, everyone is required to vote. However, many people are illiterate or ill-informed about their choices in the election. Candidates will drive through towns like El Corazon promoting themselves. Without exposure to information about the other candidates and their platforms, these people are easily taken advantage of. Related to water projects, the government will not help a community of less that 200 families (I think it's families, but it might be people) design and build a water system. I think this is because with so few people able to vote, they don't deem it an area worth helping. Thankfully this is where HCJB often steps in. Not only does HCJB help the community build a water system, but they often have the opportunity to share the Good News of Christ....which the government surely wouldn't do!

Adventures in Mindo

On Saturday we took a trip to a little town called Mindo. It was a touristy type of day. After a 30-45 minute hike up a mountainous road (we opted to walk instead of drive) we got to a cable car that took us from one mountain side to another. One on the other side, we hiked through the rain forest to a gorgeous waterfall. It was so powerful that you couldn't get anywhere close to where the water crashed into the pool below. We did swim around and the water was freezing! Once we couldn't take the cold water any longer we hiked back up to the cable car and returned to the other mountain. Then, we got to ride the ziplines. Not 1 zipline, or even 2 or 3, but 13 consecutive ziplines! It was amazing. We zig-zagged between mountains, soaring over treetops, roads, and rivers. I even got to go upsidedown once! After so much activity we took a lunch break. But we didn't stop for long. Even cold tempertures and drizzle didn't keep us from our last event of the day. We went rafting down the river. This wasn't an ordinary rafting trip. We were on a series of intertubes tied together in a flower pattern. Each of us sat where 3 intertubes met and held onto the ropes tying them together for dear life. This river was crazy! There were rocks -- extremely large rocks -- everywhere. Somtimes our guides navigated around them, but other times we went right over them. It was one of the coldest experiences of my life (most of us were shivering uncontrollably) but the thrill of the ride and the beauty of the river were completely worth it!

Experiencing Quito

Wow I have a lot to catch up on. Here's a summary of the past week:

Monday: El Mitad del Mundo

Monday was my first day of "work." Rather than engineering work, we had a day of orientation. There are 6 interns here this summer - three who work in the hospital and three of us who work with Clean Water Projects. After learning about what was expected of us this summer we went to the center of the world. Just outside of Quito there is a monument to the Equator. Although it isn't incredibly tall, the monument offers a spectacular view of the mountains - completely surrounded us. It was beautiful ... the pictures below do not do it justice! Inside the monument was a museum dedicated to the different indiginous people groups of Ecuador. We finished our day with a visit to an heladaria - ice cream shop. I had maracuya (papaya) ice cream and it was delicious. The fresh fruit here is incredible -- it is always available and juice freshly made from ripe, local fruit is unbeatable!

Our group at the Equator

Tuesday and Wednesday: Learning the Engineering Ropes

Tuesday and Wednesday were my first days in the water projects office. Later in the summer we will be doing surveys (topographic surveys, not questionnaires) at several sites around the country. Having had no experience surveying, I faced a large learning curve. We checked out the equipment and learned the basics. Tuesday night we (the 6 interns) all went to a "20-somethings" Bible study in the city. There were only 2 or 3 other people who spoke English as their first language, so it was a time to practice Spanish. Wednesday evening we learned about a ministry called Pan de Vida. They minister to the poor in the city by "not just talking about love, but showing love." Among several other ministries they serve 3 meals throughout the week. We helped prepare a meal and met several of the people who volunteer on a weekly basis.

Thursday and Friday: Sights in Quito

The last two days of our work week, we took a break from traditional engineering work. This coming Monday several of us from clean water projects are joining a team of student veternarians in a town called El Corazon for the week. We had to plan and prepare meals for the group of 30. To do so we visited several markets in Quito. Some were supermarkets, but one was similar to a farmers market. This was my first experience with bartering -- thankfully, this time, I was only an observer in the process. Friday consisted of preparing some of the food that we had bought. I chopped onions, peppers, chilis, and garlic -- and had the smelly evidence on my hands all day to prove it. Making chili for 30 is a big job! At lunch, another intern and I, Steve, walked into a full resturant. As we were about to go elsewhere, two women invited us to sit with them. So we shared our lunch hour with two Ecuadorian women. Although communicating in broken Spanish wasn't easy it was very interesting talking to them. Later that night I went to a play (all in Spanish) in the hopes that the more I am exposed to the language, the more I will learn. We finished the night by visiting a live radio broadcast at HCJB. A local Christian band was performing and we had the privilege to be in the studio, cheering them on, as they performed live!