The 2 Ecuador Teams have now, in the spirit of 1990′s Girl Power, become 1 as the 6 weekers flew off for the next stage of their adventures and the hardcore 10 weekers (Hannah, Izzy, Harvey, Georgie, Ellie, Alice, Jessie, Mark, Keiran and Lou) headed for the hills/Andes for the final phase of the Ecuador Leap. They’ve just completed their first week in Chilcabamba, a village close to the famous Andean marlet town of Otovalo and are apparently loving their new host family (particularly their new adopted brother- Tupac!).

The children in Chilcabama- bags of energy!

Project Leaders Sofie and Davis have sent this report on how their first week has gone:

“The team have had quite varied work this first week due to a delay in the funding for the main project and waiting for machines etc etc. They harvested maize and beans in a few fields the first day, cleared the project site in the nursery of rocks in preparation for the machines and counted and classified the tubes for the water pipeline the next, and since then have been digging holes in the valley ready for the community to plant trees on Saturday, the international day of the tree. As part of a reforestation programme with the ministry of the environment they went to collect the saplings with someone from the ministry too. As for the weekend, The Leap has done its part in stimulating the Otavalan economy with the the Ecuador Team hitting the famous craft market!”

Otovalo market, famous for knitted things...

...and carved gourds...

...and art! (oh, not forgetting bbqed guinea pigs, jewellery, amadillos made into guitars, alpaca ponchos etc etc!)

Stay tuned for more!