Just Water Allocation in the Dulcepamba Watershed
Current Reflections - COVID Relief Round Two
As the global pandemic has continued, we, too, have continued our efforts to do what we can to help communities that are suffering from the direct and indirect consequences of COVID-19. The country has opened up substantially, with many services that were closed now open again, while official virus case counts only continue to rise in Chillanes County. However, for those with chronic health issues, accessing what used to be routine health care is still difficult without public transportation and with the added fear of COVID-19. Meanwhile, opportunities for work and for farmers to sell their produce are still curtailed.
Thanks to your amazing and generous support, we were able to help some of the communities struggling the most through more rounds of rations, delivering school supplies, and with organic seeds to support community gardening projects.
Darwin Paredes, of the Naranjal community, as neighbors survey a plot of land for a community organic garden to bolster food sovereignty and community health amid the pandemic.
1. Basic Supplies Rations for 4 Campesino Communities
On July 21 and 22, we delivered 47 packets of necessities to the subtropical communities of Tendal and Dulcepamba. The rations included 5lbs of rice, 2lbs of beans, 2lbs of pasta, 2lbs of flour, 1 liter of cooking oil, 2lbs of salt, 1 can of tuna, 2 bars of soap, a packet of toilet paper, and a tube of toothpaste. The community members were grateful, expressing how difficult it has been for them to manage with the pandemic, and telling us how they have felt abandoned by the government in the time when they most need help. Your support of this community came just in their time of greatest need, as initial COVID relief efforts had started to fade.
In the community of Tendal, a girl receives her rations packet on behalf of her family from Dulcepamba project member Rachel Conrad.
In the Dulcepamba community, mother Steffy receives her rations packet from project team member Hannah Saggau.
Meanwhile, one of our community partners, Engineers without Borders - Johns Hopkins University chapter, worked with the leadership board of San Pablo de Amalí to deliver another round of 100 rations packets to the community on July 13. The leadership board worked together to package bulk items, such as rice, noodles, and beans and made sure that the packets were distributed to every household. We and the community of San Pablo de Amalí are so grateful to have wonderful partners like EWB-JHU that support their community from afar, even when they weren’t able to make a planned visit to Ecuador in May.
San Pablo de Amalí community president Don Manuel hard at work packaging rations for his community.
Señora Mercy receives a rations packet for her family.
Don Celestino receives his rations to share with his wife, Señora Iralda.
A letter written by Solange, a young girl from San Pablo de Amalí, expressing her thanks for the support her community has received from afar, reads:
Of my considerations:
Through the present letter, I write to you all to send you a big hug and shake your hands, at the same time wishing that you enjoy good health in these difficult moments due to covid 19. My family and I find ourselves in good health and we wish that all of this would end and that you can visit us and enjoy the very beautiful things of our community.
I inform you that we are in the harvest season for oranges, mandarins, and they are very sweet, in the river there is a pretty pool and the water is so clean and refreshing, I want to express my gratitude on behalf of my family and the community for the very generous gesture that you had upon ensuring the arrival of the food rations, which were of great help. God Bless.
With care and gratitude,
Solange
With another of our international partners, Engineers without Borders - University of Wisconsin Stout chapter, who is working with the community of Naranjal to build a potable water system, we also delivered COVID relief rations. On August 15, we delivered 13 packets of rations to this small farming community in the cloud forest. In Naranjal, the rations are being supplemented with another project to support community health and wellbeing in these difficult times, detailed more below.
Naranjal community president Don Angel delivers a rations packet to Señora Jhadira.
Don Angel delivering a rations packet to elderly Naranjal resident, Señora Maruja.
2. Student Supplies for the San Pablo de Amalí Primary School
For Professor Marcela, the schoolteacher of the primary school in San Pablo de Amalí, this school year has brought a whole new set of challenges. Thanks to your incredible support, one thing she did not have to worry about this year were making sure all 17 of her students received the school supplies they needed, despite financial troubles in the community and lack of access to the nearest town that sells those supplies. With your donations, we were able to provide a pack of notebooks, pens, pencils, erasers, and colored pencils to each student as they started their first-ever year of remote learning. In a town that has limited internet and technology access, teaching online through weekly assignment packets and checking in with students and parents when they have cell service has been difficult to say the least. Despite these challenges, the teacher, students, and parents were relieved of yet another worry when your support provided much-needed school supplies to start the year off on the right foot.
“I’m so grateful that you have made possible in these difficult times this gesture for the children of San Pablo de Amalí. They are very happy to have received the school supplies. It’s a wonderful thing for San Pablo de Amalí that there are families abroad that are so generous for the children of the community.”
-Professor Marcela, primary school teacher
Student Maria Jose, in year 3, with the notebooks she received with your support.
Students Maria Jose, year 7, and Wilson, year 6, with the supplies they received.
"Thank you so much for the school supplies, and greetings to your family!" - Maria Jose, year 6
The schoolhouse, once a vibrant hub of community social and educational life, now sits empty as students and parents adapt to remote learning.
3. Organic Community Vegetable Gardens in Naranjal
The first organic, non-GMO seeds sprouting - thanks to your help!
Danilo Paredes, a Naranjal community member with an agronomy degree, gives a workshop on greenhouse design options.
Rolando, a boy from Naranjal, with newly arrived materials for the community greenhouses.
“We can produce and we can make our own food that is healthy. You have inspired us that we can proceed to make our own food, especially in the pandemic. It has shown us that we can do it, and that we have to learn from the soil, which is part of us, too. With the seeds, I am sure that we can get close to 70% of our foods from right here. We are committed.”
– Danilo Paredes, local agronomist
A project that was jump-started by your generous help was the first of several organic produce gardens in the cloud forest community of Naranjal, through the donations that enabled us to buy local, GMO-free, organic seeds. From familiar varieties, such as tomatoes, cilantro, and cucumber, to new and exciting plants like kale and zucchini, the Naranjal farming families have been equipped with the basics to improve their wellbeing and safety in a time when even a trip to the market can be risky.
In addition, thanks to another community partner, Engineers without Borders University of Wisconsin Stout chapter, and an NGO partner, Semillas de Estrella (Seeds of Stars), we are building three greenhouses that will protect the most fragile plants from the damaging humidity of the region. This is an exciting community project that we are navigating amid the restrictions and concerns of the pandemic that will enable Naranjal famers to move away from the chemical-laden, agroindustrial produce of the local market, towards a more sustainable, ecological vision of food sovereignty and health for their families. Danilo Paredes, a local agronomist with a passion for organic agriculture, says, “From our community of Naranjal, to all of you who contributed to the implementation of the gardens – it means food security for us. Thank you.”
A community workday in Naranjal to assemble the first of three greenhouses.
We have been blown away by the outpouring of support for these hard-working farming communities in Ecuador in a time when all of us are struggling to adapt. In turn, these families have been filled with gratitude and appreciation to know that there are people across the world that are thinking of them and willing to extend a helping hand. In a time filled with so much despair and division, we hope that you can feel the unity and inspiration that your donations have brought to our corner of Ecuador, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for that support. Wishing you all health, safety, and hope.