Shortly after the midservice conference I got a call from my program manager who wanted to arrange a visit to my site from the country director, the security officer and himself. I appreciated this opportunity to see where me and my other PCV buddy an hour away lived and get a glimpse of our everyday reality. Far from any horror stories one can read these days about the northern border. I saw it as a perfect time for a reality check for everyone concerned, especially for the Quito office staff. They arrived on Thursday, late in the morning, in Lita where they picked me up and we all headed to my neighbour’s site usually an hour away but with the fancy SUVs they came with, the ride was a little over half and hour long.
I had already been to el Cristal 3 times in the past and know many of the people there as they usually come down to Lita for the Sunday market. The PC staff met his host family and got a chance to see how they produce panela (raw sugar) with their trapiche (sugar cane processor). We saw the progress on the school garden he is working on and met the school teacher who solicited a PC volunteer in the first place. We then headed back to Lita for lunch and checked my house that met all the security requirements. Overall I felt satisfied from this first official visit from the PC director and security officer to my site despite the fact that I do not do much work in Lita itself. I certainly didn’t have much to show since none of the Awá artisans where around that day. We decided that we would arrange another meeting in Ibarra this time at the FCAE office for the PC staff to get a chance to meet and talk with my counterpart agency.
My program manager stuck around Thursday night so that he can hike with me to Baboso and get a chance to get a glimpse of an Awá community. I was scheduled to give a class at 8am so we left Lita at 6:30am, the other volunteer also came along. It’s a nice walk to Baboso and the weather was cooperating. When we got there workers were already busy building the new classroom and dormitory under the supervision of the community president. The teacher appeared and told me the bad news that the class had been cancelled because he was feeling ill, some kind of stomach problem. That was a real bummer, I had my first ever chemistry class prepared and was going to use the extra two gringos as props. Instead I showed them the two failed projects I had took part in with the community: the wood efficient stove and the school garden. My program manager gave me hope with the opportunity of getting a small grant to revitalize the school garden initiative and I will certainly give it another shot.
Earlier that week I went to the FCAE office for two days where I worked on the women leadership proposal for the UNIFEM fund. The profile had been accepted and the full scale proposal was due on the Thursday of the visit. I decided to dedicate Monday and Tuesday on it, submit my final draft and count on the social development coordinator to polish it off. I was glad to hear that minimal change had been made to my version and that the proposal had been submitted on time. It’s a great project that deals with social and cultural issues such as alcohol consumption by Awá men and the marginalization of Awá women in their own communities and families. Those are certainly delicate issues and I am wondering how it will be received by the upcoming general assembly.
As I am writing this Lita is celebrating the re-election of its president for the local junta parroquial. I don’t know the numbers or any details but I simply heard cars honking and people screaming: “Hugo! Hugo! Lita esta contigo!” Then there was a speech on the sports court in the center of the village where he officially thanked the Liteños and Liteñas who voted for him. Hugo is a man of few words, something I like about him, so once his short speech was done the music took over. For my part I went back home as I don’t want to be considered assimilated to any one political party. This is one of the many PC rules: we cannot take part in any political event. We are after all an apolitical organization and should not intervene in domestic political campaigns.
