Vicentina

View of Vicentina barrio from adjoining vacant land with the Cayambe Volcano in the background

Settling In

 

Respecting the three Vicentina images above, the top one on the right shows the house where Bob and I lived on the first floor. The middle image shows Bob on the left with our two landlords who lived on the second floor. The woman on the right was their daughter. The animal being held is the coatimundi I mention in my letter. The bottom image is a view over Vicentina looking beyond the barrio to the gorge on the other side. 

 

Searching for furniture for our new home

I don't know the conditions experienced by most Volunteers living in Ecuador. As city dwellers, Bob and I lived in conditions similar to others we knew, both Volunteers and Ecuadorians who were our colleagues. We were expected to live like the average citizen of Ecuador. So buses, walking and an occasional taxi were our principal means of transportation. Living about 9,000 feet high and walking each day to work and where we ate our meals kept us in good shape.

As can be read in my Food and News letter excerpt below, Maria was a popular provider of meals for numerous young people living away from home and trying to make a go of it in the big city. Maria's was a good place to meet volunteers working in other Peace Corps groups, Ecuadorian university students and volunteers working in other parts of the country who had traveled to Quito.

Getting news from the outside world appears to be more informal back in the 1960s, even in the USA. I can not imagine a Volunteer today arranging for a special subscription price with the circulation manager of a national magazine.

Another news source was the shortwave radio. I remember listening to the BBC most frequently, with the Voice of America also being available.

 

 

Maria & son Gonzalo prepared our meals

 

A Teaching Success

One of our major responsibilities working with the credit unions in Ecuador was to improve the accounting standards of the individual cooperatives.  To achieve this goal we audited their books, trained employees, and provided classes for leaders and persons responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the cooperatives.

 

Another goal the National Credit Union Association was pushing involved production credit; encouraging the leaders to invest more cooperative funds and effort into production purposes rather than just consumer credit. The goal being to strengthen the economic level of the country.

 

I think the excerpt below speaks for itself. It seems pretty clear that I was quite pleased with my first teaching experience.