Culture, programs, and nutrition oh my!

So these past 2 weeks have been quite adventurous! With things calming down a little (well actually only very slight) these past few weeks, we have been able to enjoy some of what Ecuador has to offer such as hiking ridiculously high volcanoes, climbing to the top of a beautiful old church in Quito, and experiencing a Quito futball (soccer as we call it is the US) game!

So first off, a few weeks ago 5 of us decided to hike one of the highest mountains in Quito known as Pichincha. We took a gondola-type ride known as the Teleférico up most of the way (to about 12500 ft) and then we took in the amazing view of Quito from there. From the top of the Teleférico, there is a trail one can hike to the summit of Pichincha which is 15,696 feet!! Pretty freakin crazy huh?! The hike allowed for AMAZING views of Quito and it's surrounding valleys. But, due to the elevation and my lack of preparedness for such increase in elevation, Jackie and I didn't quite make it all the way to the top. Though don't you fret, we are training our lungs to get used to the elevation and are planning a Pichincha Volcano hike take 2! But needless to say it was an awesome experience and I could really just sit up there and take in the view all day long (if only it wasn't so cold and windy up that high!)

Jackie and I on Pichincha!

About to take on the volcano! Good thing we know

which direction to go!

Last weekend the girls of the group decided to be tourists for the day and go explore a church in Quito known as the Basilica. It is a beautiful old church found in the Centro Historico part of Quito. People can climb to the top of the towers and once again take in amazing 360 views of Quito and its surrounding areas! But in order to get to the top we had to climb some rather questionable sets of ladders and walk across chicken wire floors.....definitely worth the scariness though! Once at the top, there are "ledges" that one can sit on and dangle your feet over and enjoy the sun and views. But beware these ledges are not for the weak stomach and those scared of heights! If you ask me, the amazingness is soo worth it (though me and heights are friends so)! :)

Hanging on the ledge taking in the view of Quito!

Don't worry mom I'm alive!

Finally this past weekend one of Quito's more popular soccer league teams, Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito (aka. Liga), played another local Quito team and we went and got tickets for $6.50 and was able to enjoy a once in a life time experience! (ok so maybe not once in a lifetime, but still a rarity for those in countries were soccer does not rule life) It was awesome! It was just like being back in Texas at a football game with everyone on their feet chanting cheers and songs the entire time. Some of us even managed to understand some of the words being sung and got to join in on the party...."L-I-G-A Liga campeon!" or...."esta noche tenemos que ganar" (tonight we have to win!), etc. It was an awesome experience and just got me excited to go to Ecuador's World Cup Qualifier game against Uruguay in October!

Jackie, me, and Chet...the newest addition to the

Liga Fan Bandwagon!

Jackie, me, Sarah, Haley and Sonia getting rowdy!

LIGA!

Other than the cultural festivities we got to partake in, school here have started which means our programs at the library have also started this past Monday. This year I am teaching Adult English with Chet on Mondays and Jackie and I have started a new Natural Science class this year for the kids that take English classes at the library. So far, Adult English has not been successful with no one showing the first week but we have spoken with some adults and have figured out that our time just wanted congruent with their work schedules so I think we are going to try and change class time and hopefully that will do the trick! Jackie and I's Natural Science class was a great success on Friday! We made lava lamps with the kids and taught them about water and oil and why they don't mix and how oil can be devastating to the environment such as in oil spills. They seemed to really enjoy it and fingers crossed, learned something!

Finally, this past week we took measurements of the students at Aliñambi because we are in the process of developing a pilot Nutrition Program to implement at Aliñambi and then upon its hopeful success spread it out into other schools in the community to get these kids healthy and eating right.

So other than doing analysis on the Aliñambi data, teaching English and Natural Science, and working on finding grants for our Health Program, I am just hanging, enjoying the last we weeks of dry season and trying to learn as much Spanish as I can!

Hope everyone's weekend was fantabulous! (even though the Chargers lost :( sadly)

peace + amor

Krysta

Salud is for everyone!!

