The Colinas Verdes Foundation (www.colinasverdes.org)

Upon my site assignment by the staff of Peace Corps Ecuador I had no idea what to expect with my counterpart agency: The Colinas Verdes Foundation. As most of you have probably heard, one of the largest frustrations of Peace Corps volunteers is the lack of work or of people willing to work but fortunately that was not the case with my organization.

Colinas Verdes was started in the mid 1990´s by a husband and wife from the United States who wanted to create a Non-Government Organization (NGO) to help preserve Podocarpus National Park and its surrounding area. In its first couple of years the foundation participated in projects that revolved around water and watershed conservation as well as land and forest preservation.

Nowadays the Colinas Verdes Foundation is run by a team of Ecuadorians from the area (the American couple had to return to the US to get jobs to pay for their kids´ college education). The focus of the organization has also changed a bit too going from a conservation based group to more of a development agency.

How it works is the people of Colinas Verdes solicit funding from development organizations from all over the world. To solicit the money they need to write an in-depth proposal with a budget that is specific down to the penny. Then once they are awarded the money they have to be constantly reporting their progress usually on quarterly basis until the project is finished.

Since I arrived in San Pedro de Vilcabamba, two years ago, we have worked on all kinds of projects, big and small. The projects we worked on ranged from everything to irrigation systems, school gardens and small animal breeding.

The largest project we have been involved in since my arrival has been the coffee project. Back in 2008 the Colinas Verdes Foundation received funding from an organization called Manos Unidas (United Hands) which is based in Spain and the project was designed to help the local coffee growers from all over southern Ecuador in a number of different ways. Below are the major components of the project.

1. Organize the Coffee Growers: Just over a year ago the coffee growers of the Vilcabamba Valley were all working individually, selling their coffee to local distributors who were taking advantage of these poor farmers by paying them extremely low prices. Our first priority with Colinas Verdes was to help with the creation of La Asociación Agroartesanal de Productores Ecológicos de Café Especial del Cantón Loja (APECAEL). This organization has given the coffee growers the structure and power needed to get a better price in the coffee market and enables them to do things such as get organically certified in the future.

2. Coffee Nursery: Within the city limits of San Pedro de Vilcabamba the Colinas Verdes Foundation has a small parcel of land and with the funding from Manos Unidas we have been able to raise and give away over 50,000 coffee plants these past two years. This part of the project is enabling the local coffee growers to plant more coffee and replace older, non-producing plants. Thus helping them to increase the quantity of coffee grown to supply to huge demand for Ecuadorian coffee (They produced 17k sacks of coffee last year and the demand was for 30k).

3. Coffee Support Centers: One of the main problems in the history of Ecuadorian coffee is the post-harvest processing of the coffee. In the past (and still today many growers use this process) it was the custom to pick the berries, dry them on a cement pad out in front of their house and then sell it to the local coffee buyer. Unfortunately with this process the coffee is absorbing the acids from the berry and being contaminated by all the dust, chickens, dogs…etc that are walking all over the drying coffee. In an effort to improve the quality of coffee these small farmers are producing , we have been building ¨support centers¨ which consist of a de-pulping machines, washing and fermentation tanks and large drying racks thus giving the farmers the ability to produce ¨café lavado¨ or washed coffee. The process involved in washing coffee is basically de-pulping it from the berry, then fermenting it to remove the sticky coating, washing it and then drying the coffee in a clean environment.

Over my two year stint here we have successfully made 16 of these support centers for the coffee growers to process their harvest and thus improved the quality of the coffee they produce, getting them a better price with buyers.

4. ¨Field Days ¨ : The last aspect of the coffee project for the Colinas Verdes Foundation were the field days we would have with the farmers. These field days were meetings we set up with the small groups of growers where we traveled out to their farms and taught them about composting, organic herbicides and pesticides, combating plagues and how to prune their coffee. I really enjoyed these days because it enabled us to see these people´s farms as well as really get to know these folks personally.

Well that about sums up most of the work we have been doing over the past two years. I have to say that I have been extremely lucky to work with an NGO as organized and driven as the Colinas Verdes Foundation. Most volunteers have found themselves yearning for work or something to do and I am happy to say that that was not the case with me. The team at Colinas Verdes is a great group of people and I have been truly blessed to have them as my co-workers and friends over the past two years.

