#chimborazoecuador

El Chimborazo.

The Chimborazo midterm will the be 22nd of July. Participants will have time to call their parents this day at some point between 8 AM and 4 PM Central Time.

-Si amas la vida, no pierdas el tiempo, porque el tiempo es de lo que se compone la vida.

Hello All,

Route picnics are quickly approaching and some participants have requested that parents/friends download WhatsApp or Viber to be able to connect over WiFi on Saturday, July 23. It is important to remember that some participants may choose to pass up this opportunity to call home, which is no cause for concern. Please keep in mind that no news is always good news. 

Wishing you all the best,

To our wonderful parents, friends, siblings, and other loved ones,

Hello from Riobamba! We cannot express how much we’ve enjoyed the last few weeks with the participants here in Chimborazo; every last one of them has brought something meaningful to this project and we have no doubt that they will continue to do so as the weeks roll on. Truly, they are wonderful, and we know how much you must miss them.

In that vein, we on the leadership team are sending this post to notify you of our upcoming route picnic, which will take place on Saturday, July 23, 2016. During this time, participants will have the opportunity to meet, debrief their experiences in community, and reach out to all of you. So please be prepared to receive their calls, emails, and virtual hugs on that date.

Remember, though, that no news is good news, and some participants may miss you, or choose not to call, and that’s alright! Together with our incredible host families, our partner agency, and all the other wonderful people who have become a part of our lives in Chimborazo, we are taking great care of the participants.

That’s all for now. Tune in this week for updates from Jeremy Engels and Enzo Llorach, two superstar participants who have shared their experiences on this week’s blog! In the weeks to come we will feature content from other participants, our amazing supervisors, and ourselves, so make sure you stay pendientes.

With love, gratitude, and reassurance from Riobamba,

Community Survey

We sent Pau, Aeron, Ally, Nicol, and Vanessa off on survey with anticipation and pride: the magic starts to happen when supportive partner agencies and generous communities meet such talented, charismatic supervisors as ours. Meetings were held, friends were made, and cows were milked. And indeed, the week was by all accounts as productive as it was muddy, long, and full of good old AMIGOS-style adventure. Again of course, our friends and coworkers at Plan Chimborazo and Bolívar and FEPP were a crucial source of support. More even than before, our partner agencies’ dedication and kind collaboration brought AMIGOS staff in touch with community members to set the tone for what we know will be a very successful summer.

Back at staff house, Abbie and Corina (heroically) planned a pre-arrival training for newly recruited host families and local youth from the Guamote region. Their presentation went into detail about AMIGOS, our plans for the summer, and how host families and local youth can take initiative to truly shape our programs in Ecuador. Besides your standard games of ninja, and perhaps a cinnamon roll hug (we couldn’t resist), we were thrilled and inspired to hear the voices of our host families as they asked questions, expressed concerns, and manifested their excitement for the participants’ arrival. Besides the (astonishing) generosity of our host families, the training session made clear that we’ll be working with motivated, intelligent community members this summer. And we couldn’t be more excited.

We can’t wait to meet you tonight!

All the best from Riobamba,

This week we were thrilled to receive our five supervisors here at staff house in Riobamba, Ecuador. Getting to know Aeron, Ally, Paulina, Nicol, and Vanessa has been fantastic: we couldn’t be happier to work with such an intelligent, positive, and responsible team.

Since the supervisors arrived, we have split our days between training, familiarizing ourselves with our staff city, tying up loose ends, and preparing for survey ahead of participants’ arrival on the 29. During the week we have also been working with our partner organizations, Plan (pu Chimborazo) and FEPP Guaranda to continue laying the groundwork for this summer’s programs in the host communities. Needless to say, we would be at a loss without out partner agencies’ collaboration and support.

As the training session comes to a close, we are preparing to send our supervisors out to communities with the utmost confidence, lots of excitement, and just a bit of jealousy. In just a week, they will be back at staff house with plenty of stories to tell, leading host family trainings and preparing for participant briefing: we cannot wait!

Esta semana nos emocionamos al recibir nuestras cinco supervisoras aquí en Riobamba, Ecuador. Conociendo a Aeron, Ally, Paulina, Nicol, y Vanessa ha sido fantástico: no podríamos imaginar un equipo más inteligente, positivo e responsable con el cual compartir el verano.

Desde que las supervisoras aterrizaron en Ecuador, hemos dividido nuestros días entre capacitaciones, reconocimiento de la ciudad sede, y finalizaciones para el verano ante la llegada de los participantes el día 29 de este mes. Durante la semana hemos trabajado también con nuestras agencias contrapartes, Plan (pu Chimborazo) y FEPP Guaranda para continuar haciendo los arreglos para los programas de este verano en las comunidades anfitrionas. Huelga decir que, si no tuviéramos la colaboración y apoyo de nuestras agencias contrapartes, ni podríamos alcanzar a la mitad de lo logrado hasta este punto. Nos enorgullecemos mucho de trabajar con unas organizaciones tan generosas.

Our partner agencies, Plan International and FEPP, have gone above and beyond to support us in every aspect of our work this summer. They do fascinating work in Chimborazo, and with our closely aligning values, our partnership should be a huge success. Their representatives are are preparing to give lessons on Ecuadorian culture, Kichwa, and more during briefing! Team Chimbo has arrived in Riobamba and settled into staff house! We are hard at work balancing community visits, budgeting, collaboration with partner agencies, and preparation for the arrival of supervisors and participants. AMIGOS is new to the Chimborazo region, so we are making an effort to leave a stellar first impression on those collaborating with us this year, and we know our participants will too! Visits to communities have been the highlight of our time here so far. Many are situated among the clouds and boast views of rolling green hills that span for miles. Some lucky participants might call this home.

Our partner agencies, Plan International and FEPP, have gone above and beyond to support us in every aspect of our work this summer. They do fascinating work in Chimborazo, and with our closely aligning values, our partnership should be a huge success. Their representatives are are preparing to give lessons on Ecuadorian culture, Kichwa, and more during briefing!

On top of the region’s stunning natural beauty, its people have been welcoming and genuinely excited to share their homes this summer. A couple communities have even requested 5 or 6 participants because so many families wanted to be involved! When I regretfully explained that we can’t pair more than three together, they asked if I would stay, which made part of me wish I was a first time Amiga again.

I hope our participants come eager to get to know all of their exceptionally awesome community members, staff, and partner agency representatives. We are ready for you!