Yes, you might as well picture me as a brunette Madonna crooning from a balcony “Don’t cry for me Argentinaaaa, the truth is I never left yoooooou.” Because it’s true, I didn’t leave. I am still here. As much as I complain about Buenos Aires being a massive city, the booby trapped sidewal[...]
Archive for the ‘In the Field’ Category
August 24th, 2011 - 10:07 am § in Ecuador, In the Field
Loan Sharks, Microloans and the Highest Interest Rates Around
Small business owners in Ecuador, like Marcia Suqui in the video below, can use their microloans to move forward with their businesses and improve their quality of life. After all, this is the idea driving Kiva.org, my current employer here in Ecuador- that small loans can change lives. But not all [...]
Policy Changes at Machu Picchu
During my short stay in Cuzco, it never became clear to me if the policy changes at Machu Picchu were UNESCO based, or if it came solely from the Peruvian government. However they were definitely the constant topic of conversation and worry amongst many of the travelers I encountered. Here are a f[...]
July 25th, 2011 - 7:55 am § in Bolivia, In the Field
Uyuni Around the Edges
Where everything you see looks like snow.... but really you've got kilometers of salt fields surrounded by nothing but ghost towns, volcanic rock, and of course, llama. It blew my mind for two full days -- which is to say that its beauty was only as grand as the Puget Sound Islands -- in the rare mo[...]
Migration, Microloans, and the Journey of a Kiva Fellow
On Monday morning, long before the sun rose on Quito, Fundación Alternativa’s Business Manager, two Loan Officers and I embarked on an all-day journey to remote Chunchi, Ecuador. After the promised “three-and-a-half hour drive, at the most,” we arrived at our final destination another five ho[...]
June 24th, 2011 - 6:45 am § in Argentina, In the Field
Pride and Picture Frames
After months of working in the office, I will finally get the chance to go into the field. Destination: Santa Fe, about a five hour bus ride from Buenos Aires. Here, Habitat for Humanity-Argentina is working with around 130 families, providing them with credits and loans to attain adequate housing. [...]
Political Promises: Food for Pap Smears
After working in free clinics in the outskirts of Xela, Guatemala for two months, I can tell you that every day in the clinic is "the craziest day that you’ve seen at the clinic." Women lining up out of whatever building has been converted into the clinic that day, holding two children by the hand[...]
Developing in Many Directions
Of course, it is only common sense that in the developing nations of the world, progress has been made in different areas at different speeds. Certainly in terms of convenience, Panama, my new country, has been a lot easier than Patagonia. Most essential items are available in Santiago, my new home,[...]
May 19th, 2011 - 4:24 am § in In the Field, Volunteer
The Meaning of Solidarity
What does solidarity actually mean? I found myself asking this question many times over the last ten days. Part of the Somos Hermanos program consists of a ten day trip to El Salvador to work with the organization Centro de Intercambio y Solidaridad (CIS). Every day we had the opportunity to listen [...]
