Success in Small Business

As some of you might already know, our Small Business Development program has undergone a serious transformation since July. After several months of research, conversations with partner organizations, and logistical planning, we were very excited to launch a microfinance pilot program. Our loan group of five agricultural entrepreneurs was established in December and the loans, ranging from $100 to $400, were distributed in early January. Throughout the last month, we've kept up with our due diligence and made weekly visits to our loan recipients. While Jefferson and Pete labor away on their land, helping to plant seeds or mix organic fertilizer, Madeleine, Lucy, and myself have gone to our loan recipients' homes, observing how they have spent their money and the progress they are making. We were excited to see Rosa Maria's brand new greenhouse, erected just one week after she received her loan, and we got to meet Janneth's four healthy pigs, that she is now able to provide with necessary feed and nutrients. Most exciting, however, was our group meeting last Friday, when all five recipients met up and paid back their first installment of the loan. We're thrilled with the success we've had thus far, and look forward to completing our first loan cycle with 100% repayment! 

Polly 

The Boys at Quilotoa

Women's Exercise Party

Round table discussion on wellness

Janine thinking deep thoughts

People of all ages made it

A final exercise demonstration to round it out

This past Saturday, we had a party for our Women’s Exercise program to attract more women to our classes and to address a health topic that’s on the minds of most Ecuadorian women.  The topic of this party was how to get rid of belly fat, which sounds ridiculous as I’m typing it out, but it’s a big concern to women here.  However, we didn’t just want to focus on the exercise aspect of burning fat.  We also wanted to stress the importance of having a healthy diet and a balanced lifestyle.  So, we merged the party with our cooking and nutrition class in order to draw in people who were interested in both exercise and nutrition.

It ended up being a huge success!  We had around 15 women there, and they were so attentive, some even taking notes, as we talked about exercising and eating healthy in order to decrease belly fat.  Before the exercise talk, Madeleine and Janine led the cooking and nutrition talk, handing out a healthy smoothie recipe that we then made with the women.  Then Heather talked about foods that are good to eat when trying to cut down on belly fat, Jenni led the discussion on the health risks of having belly fat, and I talked about exercises and lifestyle habits that help to reduce belly fat.  After that, we showed them some exercises that target the belly area and did a zumba demonstration to give them a taste of what our exercise classes are like. 

Because of the great turnout and enthusiastic responses to the party, we’re hoping to see an increase in attendance in women’s exercise classes!   

Lucy

Tingo Pools

All work and no play...

This saying does not exist for us here in Ecuador.  Combining our work with play, we took the jovenes on a field trip to Tingo, a local water park.  Spending all morning splashing around with our swim caps on (my first time sporting one), somersaulting into pools and riding the slides, a fun time was had by all.  Returning in the back of a pick-up truck (normal mode of transportation here), we shared popcorn and jokes as the sky turned gray, an afternoon storm quickly approaching and ending our day at the water park. 

 Playing in the kiddie pools

Just floating around..

 El tobogán

Teaser for Women's Exercise Party Post

Awesome picture from the Women's Exercise Party the girls hosted on Saturday. Post coming soon from someone that was actually there.

¡Fiesta de Rumiloma!

 Joey and Jefferson testing their strength.

 Ecuador's Spiderman.

 JUMP!

 Bird's-eye view of the party.

 Firetruck rides.

 Diana and her daughter Martina getting groovy.

 Jefferson networking with Nancy from one of our partner organizations.

Mis Amigos,

This past Saturday the Manna team hosted the annual community celebration known as Fiesta de Rumiloma, or FDR.  We were under the impression FDR was a day of celebration for the great President Franklin Delano Roosevelt; turns out we were misled. 

Rising early from our cozy beds to clear views of Cotopaxi and Iliniza Sur, both majestic mountains to the south, the crew began setting up tables for our partner organizations, a face painting station for the Red Cross, as well as numerous other activities to keep the community members entertained throughout the morning.  The Cooking and Nutrition Program had a bake sale while the Preventative Health Center distributed health information.  We had inscriptions for classes open to the public, signing more future students up for our English courses.  Local bomberos, firefighters, showed up later in the day for an equipment demonstration and a fire safety discussion followed by free firetruck rides through the community.
The Women's Exercise team demonstrated the wide variety of exercises they offer with short workouts from all different classes.  We had tug of war, a jump roping contest, corn hole, and soccer games all going on simultaneously.  We had a raffle, offering everything from free English classes for adults and children to free language exchange lunches with some of the Program Directors.
But most importantly we had a great time putting on this event for the community in which we work and live.

All in all, the day was a huge success.  Severely sun burnt and exhausted, all group members returned home after another successful day down here in Ecuador.

Thanks for stopping in and we will keep you posted on more Manna happenings to come.

Thanks,
Pete

President Correa Rally

The upcoming presidential election of Ecuador is in February so there's been a noticeable increase in political activity since we've been back. One of the most exciting events to happen occurred yesterday when President Raphael Correa held a rally in Sangolquí at Parque Turismo. In typical Ecuadorian fashion, we were told numerous starting times for the rally. So by one o' clock we were all raring to go and excited that even those that were on Library and Teen Center that day could make it. We then learned it was at three so went with a slightly smaller group at that time. Once we arrived, we couldn't help but notice that for an extremely popular president with an approval rating of 80%, there were very few people there. Of course, that was because it actually started at five and we were two hours early. I had to head to the TC but I heard by the time Correa came, the block was packed with, for the most part, rabid Correa supports.The Presidente wasn't able to project all that well since he had had three campaign stops before ours and was quite hoarse. What we all did take away was the insanely addictive campaign song that has been stuck in our heads now for two days. Sorry to do this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEaQNPPOJCA

A crowd

El Presidente