Day 2 in Ecuador

The second day for our group in Ecuador was one of the most eventful days of my life. It all began with a delicious breakfast, followed by a visit to the Inca campus of Humberto Mata Martinez school. Andrew and Dana are teaching at this school. Here we met the principal and teachers of the school. They all echoed the same sentiment, the students here lack confidence and are unable to envision a world beyond this city. The teachers all requested that we teach more than subject material, but that we teach confidence, life skills, and help the students envision opportunities to experience life beyond the city of Quito. I am glad to hear that because I believe that school should be about more than learning subject material, it should be an enjoyable place for students to grow as people. Next we travelled to the Zambiza campus of Humberto Mata Martinez school. Sara and I will be teaching at this school. I really liked this school from the moment we arrived. It is located right beside a beautiful lush green courtyard. Inside, it is a small, warm, welcoming school. It gives off the feeling of a small town, which is comfortable for me being from a smaller sized town. Zambiza has a nice basketball court, as well as access to another space to participate in physical activities. We entered one class and introduced ourselves. After I introduced myself a couple of students said "Justin, like Justin Beiber!", all of us had a laugh at that. The students seem a bit shy and in awe of us Canadian teachers. This has me feeling excited, nervous, fortunate, and proud to be given this opportunity to connect with the students and teachers here. After visiting Zambiza we moved on to another school. This was a school which was a bit ahead of the schools we will be teaching at in terms of resources. At this school our group was interviewed by a reporter who works for the mayor and will be writing a story about us in a local paper. We were also able to observe and then participate in a dance class that was going on. The students loved having us participate and there was even a gathering of students looking in through the windows at us. It was a great time. While we were at the school we were also fed a tasty supper cooked by the students which consisted of fish and plants from the jungles of Ecuador. Following our stop at the school we were taken on a late night adventure by Enrique the Minister of Education in Ecuador. Words can not describe how amazing the night was but it consisted of traditional ballet, rooftop views of the city, a Semana de Santa (Saints Week) parade including Ecuadorian Cucurucho's (dressed in traditional purple attire), a visit to San Francisco church (without a doubt the most detailed and beautiful architecture I have ever seen), drinks with locals in Ecuador and to top it all off a rooftop view of a Miley Cyrus concert (from our hotel rooftop we could see and hear the entire concert!).

Ecuadorian Cucurucho's

Inside San Francisco Church

Rooftop View of Quito (The group and Enrique, Ecuador's Minister of Education)

Rooftop View of Miley Cyrus Concert

First Full Day in Country!

Beinvenidos!

Today was my first full day in Ecuador. Today was also a great day.

All of the people in country have been so welcoming to me.

In honor of this I have decided to make this entry a "welcome" to my blog!

My name is Justin Larkins. I am currently in the faculty of education at the University of Manitoba. I recently completed my first year of my two year education degree. I have a passion for sports, working with young people, and helping those around me.

I have travelled to Ecuador as part of a volunteer group (ESLE - Ecuador Service Learning Experience) from the University of Manitoba. As a group we are spending one month working with local schools in the city of Quito. Our group will be working to promote healthy lifestyles and self-esteem through games, sport and language exchange. Along with this we are hoping to give students here a glimpse of our personalities and life from our perspectives.

Our group consists of nine students as well as a group of professional facilitators pictured below:

(Not in Ecuador yet: Joe, Blair)

(Back Row, Left to Right: Chris, Flo, Dana, Sara, Justin, Andrew)

(Front Row, Left to Right: Me, Jen, Meghan)

Today began with breakfast and a trip up to Panicillo. It had a beautiful view of the city, as seen in the photo above. After visiting Panicillo we paid a visit to two of the schools we will be teaching at. The first school we visited was Calderon. This is the school which Justin and Flo will be teaching at. The students here were putting on an open house with various areas set up with food, drink, and information about several topics from natural disasters to how to put together a computer. This was a very lively school. All of the students here wear school uniforms. The students here also were very excited to see us and learn from us. I can not wait to begin working with the students here! The language barrier will be an issue no doubt, but one which we will all work together to overcome. Next we visited Bellevista school. This is the school which Jen and Chris will be teaching at. This school had a very open environment. There are no hallways here, just walkways which are all outside. The classrooms do not have a lot of resources to work with, however I can already tell that the educators overcome this issue with their amazing passion for teaching.

Tomorrow we will be visiting Zambiza school and Inca school. Sara and I are teaching at Zambiza. Andrew and Dana are teaching at Inca. I am really looking forward to the opportunity to see the school I where I will be working, the people who I will be working with, and the students who I will be sharing information with. I will post more about this in my next blog.

Please feel free to leave a comment asking any questions you have.

Thanks for reading!

Less than two weeks to go

Currently there are less than two weeks until I leave for Ecuador.

The Key Club at Miles Macdonell is organizing an equipment drive, collecting donations of new or gently used sports equipment for schools in the city of Quito. I am sure that the students and teachers will be very grateful to receive this equipment. My Spanish is coming along, today I learned how to say that I am in pain (For example: My head hurts; Me duele la cabeza). I am hoping to learn a lot more Spanish once I am in country. That is all for now!

Justin