Charlas

7.5.10

Today we had a meeting in Ayora with the Youth and Families group and we were given the topic for our first “charla” in our towns. "Charla" means "workshop" or literally "chat", and every volunteer will give various charlas throughout their service, so we are practicing now with our families and people in our communities. Tabacundo was given the topic of Personal Values. We put together the presentation and practiced in front of the group. We had the group listen to a series of statements, and then stand in front of one of three signs: I agree, I disagree, or I’m not sure. The statements talked about gender roles, teen pregnancy, etc. It was interesting to have some discussion about each statement and what ppl believed, why they chose to stand where they did. It was also good to have our Ecuadorian professors and trainers there to add to the discussion, because their culture has different opinions on things like homosexuality or having sexual relationships before marriage. We will officially give our charla on Wednesday afternoon with members of our host family and a few community members.

After the training day ended, Jordan, Hannah, Angela, and I went to a cafe and had some coffee and bizcochos (biscuits/biscotti). We talked about wanting to find out our sites next week, or where every volunteer will be placed for their two years. After we find out we will go on a one-week site visit to get to know our communities a little bit and get a feel for what it will be like. We've had some interviews with our Program Staff about our preferences about the type of work we would like to do within Youth and Families, where in the country we want to be, etc. My preference was to be in a warmer environment and use my previous Social Services experiences; I'm not really sure what to expect but I know it will all work out for the best. When we find out our sites we're supposedly having a party/ceremony and they will announce where each person's site is. I said I imagine it to be like a game show almost, where they will call each person up one by one to reveal their site. “Angela, Come on Down!” Almost like a Price is Right episode, Ecuadorian style. We were also told that the facilitadores/professors will dance and provide entertainment for the volunteers, so we will see what happens!!

The pic is of Ayora, where we meet at least a couple times a week as a big group to have Technical training and such.