VISITS IN PORTOVIEJO

Jenny really wanted to ride a donkey while visiting Ecuador, as we were driving Yolanda spoted this donkey and its owner, we stopped and she asked if Jenny could have a ride.


On Wednesday we visited Montecristi. We spend time at a mausoleum in honor of Eloy Alfaro.




Yolanda and Magdalena wanted to learn some yoga when they found out Jenny was an instructor, so we had a yoga class Tuesday evening before dinner.


We had lunch at a beautiful farm/resturant, after eating we visited the animals, I thought Taylyn would like the picture of the pig.


Traveling through a small town we saw these cocoa beans drying and stopped to take a look.


On the second day Yolanda gave us Oswaldo Loor T-shirts so we would fit in!


This is the reservoir in the hills outside of Portoviejo that supplies water for the city. They were working on the dam in preparation for the rainy season. This area is close to the coast but is really dry most of the year then when the rains come everything turns a beautiful green.


While we were in Portoviejo in addition to visiting many schools and blind or low vision community members we were able to see some other sites as well. We visited a shrimp farm, the beach, the reservoir that is the water supply for the city, rode donkeys, and visited Montecristi. It was a very full, busy week. We returned to Quito on Friday evening and on Saturday we spent some time at Mitad del Mundo and around Quito until Jenny became ill, then we returned to our apartment and just rested. I made some soup for dinner and the Jacobs prepared to fly out. They left on the late flight Saturday night. This was a very enjoyable week. What a difference this training will make to the people of Portoviejo. Thank you Dr. and Sister Jacobs, and thank you Foundation Dr. Oswaldo Loor.

TOUR OF OLD TOWN

The Plaza and Church of San Francisco. That is actually a large covering and painting over the front of the church. They are doing some restoring on the building.


The interior of the Church de San Francisco. There is renovation work being done inside and out. There were many worshipers here the day we went. This church is very old and seems to be very popular.


A mother and daughter selling goods in old town, I bought some bracelets from the girl, she said she had made them.


I loved this depiction of a United Ecuador, I wish it were more accurate, many of the indigious peoples are still so very poor and do not have the same opportunities.


Planning and leading the war for freedom.


The leaders were all murdered after they had been arrested, when words got out there were uprisings throughout the country and the fight for independance started.


Planning for freedom. The leaders of the movement were of Spanish decent but did not like how Spain was treating the Indians.


During the fight for freedom these red flags were draped over the crosses outside of the Churchs. They would be removed by the Spanish but would reappear the next morning.


The front entrance area to the Palace.


With one of the Guards. They wear uniforms of the design that was used in the 1800´s.


On the balcony over looking the Grand Plaza.


The State Dining Room.


A mozaic as you enter the Palace. It talks of 3,000 natives being sacrificed for the republic of Ecuador.


A beautiful Ecuadorian flag.


Courtyard just after entering. They took our picture here. I am sure it was for security purposes but we did get a copy when we left for a remembrance.


Dad and I as we are entering the Palace. It is a large white building so it is sometimes called the White House.

October 22, 2011

Just as I was starting to blog November I noticed that I had forgotten to do a post about our trip to Old Town. Elder Geldmacher arranged for a tour guide to take us around and see the sights in Old Town. We had already seen many of the sights but we did go to the Presidential Palace and to a museum that is located in an old jail. The story of the liberation of Ecuador from Spain is told at this museum. Like all struggles for freedom there were many martyrs and much fighting. Freedom is bought at a high price, how thankful we should be for the freedom we have.

CHILDREN OF THE ANDES WATER PROJECT - FOLLOW UP

Here are a few views of the area, it was raining that day and needless to say when Elder Kartchner returned he was covered in mud, tired and hungry. Dad lent him a pair of levis so he could change. The Kartchner´s travel very light, as in no suitcase, so he didn´t have a change of cloths.





School and Community leaders meeting to discuss the project.

JANUARY 19, 2012

I guess one advantage to being so far behind is I can now tell the rest of the story. In January Elder and Sister Kartchner came and we revisited the school to determine if this was a project we could do. We met with the school officials and with the community leaders. After our initial visit Elder Kartchner spent the rest of the day hiking up to the source and beyond. We had been told this was a spring so he was looking for the source of the spring. Apparently there is not a spring, and after hiking over many hills no true source was found. It was determined that the system needed to be moved to avoid mud slides destroying holding tanks etc. again and that for the water to be truly clean chlorination would need to be used. The school does not want chlorination and the community seemed reluctant to commit to improving the system at this time, so we will not be doing this project.

CHILDREN OF THE ANDES - WATER PROJECT

This is a beautiful area. You can see the tops of the mountains and view the beautiful valley below. On a clear day they said you could see Quito, we haven´t been there on a clear day.




The pipe is not buried. A repair job, and the pipe running through the vegatation along the side of the road. The pipe is about 25 years old and does need to be replaced.



This is the holding tank for the schools water.


Looking up at the upper holding tank you can see where the pipe has disconnected. One pipe runs to the community and one runs to the school.


The source of water! The cement looking thing on the right is where the water tank for the community used to be, it was destroyed by a mud slide.


Across the valley and up the other mountain is the water source. This is looking up the mountain toward where the water is captured.


After leaving the area where the reservoir is we visited the school briefly. These are students working on a project. Seems like clay volcanos and animals are school projects all over the world.


Workers on the new buildings, love the ladder! I thought some of the men would enjoy seeing it.



The reservoir for storage of the water used by the school and a troth for the cattle.


From where the new buildings are further up is the reservoir for water storage.


There are two new buildings being constructed on the hill above the school. One will be administration offices and the other a cafeteria.


This is the school in the valley. There is an elementary school in the village but once the students reach 8th grade they have to go into Otavalo to school so many of the students drop out. Children of the Andes Foundation built and operates this school. There are 64 students that attend.


October 26, 2011

We received a request from a school 23 Km outside of Otavalo to help with a clean water project for the school and community. Today we traveled to take a look at the situation so we could send a report to Salt Lake. Clean water projects are huge and take a lot of time to start and complete. A specialist will need to be sent here to determine if this is a feasible project. Our visit was wonderful. The school is awesome and the area is so beautiful. The hike up to the water source was a bit of a challenge as the mountain is pretty much straight up. When we got there the pipe that brings water to the school had dislodged. The pipes are old and mended with tape in several places. The water is brought across the valley and stored in a reservoir above the school. We had to walk through the cow pasture to reach the reservoir.

TULCAN CEMETARY

I was going to create a slide show but Slide is closing and everything is moved to Picasa. My brain has been trying to learn many things lately and I just could not fit learning another way to make a slide show. I will work on it and learn just not today. Hope you enjoy these pictures it was a fun place to visit.







These three pictures show a "green guy" waiting for a cut and the gardener doing the cutting.



They are all different and sooooooo cute!




Hermana Yost, Elder Yost, Fernando


Dad and I with one of the topiary. Tulcan is very cold thus the sweater. It is amazing how cold some areas are so close to the equator.

You may think it strange to do a post about a cemetery. However, if you have never visited a cemetery in South America I will recommend it. We visited one in Uruguay when we were there and I found it fascinating. They are just very old, interesting and different. We had heard that the cemetery in Tulcan was even more interesting than usual and we heard right. This is a large cemetery and appears to be very old. The whole cemetery is filled with topiary. Large, beautifully done topiary! It was so fun! We didn´t have much time for our visit, that always seems to be the case, but we got to at least see part of it and I got several pictures. There are only 6 gardeners that maintain all the topiary and they do a beautiful job.