Capucho

Aka: Capuchino, Capoopo, Capullo, Queso de Ojos, Clifford, The Gentle Giant.

Well I think it is about time for me to write a country song. First in August my girlfriend left and now my dog has gone back the USA and left me here in Ecuador all alone. If only I had a pickup truck… that would probably breakdown too.

Raising Capucho has been one of the highlights of my Peace Corps time as he was my best friend here and I probably had more conversations with him than I did with my counterpart. I got Capucho when he was just 6 weeks old and was still very small (He and I have the same birthday by the way). From there he just kept growing and growing until now where he is about 110lbs. From afar many people are scared of him because he has the markings of a Rottweiller but once people get up close to him the realize that he just wants to greet them and give them a kiss.

Capucho had a great life in San Pedro de Vilcabamba. He got to go swim in the river, got to chase cows around the pastures, and got to go on a decent walk along the river pretty much everyday. His life will be pretty different in the USA but seeing as all the Ecuadorians loved to joke about eating him I think he will be much better off in the USA. The process to send him home was somewhat of a long one mostly revolving around trying to find a kennel big enough to send him away in. But thanks to my loving parents we were able to find a used one on craigslist for $75, then with some luck the airline I was flying back to Ecuador on during Christmas let the GIANT kennel pass through without questioning its size. From there it was just a waiting game until this past week when Capucho and I flew from Loja to Quito where he was to get his last approvals before his big day of travel. Unfortunately when Capucho and I embarked on our journey no more than 2 minutes down the road from my house the driver yelled “ He fell out, he fell out!” I quickly ran around the side of the truck only to find his leash and collar just dangling there on the side of the truck. Then poor Capucho came limping up the road out of the darkness. He had fallen out of the truck and been dragged for a little bit, ripping the skin off of the pads of his paws and really shaking him up. So that was a little stressful but we made it to Quito where he was still walking with a limp. But all his eating, peeing and pooping functions were working ok so I assumed he was ok internally. So we continued with the process of getting him approved and then we went to the airport at 4am on Wednesday morning for his sendoff to the US. From there he flew out to Houston at 7am and then to Baltimore where he got in at midnight. My Dad said he is still stiff and low on energy but they are taking him to the vet this evening and hopefully everything will turn out ok.

I cannot believe we were able to go almost a year and a half without incident only to have this happen right before he was leaving (He had ridden in the back of a pickup truck 1000 times before without any problems). Oh well I guess that is just how life is. The good thing is that now he is safe in the good old land of the free and of Veterinarians whose training is more than a two week online course. So hopefully the vets in the US can get him all fixed up and he can return to being the 110lb playful puppy he was before the accident. I am already going through some withdraw of him right now and my house back in Vilcabamba is going to be super quiet without him for my last couple of weeks. But it is comforting to know that he is safe and sound in the US and is waiting at my parents house to greet me once I get home.

