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
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