Assessment Trip #1, May 2016

In May, four students and two mentors traveled to El Descanso on an initial assessment trip. This was our chapter’s first time meeting the community and the trip went extremely well. The entire community is extremely receptive and open to the solutions we can provide them with. On the team’s first night in El Descanso, Abraham, the president of the Ecological Reserve the community resides in called our visit the “crystallization of a dream.” Both the chapter and the community are excited to continue with this project. A general design is currently be worked on with community agreement.

Group of Ecuador Kids from Trip 1

Travel Team

Trip Log:

May 16, 2016 – Late last night, after many hours of travel, 100+ mph (yes, miles not kilometers) taxi rides through curved and narrow streets, and a trip through the Duty Free section of the airport, we landed safely at Casa Sol. Our first day has been quite an adventure, and here are some fun facts we’ve learned along the way:

There are many restaurants in Quito that play a mix of classic rock and Miley Cyrus when Americans walk in.

An amazing and authentic 3-course meal here costs about $2.50.

Ecuadorians love taking American disco songs and making Spanish renditions of them then trying to sell them to the Americans on the bus.

May 18, 2016 – They did reach the community after the earthquake and are still going with the trip as planed. Here are some more things from Ecuador.

The plumes of smoke emanating from the buses and taxis make us feel like we’re breathing in a cloud of dirt, but the pleasant aroma of char-grilled meat, fresh squeezed fruits, and the best damn bread you’ve ever tasted brings us back to the reality that this place is nothing short of paradise.

You can fit 5 people in a taxi if you’re clever, but it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.

Our last night and morning in Quito was filled with craft beer, a trip to the equator, and we loaded into a a truck for a ride into El Descanso where we can finally get this show on the road!

May 23, 2016 – We have been very busy lately but things are still good with everyone, nobody is sick, no more big earthquakes. The building we are in however does wobbles when anyone turns over, the wind blows or any animals brush up against it so there have been a few pig-induced tremors.

We have collected lots of demographic data and interviewed and talked to lots of people. The roads are terrible and paths to the more remote houses nearly impassable. One thing that keeps people living in the hills away from communication is the lack of water, so developing a supply could help people out quite a bit.

We have found a lot of little springs around and a creek or two that could potentially help with our project. Nobody does rainwater collection, but we could probably do a demo project on the school to collect data on how much water is available and figure out how to make use of local materials (bamboo galore).

The current plan is to spend today completing the interviews and finding any other water options and see if the creeks can be determined to be a viable option.

Tomorrow we will be doing a bunch of mapping to ensure they have all the data needed to design a piping system.

May 25, 2016 – Yesterday we left El Descanso and made it to Quito with only a few bumps along the road.

After gathering a plethora of cultural and design related information,we decided synthesizing this information would be more efficiently done in Quito without distractions. Mostly because the kids in the community always wanted to play frisbee and watch Nat and Matt solve a rubix cube. Getting the chance to work and meet this community has been an amazing experience and they have shown us so much.

May 26, 2016 – Today we spent the morning going all the information we collected from the community. The rest of the day was spent being tourists and visiting places around Ecuador.

Here are some notes from our trip:
During the trip Ellie had climbed a tree to try and get phone reception. They enjoyed Nat’s card tricks at a community gathering. We played a lot of intense soccer games with the children. Most hikes were lead by machete which is not as scary as it sounds.

Tomorrow we will be flying back home and will update you when we can.

May 27, 2016 – Today the travel team landed back in the states and organized the information gathered to plan for another trip.

Assessment Trip #2, Winter 2017

Over winter break, Civil Engineering majors, Parker Midura, Maeve Carlson, Jack Pacent, and Samantha Anderson along with Mentor Robert Sypitkowski traveled to El Descanso to determine if a single or multiple sources in the area could supply the water for the community. The team gathered data on all potential water sources, pumping requirements, and rainwater catchment. In addition to strengthening their partnership with El Descanso, the travel team left with a changed world view and a passion to build a better one.

Members of the travel team traveling to the community

The Travel Team: