
Monday, June 30, 2008
Survival

When 2+2 != 4


Jess and I brought Sani's promedor de salud (Blanca) medical supplies which we got donated by Wound Technology Networks (based in Hollywood, FL, USA) and backpacks for easy portablity

Now from the above description, it seems pretty obvious that Sandi Yura was a corrupt organization. However, it is not that simple. Sandi Yura is a nonprofit group that provides all their services for free. A lot of their work is dependent on the promedores doing their jobs as well. As they train select individuals from the communities who are then responsible for teaching the rest of the community, a hiccup can occur anywhere along the way. In addition, a lot of the teaching the promedores do occur at town meetings, which Sandi Yura's president explained were often cut short due to impatience and not wanting to listen. As a result, it is possible that Sandi Yura is doing their job, but there is a problem in their delivery. In this situation when 2+2 does not equal 4, what are we to do? Our next step is to ask Sandi Yura for their budget, annual report, and exact programs they offer. Hopefully they will also have statistics on the number of promedores they train on each topic as well so that we can deduce where the failure of the program is occurring.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Child Labor

Before I go further, I want to mention that I am not presenting the full picture. There is a lot I do not know about the economic status of Quito and Ecuador as a whole. I only know the little I have studied and the even less

Going back to development, it was really the children on the streets alone or in groups selling candy or polishing shoes instead of being in school or being at home with their families that got to me. Jess and I were walking through a park and heard a chorus singing. We followed our ears to


Sunday, June 22, 2008
And Off to Ecuador! Random Thoughts..
Friday, June 20, 2008
10:00pm
Flight 931, American Airlines, Seat 11A
Travel Companion, Jess Lee, Seat 11B
Itinerary:
Time of departure from
Missed connecting flight to
Standby flight delayed
Missed connecting flight to
Given free voucher to stay at Dadeland Courtyard Hotel 30 minutes south of MIA + $10 dinner, $10 lunch, $5 breakfast vouchers
Flying has never scared me because I started when I was so little. It was always very natural and I didn’t think anything of it. Choosing a seat is an interesting process. Noone usually wants to sit in the middle because you have nothing to rest your head against as you do on the window seat nor do you have extra leg room or ease of not having to bother other people to go to the bathroom as you do in the aisle seat. The window seat has another benefit of a great view, but then you have to bother two people to do your business. Growing up, I always wanted the window seat. I slept pretty much the whole flight, even when it was a long one to
On this trip, I’ve had the pleasure of sitting at the window seat from NYC to
Whenever I try to photograph the moon, it comes out extremely small, like a dot in the sky. I wonder about the moon. It lights up because of the reflection of the sunlight not because the moon itself shines… but if the sun is hitting the moon, wouldn’t the entire sky light up? For example, if you took a flashlight and shined it on a ball in a dark room, not only would the ball light up, but so too would the path of the light itself… I probably learned about this at one point… but I completely forget.
Behind us in line getting on the plane, Jess and I saw a few people wearing collared shirts that said something about global health. I asked what they were, and apparently they are part of a mission trip with about 25 doctors, dentists, and pharmacists to However, I think it is almost a sign of respect. Besides being fun to learn about other cultures, it makes you think of the group more at your level. It is so dangerous to think of the developing world as a group of people that we need to help and save. I had a job interview recently and as my resume is filled with international development interest, they wanted to clarify that I would not get to do international development work. I was a little confused because a lot fo the work they were doing was international and looking at global collaboration. I mentioned that international development to me was not foreign charity and blind aid, but rather cocreation and co-development. My interviewer then agreed that I would be doing some international development work. We talked about how the term and topic “international development” has turned so much to the idea of charity and giving. It sounds so great, but when a group does not have to work for something, they end up taking it more for granted and can end up relying on it. This becomes dangerous especially with political instability where it is not unheard of for political tension to cause a ngo to withdraw from a country. In addition, lack of co-creation means lack of culturally-appropriate development. What works in the