-
39,000 Volunteers Clean Ecuador Beaches, Rivers, and Ocean Floors
“Think globally, act locally.” — Origins of the phrase are disputed according to Wikipedia Ecuador Environmental Protection In 2008, Ecuador became the first country in the world to provide constitutional protection for the environment. This does not mean that garbage is always deposited in a receptacle nor that all packaging is biodegradable. What it does mean, among many other things, is that students learn about the negative impact plastic in oceans and rivers have on the planet. Rings on beverage cans can kill marine life. From Manabi Province Environment Ministry Tweet Since 2010, Ecuador’s Environment Ministry has been leading a September cleanup as part of International Beach Cleaning Day, promoted…
-
Messages of Solidarity from Ecuador to Mexico After Earthquakes #WATWB
“The healing power of even the most microscopic exchange with someone who knows in a flash precisely what you’re talking about because she experienced that thing too cannot be overestimated.” ― Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar Welcome to September’s installment of the We are the World Blogfest, where we share positive news on the last Friday of each month. Thank you to this month’s WATWB co-hosts: Michelle Wallace, Shilpa Garg, Andrea Michaels, Peter Nena, and Emerald Barnes. Once your life has been turned upside down by a natural disaster and you have recovered, you are in a unique position to assist…
-
DoMinga – Volunteers Cleaning Beaches #WATWB
Welcome to August’s installment of the We Are The World Blogfest, when we share positive news on the last Friday of each month. Thank you to this month’s WATWB co-hosts: Simon Falk, Roshan Radhakrishnan, Inderpreet Uppal, Lynn Hallbrooks, Eric Lahti, and Mary J Giese. DoMinga – Weekly Puerto Lopez beach cleanup This month I am writing about a weekly Puerto Lopez, Ecuador beach cleanup effort. I have no article to link to so I will just tell you about it. Where plastic bags thrown on the ground go Dead or dying whales, dolphins and sea turtles periodically wash up on shore, stomachs full of plastic. A plastic bag tossed out a car window miles from shore flows…
-
Orphanage Teens Learn to Express Themselves Through DJing #WATWB
Welcome to July’s installment of the We Are The World Blogfest, where we share positive stories on the last Friday of each month. The basic rules are: Keep the post below 500 words. Link to a human news story that shows love, humanity, and brotherhood and share an excerpt. No story is too big or small as long as it goes beyond religion and politics. Thank you to this month’s WATWB co-hosts: Simon Falk, Roshan Radhakrishnan, Inderpreet Uppal, Damyanti Biswas and Sylvia Stein. The Olon Orphanage makes regular appearances on this site (see all posts here). It is one of the happiest places I know. I love spending time there. I was thrilled to see this…
-
3D Technology Helping Animals in Cuenca, Ecuador #WATWB
Welcome to June’s installment of the We Are The World Blogfest, where we share positive stories on the last Friday of each month. The basic rules are: Keep the post below 500 words. Link to a human news story that shows love, humanity, and brotherhood and share an excerpt. No story is too big or small as long as it goes beyond religion and politics. Thank you to this month’s WATWB hosts: Belinda Witzenhausen, Lynn Hallbrooks, Michelle Wallace, Sylvia McGrath, and Sylvia Stein. Veterinarian brings 3D technology to Cuenca, Ecuador I have selected a story found in the Cuenca Dispatch about veterinarian Johnny Uday and electronics engineer and robotics expert Gabriel Delgado, who have brought 3D imaging…
-
#WATWB – Clean Drinking Water
This is my first post for the We Are The World Blogfest, which occurs on the last Friday of every month. I chose a story I wrote about a man providing clean drinking water to thousands in coastal Ecuador. A few weeks after the April 16, 2016 7.8 Ecuador earthquake, Tennessee pastor Gary Vance arrived in Puerto Lopez. He had a suitcase full of water filters and a plan – provide clean drinking water for those who needed it. Installed water filter post-earthquake, Ecuador Photo courtesy of Gary Vance Gary has made six trips to Ecuador since the earthquake, spent 88 days in country, delivered 1000 filters, and documented…
-
Yuletide at the Olon Orphanage #AtoZChallenge
The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others’ burdens, easing others’ loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of the holidays. — W. C. Jones December 24 is my favorite day of the year. I spend it at the Fundación Santa Maria de la Esperanza Orphanage, or Olon Orphanage, as it is called. The children give a performance for donors and volunteers who have assisted them throughout the year. It is their beautiful way of saying thank you. Here are some highlights from the 2016 performance. Nativity Reenactment Mary and Joseph, seeking accommodation Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus are…
-
Water. Clean Drinking Water #AtoZChallenge
Drinking tap water in coastal Ecuador is a great way to get parasites. Or worse. — EJB A few weeks after the April 16, 2016 7.8 Ecuador earthquake, Tennessee pastor Gary Vance arrived in Puerto Lopez. He had a suitcase full of water filters and a plan – provide clean drinking water for those who needed it. Clean water welcomed in a tent camp Photo courtesy of Gary Vance He offered to install a water filter for the Olon orphanage. We went there the next morning. Gary installed a filter and trained a thrilled staff on maintaining it. Water filter installed at the Olon Orphanage Photo courtesy of Gary…
-
Post-Earthquake makeshift camps #AtoZChallenge
“Living outside is crappy.” — Cheryl PaPania, Don Juan, Manabí, Ecuador April 16, 2017 marked the one year anniversary of a massive 7.8 Ecuador earthquake. I described my experience the night of the earthquake earlier. Today is about a group of people I met 12 days after the quake. Our friend’s car had been in the shop, ready for pick up, when the earthquake hit. The car was at her mechanic’s shop in Manta, an hour and a half north. His family and building structures had survived and after 11 days he proclaimed the roads passable. Some of us collaborated to bake and purchase food and drinks for those we…
-
Olon Orphanage #AtoZChallenge
“If you want to celebrate a happy occasion, do it by helping those who are in need” – Mohith Agadi Fatima greets us with hugs at the entrance while shifting the young boy she is holding to her other arm. We make our way to the boys’ dormitory. Fatima gathers all of the boys together and explains that they are about to receive a special performance. My friend Dori-Ann’s 14 year old daughter, Catie, pulls out her violin and plays Disney songs. The boys are all silent, listening raptly to every chord. When the concert ends, the boys all gather to give Catie hugs and thank her for playing. Boy’s…
