MAs y Mas

Hello to everyone.
Thanks for reading my blog and taking interest in my labors and my life.

Well, The last time I wrote I had just begun my research. I still feel like I have just begun my research but I go home in less than 9 weeks!
I have been learning that there are no active savings and loan groups where I am. No one that I have talked to has heard of any group and many people are interested. Now I am just sad that there is no one that we know of right now who can get these groups started right away. I wish I could just stay and take this on as my project. Don’t get me wrong. I want to go home, but I see how vulnerable the people are and how they have been turning to the Colombian loan sharks of Atucucho for fast easy loans where they end up paying sky high interest rates just to buy their children some medicine. Others are not capable of taking advantage of obvious beneficial business opportunities. Many people are interested in groups within the neighborhood because all the cooperatives are at least thirty minutes away and it’s not easy for them to make a special trip just to deposit a couple dollars of savings a week. We are going to have a meeting in several weeks, one of the biggest activities of my research, where all the interested community members that I have talked to will come to a meeting where I can inform them of all the options for the different types of groups. I have found that some are very interested in loans while others are only interested in a group of accountability for savings. This is when I can receive all the information from the people like who they are and where they live.

Other than research…

This past weekend I went with my group of young people to the jungle. It was really cool to see yet another way of life and more options for community development. We went to Mondayacu. Here there is a mission church of San Marcos church in Quito. On Saturday morning we visited the houses of the church members of the church in Mondayacu. In the after noon we were they had their childrens program for ages up to 13, and in the evening we had the youth group for 14 and up. They had a good showing at these groups, more than were at church on Sunday morning.
Church service was at 7:30 in the morning, which I was happy about b/c that meant that afterwards, we had time to hike to this place called Gran Canon, Grand Canyon. It was way down in the jungle. I can’t explain it very well. It was another one of those places sooo beautiful that any description I give won’t do it justice. Like I said, It was way down in the Amazon and untouched by the corruptive hand of humans. I just imagined how trashed this place would be if it were in Soddy Daisy like the rest of our blue hole swimming holes. There was a few water falls flowing out of holes in the walls of the canyon. We climbed in and around and walked over one in order to get to the cave where the water comes from. Then we climbed up a tree with knotches in it to get to the top where we jumped off. Luckily, I learned from my cliff jumping last year to keep my arms down instead of over my head. My shoulders stayed properly located this year as I hold on tightly to my shorts. I hope to get Emilio’s pictures from this and put them up sometime next week. I am glad Emilio (our leader) takes pictures like he does b/c he is documenting my journey for me. I hope to borrow his camera one day to take a few shots of where I am living and researching.

Right now there is a group teaching skills and offering certificates that say they have the capacity to do a certain skill, but there is no help to assist these people actually start new business to utilize their new skills. Some of the skills do not require large loans right a way, like the people who learned how to cut hair. The other skill Se Cap taught was making bread. This, I believe, would require a larger loan to start a bakery.

I ask for continued prayers for safety, research, relationships, focus on my research, and health. Thanks

First two Weeks of Research

Hello all,

I have been living in the community of Atucucho, mas o menos, since Monday. From the very first day God has blessed me with things I didn't know to ask for. The biggest of all is the girl who is going around with me. Her name is Angelica. She is a church member and in the praise band. She completed high school last year but was unable to start college classes right away, probably due to the cost. She is 18 and has lived in the community her whole life. Her dad is also involved in the community and is educated in what happens in politics and community affairs. Thus, when her dad talks to the family Angelica learns a lot. She is really smart and quick, she picks up on everything.
She first thing I did was compile a tiny list of eight basic questions to ask the church members to familiarize them with the types of things I would be researching. I feel like all of them are pretty comfortable and more trusting of the project now. There are about ten families in the church. Pretty soon we decided to utilize the surveys I had. I actually did not right the survey b/c another young woman who did this type of research in Peru gave me her surveys and I just adapted them to my context a bit. I have one survey for households and another survey for small business owners. Sometimes I end up giving them both b/c they have both in the same place. I don't like doing it b/c it can be exhausting for them. I will probably just try to do about five surveys a day. The after the field research I return and type up the notes, mark on the map that Angelica drew for me where we went, and write journals and other papers to submit. I like the schedule b/c I am not just working all the time. I really thought I would not have time to hang out but I do, and that is good. I am making reallllly good friends here.
I was sad about leaving for the first time the other day. I come home in eleven weeks from tomorrow. I do miss Family, Covenant, Friends, Chattanooga, Independence, and Andrew a LOT but I just realized how sad I will be when I leave b/c I hang out with these people all the time, every week, multiple times a week. I know with my friend Daniela its like making a new best friend for 6 months, sharing and encouraging each other and then just leaving never knowing when I will see her again. By the way, she one of the girls I went to the beach with. Which, by the way, I plan on uploading those pictures today too. I will go do that now.
but first, other things I have done or things that are coming up:
I went back to Otavalo for the third time. It was soo good to just be with the children again. Some really don't receive a lot of love. One boy named Alex was a give away child and is being raise by an older woman. He is only 8. The second day I played with him and thre others. The others are a brother, sister, and their little cousin, Jefferson 9, Anna 8, Anderson 5. They pretty much live alone in there little earthen house b/c the dad is responsible for them but he is never there. So I just asked said "hi, what are you guys gonna do today?" and they tell me nothing, and I ask them if they want to play today, so we did. The first day I was with my little friends as I call them. They are 1,4,4,7. but now i am friends with 12 year old Anita too. She taught me how to make two kinds of bracelets. When I asked her what she was going to do today, she just told me she was making bracelets all day. Also the other younger girls fixed my hair like they were it while I was making a bracelet. Two braids up top on the side which go into one braid int he back. The braids have a string through them to tie off at the end.
On next Saturday night we are having a pijama party with the youth where I live in Atucucho. FUN! but we have church the next morning and I am pretty sure there will not be much sleep at all, considering it does not start until eight and we have church at 9am. I am looking forward too it though. Okay. Now I go. ta ta.