Hey everyone,

So I apologize that it has been weeks since my last post. The past few weeks have been absolutely nuts for me. Basically since I moved into the house I have been attending meetings with Julia at Aliñambi to discuss the nutrition program we want to start to implement starting with the children at Aliñambi and then hopefully with the success of that program, expand it on into the communities to improve the over health of children. I had also been meeting with Julia about the clinic we put on on August 28th and 29th, and finally, have had meetings to finalize the contract between us, Aliñambi and HealtheChildren (the US based organization that is funding the Aliñambi clinic expansion and nutrition program). Even though it was a crazy few weeks and lots of work with meetings and poster making and everything, it all really paid off in the end!!

Me in front of my Nutrition posters with some fruit in hand!

Our clinic was a great success. Over the 2 days we had 133 patients total (we had hoped for a little more but it was great to meet and help the amount of community members we did). The clinic consisted of 2 doctors and 1 PA (which was amazing for me to see that PA's can come down here and do amazing health work! Now I really cant wait to become a PA and start doing this kind of work!) and we had a pharmacy with tons of medication that all Manna volunteers have brought down over the past couple years and lastly Manna, us, put on a dental interactive talk where we taught kids the proper way to brush and floss their teeth!  Many people down here don't realize how important brushing and especially flossing are to one's health. So our charla (that is what a little 'talk' is called down here) went amazingly and we gave out a toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss to all the kids that participated. It was so adorable to teach all of them and have all of them so eager to learn. I also made nutrition posters that consisted of specific nutrition facts based on Ecuadorian fruits and made a food pyramid catered to Ecuador and finally we had Health Jeopardy where patients could win t-shirts for right answers while they were waiting to see the doctors. It was truly an amazing experience.

Me and Jens in front of the dental charla posters!

Haley and I with our dental charla audience!

2 girls from my group maintain the Manna Ecuador Blog that is for anyone and everyone who has donated, supports or is just curious in the happens of MPI. I wrote the guest blog this week about the clinic so here is the link so please check it out! (and not only for my blog but also check it regularly because they write bout 5 times a week about all the stuff we do so...they are better than I am ! Sorry :) ) Oh and here is the link: http://openhandsdirtyfeet.blogspot.com/

So anyways, back on track....The clinic was a great experience and being so involved first handedly and being actively involved in it set up and creation made me really see this experience differently than free clinics I have done in the past in Mexico. Being so involved and having so much contact with the patients made me realize how much "power" we have down here solely for being Gringos. It was crazy to see how these people would just walk into our clinic and put their trust and lives in our hands without knowing anything about us, without knowing our credentials, and accepting that we knew more and could take care of them because we are Americans. They assume we have X amount of knowledge about medicine and about health that they don't ask questions along the lines if we are qualified to be giving health advice and care. It really took me aback and made me so happy that we are able to help these people because we do have more basic knowledge to share about health but at the same time it kills me to see how they perceive us and that we have so much 'power' to help and change how these people live and hardly anyone acknowledges it.

Being able to see how a PA can work down here in South America has really given me more passion and excitement that I have chosen the right career path for me. I cannot wait to be able to be in the position to help people on a greater level. YAY!!

Jens and an eager patient!

Haley and I sporting the t-shirts I designed and got made (my first Ecuadorian project and success)!

So now that this clinic is over, I am starting to work with Julia and Aliñambi on getting their nutrition program and hopefully soon will start working on Aliñambi's clinic expansion.  Schools down here started this week and so we are starting programs at our library next Monday the 14th. I am helping out with Adult English as well as starting a new class with Jackie to teach kids about science and natural sciences/environmental science. So my weeks of business are going to continue for awhile and since our kids natural science class is a new proposal, we are just crossing our fingers that kids come and enjoy it so we can continue it throughout the year!

Well, that is about it for now! Sorry for the late and sparse updates!  We will all be getting into more regular routines now so that will be nice. I will let you know how are classes begin next week! 

Hope all is well in your respective parts of the US and that you had an awesome summer! (so sad its coming to an end) And I heard it was Labor Day up there today so I'm super jealous of ya'lls holiday haha!

Salud + amor

Krysta