Last day on the work site. The kitchen  for the school has come along nicely and we can see our efforts becoming reality. In our two weeks here we were able to fence, dig, and prepare the building site. Although the concrete was unable to be completed during our time, the kitchen will soon be ready. 

Following construction, we played soccer with the children:

It is touching that, although we will soon be departing, the memories and friendships formed building a kitchen and connections made with the Ecuadorian people and Amazon nature will endure.

Our last night at the lodge:

I have truly had an incredible experience with Microsoft in Ecuador. I will miss being with the 4 other winners of the global YouthSpark Challenge for Change on a daily basis: Satya from India, Juan Carlos from Mexico, Dominic from the Philippines, and Sara from the United States.

I am grateful to my family, friends, church family, mentors, and communities who have supported me and my project, Science for Success, to encourage young girls to love science and explore careers in STEM. Thank you to everyone who voted when I was 1 of 20 Gloabl Finalists selected by Microsoft Corporation; thanks to your votes I was 1 of the 5 winners of the Microsoft Challenge for Change. As a winner, journeying to the Amazon to build the kitchen for an indigenous school in Ecuador has been a very rewarding experience. I enjoyed working as a team volunteering, building with purpose to improve education, learning about Ecuadorian culture, and being immersed in the beauty of the Amazon nature. From my fellow winners, I listened and learned more about their passion and plans to spark change in their communities. 

I am proud to be a YouthSpark Ambassador and receive Microsoft funding for Science for Success. I am eager for what is to come. 

It is our second to last work day building the school kitchen in Mondaña. In the morning, we visited the local food market. We were split into groups and each group represented a Ecuadorian family. Our 'families' were given $1 to spend on purchasing one meal at the market. It was interesting to see how little $1 could buy. With $1 my group purchased two ears of corn and a pound of rice - enough for a filling (but not very nutritious) meal for a small family.

Following the market, we resumed building at the work site. We formed a factory line and carried 500 bricks and brick-like pieces to the site.

Tired but satisfied after a long day of work:

We celebrated at night, learning traditional dances of the villagers. They shared self choreographed dances with us while wearing traditional clothing. The outfits were elaborately decorated with shells and feathers - beautiful. 

 The Elephant man:

 

Rocking in the rain again today. We collected gravel and rocks and passed them minga style to the work site.

This afternoon, we visited a women's group at the artisan market. The women make jewelry, baskets, and pottery together from natural resources. They get string from a local plant and beads from tagua, tree nuts. The profits help the women better contribute to supporting their families.

When we returned to Minga Lodge, I led a ballet/yoga session. Interesting? People said it was very relaxing. 

Tomorrow, we will visit a food market to discover how the average indigenous family living in the Amazon region buys food to feed many people on less than $1 per meal.

There is rain in the rainforest. Word.
All morning it poured here at the lodge. We continued to work despite the weather in the village. Eventually, the sun did come out but the work conditions remained very muddy.

In the afternoon, we had a traditional cooking lesson. As expected, one of the foods we prepared was yuca. Yuca is a food staple here (similar to a potato in texture) and we have eaten it with every meal so far.
Let's see...there's yuca potatoes, yuca soup,  yuca fries, yuca honey desert, yuca chips, yuca pancakes, and just plain yuca. Yuca seems to be a constant - more yuka to come.

In the cooking session some people also ate grub (live). I personally didn't try it, but for the people who did, grub was eaten by biting the head of the bug first, chewing, then swallowing.

Night shenanigans: