http://www.projectsforpeaceecuador.org/
i was asked to post this.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
PICTURES!
So I was gonna upload a bunch of sweet pics, but uploading this one took a while, and I don´t have all day to sit here and blog. I have to save some time for facebook.Anyway, it is probably better to upload them one by one as opposed to displaying 20 photos of me being taller than everyone else all at once.
This particular photo was taken when I first got to site. I went out with some guys from the provincial government office of the environment to put a post delineating the buffer zone of the nearby reserve. In the photo you can clearly see some trees. Yes, there are many trees. Actually, I believe those are alders, known as aliso in these parts. Alders, though not techinically legumes, fix nitrogen into the soil through a symbiosis with some microbes. This is a very useful adaptation, and I believe it explains their niche in early succession. They are common around recent landslides. Although the lack to topsoil in these areas is an obstacle for other species, the alders can apparently handle it, probably due to their microbial buddies.
When these observations are put in a less naturalistic and more practical perspective, we can see why alders are such a good hedgerow plant around fields. Agricultural fields are a prime example of secondary succession, succession in which the topsoil remains but the vegetation is largely disturbed. Nitrogen is often a limiting factor for crops, and the alders can provide it as they drop their leaves. Furthermore, it comes with organic matter, which helps keep the nitrogen around, as opposed to chemical fertilizers, much of which is often washed away.
Another common characteristic of pioneer species such as the alder is rapid growth, and this has obvious benefits for the farmer looking to take advantage of a crop of quality wood.
So thats all very nice. Stuart the forester, my childhood friend and neighbor, if you are still reading this blog, please correct me if I´m wrong on the above.
Really, I should be blogging once or twice a week. I feel like maybe at one point I had built up a nice little readership base which I have now largely lost due to neglect. Now that I have internet so close to home, I have no excuse. Except maybe that I am working more. And thats true, the comment about facebook is almost entirely facetious. I´m working with several schools to build little nurseries to produce plants (such as the native alder) for the farmers. And stuff like that.
Ok, so maybe i´ll get back to this sooner rather than later. I´ll try to keep posting nice pictures.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Back Due to Popular Demand!
ok, so the day by day breakdown i tried a while back clearly isn´t going to work to cover this hiatus. a week by week breakdown might be a bit much too, so i´ll try a month by month:
november: i kind of abandoned my community to live in the nearby town of Pimampiro. Pimampiro has internet access, but i still didn´t blog because i had more important things to do. Such as: the work for which i was in Pimampiro, and studying biology. The work was at a nursery that has pretty much been abandoned. this is the fate of projects past. NGOs and stuff in ecuador, and probably all of latin america if not the developing world, work on a project by project basis. this is the result of having to write grants and then having to complete, or at least look like they are trying to complete, the proposal as written in the grant. but then when the time and/or money runs out, nothing else happens except for the natural process of decomposition. in this case, the project was to create business opportunities by growing a bunch of aromatic herbs, giving the herbs away to farmers in return for a slice of the product, and then processing the herbs in big expensive machines to sell the essential oils for soap or tea or whatever. i never saw the machines. i never saw anyone growing the herbs actually. but i did see and work in this nursery full of lemongrass, mint, and some little plant called matico.
so basically, i spent november and most of december working in this nursery and listening to free mp3 biology lectures from mit (check it out www.ocw.mit.edu). like, pulling weeds and killing slugs and stuff. kind of a pain in the back. if i ever have any say in nursery construction, the plants are gonna be on tables.
one benefit though, was being able to go to karaoke in town. they have several english songs including Bohemian Rhapsody.
also, for thanksgiving, we were invited to quito to dine with the ambassador or her henchmen. i had heard rumors (she makes you watch dog shows instead of football) which led me to ask for a seat at one of the other places. apparently, the head security officer has the best party with bbq and football and stuff (this is where the marines go). but i went to another embassy worker´s place, and it was pretty cool. apparently, their kids go to a private school here that costs something like $100k a year. this isn´t a university, this is a highschool. and the embassy pays. also pays for their housing, which is pretty sweet. one of the guys i met there might help me with a grant for the abandoned trout ponds near here. i should call him up again. . .
DECEMBER:
kept working in that nursery for the first half of the month. ownership of which has been turned over to the parish council at my site, so thats cool. at this point, it appears that my work was pretty much pointless because the parish president (El Pastor, the evangelical guy i think i mentioned months back. hes cool) wants to get rid of all the herbs and plant trees. thats cool with me, trees are more my thing here. also, i made some friends by giving some herbs away.
my bro and dad came and visited and we went to cuenca, that was fun. then we came to my site, which was also cool. then they left.
January
umm... i did some things, but i don´t think i got anything done. thats kind of the story of this whole experience so far. like we went and got about 400 alder cuttings, which can be planted to produce little trees which are great for agroforestry because they fix nitrogen and they grow quickly. before going, i asked the director of the project if we could put them in the greenhouse (this isn´t the herb project in pimampiro, this is the project in my parish, the one working to give fruit trees to farmers who sell the fruit to the jelly co-op who sell jelly and make everyone happy) sure, he says. they are trying to get their greenhouse going and they want some plants to make it look good (see above about projects either doing things or appearing to do them). so i go with one of my new favorite parish councilmen and another local kid to cut these stakes to plant. we take great care to keep them moist, and we even get some bags to put them in. the director and i had agreed that he or his people or the students who "work" at the greenhouse (it is located at the local highschool, which doesn´t cost $100k per year) would plant the cuttings. so i drop them off and go about my merry way, i had some other shit to do. (actually, this story took place in december when i was working at the other nursery and i had to get back to killing slugs or something). i come back a week later and half of the cuttings are exactly where i left them and the other half are dessicating in the sun. you are supposed to plant these things within 48 hours and you are supposed to do it beneath a shade cloth, and you are supposed to water them every day, but lets not be too picky. so i plant the rest of them with another guy who works at the project who is about my age, and i figure since they spent like $10k on this fancy shmancy sprinkler system , maybe someone would bother to turn it on once in a while. but no. so at this point, now that the story is taking place in january, the cuttings are all dead. and there is a project meeting with the boss man from quito, who is italian and has a phd in philosophy. and someone mentions these cuttings, and i´m like, well, it was a good idea, but their all dead. the director bullshits about how he wasn´t told ahead of time and he can´t be expected to take care of stuff that no one tells him about. i was pissed, but i´ve decided it might be best not to talk too much when i´m pissed and there are a bunch of people around. so we spoke later. i wish i could say that we communicated successfully, but since then he has bullshitted me twice more and i´m getting kinda tired of it.
i would bust him out in a meeting, but i honestly feel like i haven´t gotten much done myself, so who am i to bust his balls? but then, at least i don´t tell people i´ll take care of something and then not do it and then pretend like these matters have nothing to do with me. so i might bust his balls at the meeting this thursday.
February
uhm. took the GRE. went up to the woods with some biologists and found some spectacled bear poop. might have found a new species of mountain snail, but the wily beast escaped (true story). did not find the salt lick that the tapirs use, but got better directions and i´ll find it next time.
decided a cool project would be a sacha cuy breeding program with my host family. they want to do it. i want to do something. questionable legality, but i´ve been researching and will contact the appropriate authority next time i go to ibarra (provincial capital). sacha cuy by the way is a wild guinea pig about the size of a short fat house cat.
continued to do stuff without getting much done. but as we speak, i have about 700 alders in the high school green house (also have not been adequately cared for, as the director promised, but at this point i expected as much) and if everything goes as planned (which it didn´t yesterday but i haven´t lost hope) at 5 pm today i will be giving these trees to local farmers who have swore to me that they will plant them and not leave them to rot on their back porch. i will ofcourse check up on them in a week.
so that pretty much brings everything up to date. . . . filling in a few holes: i got the 700 alders from a guy from the environmental ministry who promised me 2000 about 8 months ago. so this guy is relatively true to his word in my experience around these parts. umm.. . i´m not really as angry at the director as i may sound. mostly i am frustrated with my lack of accomplishments, but i understand it is to be expected in this line of work.
ok, i gotta go check on these alders.
ps. i love you too, arbi
november: i kind of abandoned my community to live in the nearby town of Pimampiro. Pimampiro has internet access, but i still didn´t blog because i had more important things to do. Such as: the work for which i was in Pimampiro, and studying biology. The work was at a nursery that has pretty much been abandoned. this is the fate of projects past. NGOs and stuff in ecuador, and probably all of latin america if not the developing world, work on a project by project basis. this is the result of having to write grants and then having to complete, or at least look like they are trying to complete, the proposal as written in the grant. but then when the time and/or money runs out, nothing else happens except for the natural process of decomposition. in this case, the project was to create business opportunities by growing a bunch of aromatic herbs, giving the herbs away to farmers in return for a slice of the product, and then processing the herbs in big expensive machines to sell the essential oils for soap or tea or whatever. i never saw the machines. i never saw anyone growing the herbs actually. but i did see and work in this nursery full of lemongrass, mint, and some little plant called matico.
so basically, i spent november and most of december working in this nursery and listening to free mp3 biology lectures from mit (check it out www.ocw.mit.edu). like, pulling weeds and killing slugs and stuff. kind of a pain in the back. if i ever have any say in nursery construction, the plants are gonna be on tables.
one benefit though, was being able to go to karaoke in town. they have several english songs including Bohemian Rhapsody.
also, for thanksgiving, we were invited to quito to dine with the ambassador or her henchmen. i had heard rumors (she makes you watch dog shows instead of football) which led me to ask for a seat at one of the other places. apparently, the head security officer has the best party with bbq and football and stuff (this is where the marines go). but i went to another embassy worker´s place, and it was pretty cool. apparently, their kids go to a private school here that costs something like $100k a year. this isn´t a university, this is a highschool. and the embassy pays. also pays for their housing, which is pretty sweet. one of the guys i met there might help me with a grant for the abandoned trout ponds near here. i should call him up again. . .
DECEMBER:
kept working in that nursery for the first half of the month. ownership of which has been turned over to the parish council at my site, so thats cool. at this point, it appears that my work was pretty much pointless because the parish president (El Pastor, the evangelical guy i think i mentioned months back. hes cool) wants to get rid of all the herbs and plant trees. thats cool with me, trees are more my thing here. also, i made some friends by giving some herbs away.
my bro and dad came and visited and we went to cuenca, that was fun. then we came to my site, which was also cool. then they left.
January
umm... i did some things, but i don´t think i got anything done. thats kind of the story of this whole experience so far. like we went and got about 400 alder cuttings, which can be planted to produce little trees which are great for agroforestry because they fix nitrogen and they grow quickly. before going, i asked the director of the project if we could put them in the greenhouse (this isn´t the herb project in pimampiro, this is the project in my parish, the one working to give fruit trees to farmers who sell the fruit to the jelly co-op who sell jelly and make everyone happy) sure, he says. they are trying to get their greenhouse going and they want some plants to make it look good (see above about projects either doing things or appearing to do them). so i go with one of my new favorite parish councilmen and another local kid to cut these stakes to plant. we take great care to keep them moist, and we even get some bags to put them in. the director and i had agreed that he or his people or the students who "work" at the greenhouse (it is located at the local highschool, which doesn´t cost $100k per year) would plant the cuttings. so i drop them off and go about my merry way, i had some other shit to do. (actually, this story took place in december when i was working at the other nursery and i had to get back to killing slugs or something). i come back a week later and half of the cuttings are exactly where i left them and the other half are dessicating in the sun. you are supposed to plant these things within 48 hours and you are supposed to do it beneath a shade cloth, and you are supposed to water them every day, but lets not be too picky. so i plant the rest of them with another guy who works at the project who is about my age, and i figure since they spent like $10k on this fancy shmancy sprinkler system , maybe someone would bother to turn it on once in a while. but no. so at this point, now that the story is taking place in january, the cuttings are all dead. and there is a project meeting with the boss man from quito, who is italian and has a phd in philosophy. and someone mentions these cuttings, and i´m like, well, it was a good idea, but their all dead. the director bullshits about how he wasn´t told ahead of time and he can´t be expected to take care of stuff that no one tells him about. i was pissed, but i´ve decided it might be best not to talk too much when i´m pissed and there are a bunch of people around. so we spoke later. i wish i could say that we communicated successfully, but since then he has bullshitted me twice more and i´m getting kinda tired of it.
i would bust him out in a meeting, but i honestly feel like i haven´t gotten much done myself, so who am i to bust his balls? but then, at least i don´t tell people i´ll take care of something and then not do it and then pretend like these matters have nothing to do with me. so i might bust his balls at the meeting this thursday.
February
uhm. took the GRE. went up to the woods with some biologists and found some spectacled bear poop. might have found a new species of mountain snail, but the wily beast escaped (true story). did not find the salt lick that the tapirs use, but got better directions and i´ll find it next time.
decided a cool project would be a sacha cuy breeding program with my host family. they want to do it. i want to do something. questionable legality, but i´ve been researching and will contact the appropriate authority next time i go to ibarra (provincial capital). sacha cuy by the way is a wild guinea pig about the size of a short fat house cat.
continued to do stuff without getting much done. but as we speak, i have about 700 alders in the high school green house (also have not been adequately cared for, as the director promised, but at this point i expected as much) and if everything goes as planned (which it didn´t yesterday but i haven´t lost hope) at 5 pm today i will be giving these trees to local farmers who have swore to me that they will plant them and not leave them to rot on their back porch. i will ofcourse check up on them in a week.
so that pretty much brings everything up to date. . . . filling in a few holes: i got the 700 alders from a guy from the environmental ministry who promised me 2000 about 8 months ago. so this guy is relatively true to his word in my experience around these parts. umm.. . i´m not really as angry at the director as i may sound. mostly i am frustrated with my lack of accomplishments, but i understand it is to be expected in this line of work.
ok, i gotta go check on these alders.
ps. i love you too, arbi
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