Nursery and Greenhouse Project

Ever since I arrived here in San Pedro de Vilcabamba I have been working with this great development organization called the Colinas Verdes Foundation (http://www.colinasverdes.org/). The foundation was founded about 20 years ago by a couple from the US to preserve and develop southern Ecuador.
Just before I arrived in my site, Colinas Verdes was awarded a large grant to work with the local coffee growers to both increase the amount of coffee grown in the area and to teach the coffee growers techniques to improve the quality of their coffee. One of the aspects of this project was to create a coffee nursery where we would raise coffee and many other types of plants in small plastic bags and then give them to the local farmers in order to be planted at their farms. So pretty much every day of my first summer here in Ecuador was spent working with the Colinas Verdes team at the nursery making the shade structure, seedbeds and bagging dirt to raise approximately 25,000 coffee plants. After we had given out these plants we immediately started the planting of another batch of coffee seedlings as well as planted some citrus and other types of trees to help provide shade for the coffee at the coffee grower´s farms.
As you can tell this nursery was a great tool for Colinas Verdes in order to complete their development projects but unfortunately there were some problems with it. For one it wasn´t very secure and we had some issues with thieves coming in and stealing plants as well as chickens or dogs damaging the seedbeds at night. Another problem was the shade structure we initially built was really only a temporary solution. After about 2 years the structure started to rot out and the Foundation wanted to replace it with a more permanent solution. Unfortunately the Colinas Verdes Foundation is a non-profit and because of that they didn´t really have much extra money to make improvements to the nursery after paying for office expenses and people´s salaries.
That’s where I was able to help with what is called a PL480 grant. The PL480 fund was set up 25 yrs ago by the US Dept of Agric as a fund to help with development of third world countries. Fortunately this grant money is made available to Ecuadorian Peace Corps Volunteers to fund small projects with a budget of no more than $7,000.
So, with the help of my counterpart of Colinas Verdes, we wrote a proposal to make the needed improvements to our coffee nursery. Our proposal contained three parts: 1. Put up a fence around the entire nursery to protect it from thieves and animals. 2. The installation of small greenhouse where the Colinas Verdes team could cultivate native species plants to be given out to the local farmers. And lastly, we used the rest of the PL480 grant to buy black plastic netting used in nurseries as a roof or cover to provide shade for the plants but that also allows rain to get to the plants. Also included in the budget were new tools, plant bags and organic material for future projects.
After some ups and downs with the buying of the materials, organizing people to help and many other hiccups that are typical here in Ecuador, I am happy to announce that this past Friday we completed all the aspects of our Coffee Nursery Project. Now the Colinas Verdes Foundation has a secure site where they can grow thousands of plants, teach farmers about organic compost and herbicides and basically use the nursery as a tool to help with the completion of all their future projects.

Mis Mujeres (My Ladies)

As I wind down my Peace Corps experience I figure now that I only have a month and a half left that it is time to do a recap of the work I have done and my experiences here.
One of the groups I focused on in my town, San Pedro de Vilcabamba, was the women´s Association 23 of June. This group of women was started over 20 years ago as a way for the ladies of my town to make a living by selling toasted and ground coffee. Then about 15 years ago a Peace Corps volunteer was able to convince them to start making cards and books out of recycled paper. These days they still make a small amount of coffee but their main focus is on the recycled paper products.
Many of you reading this have probably seen their products. They are beautifully decorated cards, books, boxes, bookmarks, and picture frames that have all been made and decorated by hand.
When I got to San Pedro I first noticed that these ladies have a great product and that there is a market for their goods in both Ecuador and the US. So my first course of action was to create a small ¨marketing plan¨ for them to help them get their name out to the local tourists coming into Vilcabamba and the in the city of Loja which is about an hour away. The first thing I did with them was gave them a little workshop on what marketing is and how it is essential to a business like theirs. After the workshop, the other volunteer in my site, Lindsay and I created some pamphlets, business cards, mini-posters and ultimately a website as marketing collateral. Then we went around with a couple members of the women´s association to all of the different hostels here in Vilcabamba and left the posters and pamphlets in an effort to get tourists to make 20 minute hike up the hill to San Pedro to check out the women´s group.
Another problem I saw with the women was that they were very content with just sitting in their office and making the recycled paper products and did not want to leave. But if they could make the effort at least once every couple of months they could have some great success selling to local artesenia shops in both Vilcabamba and Loja. So I spoke with the women and we elected two of the more outgoing ladies to become the association´s Sales team. Armed with a catalog of all their products and business cards I had made for them we hit the streets first in Loja and then in Vilcabamba. Who would´ve guessed but it was a great success and just about every store we went into placed orders of $50 and more of their products. I then created a contact list of all the stores for the women in hopes that they would continue to stay in contact with these stores for future business.
Unfortunately I cannot lie and say that working with the women´s group has been super easy. They definitely are a very fun and upbeat group of ladies who are always up for improving their business with my help but once I stepped away and left it their hands to continue with these marketing and sales activities everything immediately stopped. This was definitely a huge frustration for me as it seemed like all the work I had done for them had been for nothing. I had to ask myself ¨Do these ladies really want the business?¨ or are they content with just sitting around, laughing and gossiping with the other members and making less than minimum wage. The conclusion I came to is this: these women do want to work and will work hard but only if it lands on their doorstep. They need some type of fulltime salesperson who will just call them once a week with orders. Which lead me to another barrier seeing as the ladies are very reluctant to let anyone else into their little ¨club.¨
So going forward I have decided that, after seeing the success these products have in the US, I will be that outlet for them. My plan is to create a website and to work with local card/artesenia shops in order to continue selling their products in the US. The biggest problem with this is getting the products to the US for a somewhat reasonable price, something that I am happy to say I think I have figured out!
Looking back on my work with the women has definitely been an amazing experience. Some of the highlights of my past two years with them have been first and foremost just sitting around with them and drinking coffee and chatting it up. I am also happy to say that my efforts did have some success for them. They went from selling their products in only two stores in Loja to now selling them in 6 and in Vilcabamba went from one store to four stores (And already have two selling their stuff in the US). Also when I arrived they were only making about $15-20 per week selling their items in a local market. Now, with the help from some large orders in the US and one for Christmas gift bags by the US Embassy in Ecuador, I would say their average weekly income as an organization has gone up to about $100-150. Most recently, I was able to use some extra money made from a large Christmas order to take the entire group on a weekend long ¨field trip¨ to do an intercultural exchange with the Ecuadorian Indigenous Tribe named the Tsachilas. A trip that was very important for them in understanding the other cultures of Ecuador as well as a rare opportunity for them to leave their little town of San Pedro de Vilcabamba.
Working with these ladies has been truly an amazing experience filled with its ups and downs but one thing I will tell you is that they have always been very appreciative of any help I gave them. They are truly a special bunch of ladies and I am looking forward to the possibility of continuing to work with them in the future.

