18 hours of non-stop torrential rain has left its mark not only in Lita but in many communities around it. We had a five day blackout and we’ve been out of water for over 15 days. There were so many landslides blocking the road from Ibarra to Lita that the area was completely isolated for a week. The panamericana is clear now but many communities that branch off from the pana still aren’t accessible by car. The three Awá communities in the Imbabura province need to walk three additional hours to there already long hike to Lita to buy basic stuff like clothes, medicine and food that can’t be produced locally. The bridges over the Río Mira was completely dismantled. We’re talking about a really strongly built bridge made of cement and steel cables. The river grew so high and wild during that massive rain fall that it just took the entire structure away. This is the bridge that leads you to the Baboso community so the Awá made a quick fix from thin and rusty metal cables and chonta wood so that they can still go over the river. Many carry heavy loads of naranjilla to sell in Lita so it should not be holding on for much longer. The railroad bridge is also only holding by a thread now. It was terribly shocking to see and a bit worrysome considering that this is only the beginning of the heavy rain season that usually lasts until May.
I participated in a meeting with members of the Baboso community and the president of the junta parroquial of Lita to coordinate the reconstruction of the Mira bridge. The municipality of Mira will pay for most of it, Lita will help with the foundation and providing food to the minga workers. It’s always complicated to solve problems in communities living at provincial borders as the differnt authorities need to coordinate their efforts which slows down the process. The reconstruction should begin this week and hopefully won’t last more than a few weeks if all the material gets delivered in time. The surprisingly good weather we’ve had lately might help accelerate the work
In the midst of this chaotic scenary, Lita inaugurated its first ATM last weekend which was mostly an opportunity for all local politicians from Ibarra and the surrounding towns of Lita to show up and make a speech about the amazing work they’re doing. The municipal elections are scheduled in April so the campaign is on. Like almost every inauguration in Ecuador, it is not because they cut a ribbonthat the machine being inaugurated actually works. It won’t be until at least a month before it will be in operation. I guess that the ongoing campaign forced the early inauguration. Besides many people in the area don’t have a bank account and never used an ATM in their lives. However it will enable them to receive their government check “el bono” that gives financial assistance to the low income families. They will no longer have to take a bus to Ibarra for that. Personally one the ATM works I won’t need to take out large sums in Ibarra just to get by for a few weeks in Lita. All in all once this machine works it 
should definitely make a difference in many people’s lives. The CACMU cooperative runing this ATM will sell cards for 60 cents and charge a comission of about 25 cents for every transaction for non-members, 10 cents for members.
Earlier this month, I went to the Peace Corps office for my mid-service medical check-up and do a bity of damage control regarding my recent trip to Orellana. I met with the new PC director and they made me sign a memo saying that I was fully responsible for violating a PC rule by travelling to a restricted area and that if it wasn’t for the fax I had sent over a month before travelling that was never retrieved by the office, I would have been terminated. Realizing how close a call that was really shakes my insides. What a terribly stupid way to end this! Anyways, on the bright side, I’m still perfectly healthy with clean teeth and helped uncover a few weaknesses in the office, ie. check the fax machine every once in a while.
