Darrell Fleck on Adopt-a-Village International

Comcast Newsmakers featuring Chairman Darrell Fleck on Adopt-a-Village International, 1 December 2009.

Calamaca is a community of about sixty indigenous farming families located high in the Andes near the city of Ambato in northern Ecuador. Although the village itself is situated at an elevation of 11,500 feet, it's just a a few miles north of the equator and therefor enjoys a year-around temperate climate.

In 2007, after two visits from Adopt-a-Village personnel, a joint project was put together to bring water from a nearby source above the village at 13,000 feet down a steep slope to a collection basin near the Calamaca village community school. The Rotary Club Ambato Cosmopolita in partnership with the Calamaca village leaders, the Ecuadorian Rotary leadership, and three Rotary Clubs in southern Colorado developed a project plan. Almost all of the construction work was performed by the men of Calamaca; the Rotarians in Ambato helped with resources, design, and coordination. The funding came Rotary resources both in Ecuador and in Southern Colorado.

This was Adopt-a-Village's first water project in Ecuador and became Phase I of our first Adopt-a-Village community commitment in that region. Last year we sent a representative to Ecuador to celebrate the completion of this first phase of our commitment.

More recently, the Calamaca village leadership, again in collaboration with the Ambato Rotarians, embarked on a Phase II Adopt-Village project: bringing potable running water and sanitary facilities to the village school. Currently, none of the homes in Calamaca have either running water or sanitary facilities; so this project benefits most of local residents in the community. The pictures here show the completion of Phase II of the Adopt-a-Village partnership program.

Think about adding some adventure to your life and join us for one of our scheduled visits to Calamaca in 2010.

Peru 2009 Video

Doherty HS trip to Peru in the summer of 2009.
A short video that does a great job of describing the experience.

Building Friendships

Through Adopt-A-Village International I had the chance to go to Ecuador and experience how people live in another country. With Adopt a Village's help, our group went to a village in Cayambe, Ecuador and painted a communities school. We played with the children. It is truly amazing how privileged we are by just being born in the United States. Through these children I learned that happiness does not come with possessions or money and these kids proved that to me over and over again. Plus it was incredible how even though we both speak different languages and neither of us can communicate in that sense we could still understand each other and build friendship without having to talk.

Steve

An Ecuador Experience

We went for a walk with the kids from the school, and they knew how to have fun. These two boys worked hard to break branches that were taller than them off a tree. They then started sword fighting with each other, smiling and laughing the whole time. I couldn’t stop laughing with them while they would playfully jab at each other. Even though these kids have so little, they know how to make the best of it, using the enviroment they have around them. They also helped smaller kids break off branches so they could join in the fun. I learned the most from these kids out of the entire trip. They showed me you only need imagination to have fun. The kids would pick flowers for us along the walk, and run, and jump in puddles. Their hearts were so big, and I realized that what you need in life, is a big heart and a smile like the kids from Cayambe.

Kimi

Connecting with the Kids

This picture is from our second day of clinics where I really felt like pretty much everyone had the chance to interact with the kids. Even though we had a language barrier to deal with you could tell that the kids just wanted to be near you and connect with you however they could. We soon discovered their fascination with our cameras and after almost every picture they would come running to see it and name off everyone they knew. In this picture Aaron was showing them pictures and was just swarmed by all the kids. You know that not all of them could see his camera but they came just so they could be close and in contact with everyone else, they were so accepting to us and most of them didn't even know our names.

Bailey

The Epitome of Happiness

We were coming back from our last clinic of the week and I was excited to find there was an open spot in the uncovered boat (it didn't have a roof like the other one and therefore, everyone wanted to be in that boat). So tired, hungry, and smiling, I climbed into the uncovered boat. It was a beautiful day; blue sky, fluffy white clouds, perfect.

We waved goodbye to the villagers and followed the other boat out onto the Amazon. Soon, the other boat was out of sight as it was much faster than the one I was on. Yet, I didn't care because I was enjoying the beauty of this marvelous scenery. All the sudden I saw dark rain clouds appear out of nowhere. Just a minute ago the sky had been a sea of blue and white. As I thought this, it started to rain. I grabbed my backpack and held it over my head in an effort to stay dry. As it started to rain harder the two guys sitting next to me decided to stack our backpacks in a way that made a fort around us. We ducked down in a futile attempt to stay dry. As we huddled together, we caught each others' eye and suddenly burst out laughing, as we realized we were already so wet that the rain could not possibly do any more damage. We took down our stronghold and let the wind and rain do what it may. As we pulled up to our destination, I realized I had to capture this moment of pure bliss. I got out my camera and asked a young man if he could take the picture for me. Standing there shivering next to people who had become some of my best friends, I thought, "This is the epitome of happiness".


Lynnea

AaVI in Ecuador

Adopt-a-Village has partnered with nine Rotary Clubs to provide eleven water and sanitary facilities in single teacher rural schools in the Santo Domingo area of Ecuador . These schools are in the country side area, and unfortunately there are many without water which is essential to keep the children in good health. While each location may have a unique set of needs, the usual solution is to construct a block sanitary facility consisting of male and female restrooms, a shower for the teacher who usually lives at and watches over the school, and hand washing stations. Water is treated as necessary for domestic use purposes. In some instances a well must be added or the existing one improved. Students benefit from the project through increased awareness of the link between intestinal parasitism and lack of proper hand washing, reductions in spreading of Hepatitis "A" virus and raised awareness within the community of the benefits of clean water for the total population.

The value of the total project is $41,000.

We partner with leaders in developing countries to provide sustainable improvements that meet basic human needs and improve quality of life, including:

• Medical and dental clinics
• Training for health workers
• Equipment and supplies for existing hospitals
• Potable water
• Educational and micro-business opportunites