So in case I haven’t mentioned it before, let me give a
brief breakdown of my life in training right now. So we got here (here being Tumbaco,
a suburb outside of the capital of Quito) in the middle of May and are here for
the 3 months of training until our swear-in date of August 5th. From
there we go to our sites and then we finally begin our 2 year service. Before
we got here, we didn’t know our sites at all. There have been various
interviews throughout our training with our Tech Program Manager and Program
Training Specialist (the ones who train us on the technical aspect of our
service), various presentations and projects to assess our progress, and other interactive
components. From these they got a sense of what we have to offer, what we have
experience in, our personalities, what motivates or discourages us, our likes
and dislikes, etc. They then used this information to help match each one of us
(there are 20 in my Community Health program) to the appropriate sites that
they spent months collecting information on, visiting beforehand, and
establishing relationships with counterparts in various organizations
throughout the country who have asked for volunteers, before we even got to
this country. Basically, our team has been crazy hard at work just to try to
make our service a productive and enjoyable one (as well as to make sure all
necessary components are represented well). So when people asked me before I
left where I was going or what I would be doing, there was no way the training
staff here were able to tell me without getting to know me first and going
through this whole process together. And boy am I glad this is how it went
down!
In the past, sites have not been revealed to the trainees
until towards the end of their 3-month training period. I don’t remember what
the reasoning was that they gave for this but for our omnibus, they decided to announce
our sites to us halfway through in the hopes that we could start mentally
preparing sooner, start researching our area more, and be able to focus in more
on specific aspects of our training that might apply more to our future service
than others (ie focusing more on the activities we learn about with nutrition
and not as hard on HIV/AIDS education if our counterpart would rather us
conduct cooking classes rather than Sex Ed classes). Makes total sense to me
and I think it was a very good move on our training staff’s part!
So, we had a very specific planned Site Day and it was
magical! Monday, June 16 felt like Christmas in all the good ways! The energy around
the training center that day was so high and everyone was excited, staff and
trainees alike. The staff worked so hard to plan such a special day for us and
it showed. The beginning of the day was a brief med session and then we met
with our PM and PTS in a closed room while the rest of the staff (language facilitators
(LCF), overall managers, etc) set up something special for us outside (it as
like waiting for an Easter egg hunt; we knew there was a surprise for us but
all the blinds and doors had been closed and we weren’t allowed to peek).
During this session, our PM explained to us the vigorous process they go
through of finding our sites and counterparts, etc. Then after this, we were
finally released to go outside and find where our adventure was to start. In
the lawn in the back of the center, the staff had set up a diagram of the
entire country of Ecuador outlined with flower petals. All 24 provinces were
marked with a little sign and there was happy celebratory music playing from
the loud speakers. We were all told to line up and as our training manager
called our name, she would call out our site too and one of the LCFs would
escort us to our region and welcome us to our new home as we stood there and
waited to see who our neighbors would be. I was the second name called and I
was so excited about everything and still trying to take it all in (as well as
still a little confused as to what we were doing) that I heard my province but
forgot to listen to what my actual site was. So I stood there in my little
province near the top of the country with just a big smile on my face waiting
till I could ask where I would specifically be leaving.
I am very happy to announce that for the next 2 years, I
will be calling El Quinche, Pichincha my home! A few facts about what this
means:
- El Quinche is about a 30-40 min bus ride from my
house here in Tumbaco. Aka, yup it’s crazy close to my original stomping
grounds and I love this! It will make moving and getting acquainted with my new
community so much easier! I already know a lot about the culture here in this
region of the sierra and am also used to hearing the accent around here.
- I am close to the airport. One of the concerns I
had been thinking about before was if anyone wanted to come visit me or I
wanted to travel out, I was worried about making it to the airport and back.
But I’m told the airport is just right down the street.
- El Quinche is a pretty religious area made up of
about 17,056 people in population. Like the rest of the country, Catholicism is
the primary religion of the area and there is apparently a pretty famous
cathedral in the center of the town where people travel from miles around to
visit (kind of like a pilgrimage). If my Spanish translates correctly, in the
second week of November, more than 800,000 people make the pilgrimage to the
sanctuary of the Virgin of El Quinche (a huge statue). They travel during the
night and arrive at dawn to the church of El Quinche. On November 21, there is
a big party and celebratory mass with processions on the streets of El Quinche.
November should be an interesting time!
- Quinche comes from the Mayan language with “Quin”
meaning Sol and “che” meaning Monte or Monte del Sol (translation: mountain of the sun).
- My counterparts are Dr. Pedro Viteri and Dr.
Janeth Nunez and the agency I’ll be serving and collaborating with is the
Health Center in El Quinche.
- From what I am told, my host family is an adorable
little family of three: young 30’s couple and their 10 month old baby (who will
be almost a year by the time I arrive). My host mom is also a nurse at the
health center. We have to live with or host families for the first 6 months at
site to help us with integration, etc. But, if there is an opportunity to move
out into independent housing and it is within our means on our budget, we are
typically allowed the option of doing so.
- Some of the requests for work that my
counterparts have made of me initially are:
o
Morning talks of health and prevention to the attending
population
o
Home visits and health promotion to nearby
communities
o
Work with moms on nutrition education and
hygiene
o
Healthy school programs
o
Implementing health fairs and health promotion
agendas
o
Primary work: charlas (like a chat or talk to
students or members of the community) on nutrition, basic services, and healthy
practices (both intramural and personal)
o
Secondary work: organization projects of the
subcenter (Health Center)
Of course this could all change
when I get there and the end of my service might not look anything like the
beginning. But these actually seem pretty broad right now and I’m pretty
enthusiastic and open-minded to the possibilities that await me!
I could not be more excited about my placement and am amazed
and grateful at how well my placement suits me personally thanks to the hard
work of our training team! The week after next is our site visit week where I
will be stepping out of my comfortable American bubble at the training center
and traveling with my counterparts to my site, all alone. I am terrified (understatement)
but I am also excited to explore my new home and get into set-up mode so I can
finally feel like I’m doing something here!
The country of Ecuador
Our training manage announcing the names
Our LCF escorts
A little nervous while waiting
And my continent is...
My view from the top
This is my home!
My fellow Pichincha-ers
Dance party!
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