Escape to Ecuador (My Mom´s Blog Entry)

Tired of bundling up and shoveling snow? If so, I suggest a quick trip to Ecuador for a little relief from it all. The weather is perfect, the prices are beyond belief, and the scenery is magnificent, especially in the southern region. Carl and I joined Andy for a week this past November and had a great time. We visited his site in San Pedro which is a sleepy little community located near the main tourist town of Vilcabamba.
After a couple of days of exploring this area and visiting Andy's projects (Women's Cooperative and Coffee Growers Association), we headed towards Loja and then to Cuenca. Our trip concluded in Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador. Of the places we visited, I personally enjoyed Andrew's location the best. We flew from Guayaquil to Loja - the approach to the airport is worth the trip. Looking out the window, the Andes Mountains are on your left and you suddenly bank to the right for a quick landing on the airstrip. Magnificent! As Andrew has mentioned in his previous blogs, this area is known as the Valley of Longevity . We tried to drink up as much water as we could to test the premise. I should add that the land is being bought up by Americans and Europeans which is rather sad, but many know a good thing when they see it. The rolling hillsides are lush, good for hiking or just viewing - one afternoon we were at a lovely hostel having lunch on the porch that overlooked the valley. I think I could have spent the entire week at this one location.
While there Carl and I were introduced to many new experiences...we ate guinea pig at the home of his host family, visited a sugar cane processing center, awoke every morning to the noises of barnyard animals (donkeys braying, roosters crowing, and dogs barking), walked through some Incan ruins, shopped at an outdoor market where everything and anything was being sold...hardware, toilet paper, candy, and of course vegetables. We tried different foods and drink and discovered that we really enjoyed Ecuadorian soups and juices . They don't seem to be big on sweets or salty food, BUT they do have popcorn...however, they put it in the soup!
A couple of things struck us as funny. One day we came out of Andy's little house and we saw a burro walking down the side of the road. We looked for a farmer but there was none. Apparently, these animals know how to get back and forth from the sugar cane fields without anyone tending to them. Along this same line, we were riding on the highway when we came upon a sight we haven't seen around here. In front us was a very small pickup truck loaded down with one huge cow tethered to the sides of the truck with a couple of ropes. We were grateful that the cow (and everything else) stayed in the truck!
Andy is planning on being in Ecuador for a couple more months. If you want a good tour guide, we suggest you contact him soon. His plan is to return to the states by late March or early April. It will be wonderful to have him back home, but having been to Ecuador we can better understand why he will want to return.