Fourth Time's the Charm

Another June, another suitcase, another blog.

As a public school teacher in the U.S. , I'm blessed with a job that gives me time, in the summer, to do something completely different. For the past three years, I've been extra-extra-extra blessed to have something amazing to do with that time--to be one of a group of educators and therapists working to share basic assistive technology strategies with individuals and communities in central Ecuador. Year by year, I like to think I've refined my summer plans to just about the best travel scheme around: two weeks of inspirational, life-changing volunteer work, bookended on either side by a bit of "since I'm in the neighborhood" South American tourist play.

Memorable traveller's moments include fishing for pirahna and drinking spit beer in the Amazon, dodging rock-throwing villagers near Macchu Picchu, and a surprise detour to a five star Panamanian hotel. The real highlights of summer, though, have always been my time with American colleagues and new Ecuadorian friends--working together with teachers, families, and individuals to expand opportunities for individuals with disabilities in some of the most beautiful and challenged communities I've ever been privileged to visit.

This year is a new opportunity, a little bit outside that comfort zone: for a lot of different reasons, the organization I volunteer with will not be sending out a large delegation this year. Instead, I'm going solo, to meet up and travel with the in-country director. We'll be reconnecting with groups that we've worked with in the past, and also making new connections for possible future projects. I think the unofficial term we've come up with is Continuity Ambassador--in my own stumbling way, I hope I can do something to help maintain the strong connection between the Project and the people we've reached, and I'm deeply excited about the opportunity to help us reach further.

By popular demand, then, here's this year's blog. It'll cover my first ten days (including the week of Spanish lessons in Cuenca that I desperately hope will reduce my Holy Crap No Translator anxiety...), two "working" weeks in the Imbabura, Tungarahua, and Cañar provinces, and final tourist week in and around the Caribbean port city of Cartagena, Columbia.

Insert standard legal disclaimer: all views, ideas, and opinions expressed within this medium are entirely the author's, and should not be taken as representative of the Project, even if you figure out which Project it is. Especially if the aforementioned Views, Ideas, and Opinions are ridiculous. Or involve the consumption of street food.

On we go. First stop: Guayaquil!