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I hope everyone at Cosmo are doing well. We arrived well in Ecuador, and have now settled down in a cute apartment. I also found a job already and will start teaching next week at a university here in Quito. I decided to return to UIUC in August 2003 for the Ph.D. because—although I got interesting job offers here for the coming academic year—I know that if I further my education I will be better able to contribute to the development of Ecuador. Many people are in need, especially children, and the discrepancies between rich and poor are markedly visible in society here in Quito. I have joined a club of Scandinavian ladies who get together and sometimes do fun events together to raise money or have similar events for the club (such as a Christmas bazaar or Swedish dinners). At the same time, the club has a social purpose and we conduct charitable activities. Right now, we are supporting a house for girls (run by nuns) with food. Because of the problem of corruption in Ecuador, it is best to distribute the money via institutions related to the church in one way or the other. The girls have parents but can't live with them because of abuse or for other reasons. Moreover, we provide scholarships for six of the girls so that they can continue going to school, which costs about 200 dollars per school year per child (for uniforms, books, shoes etc.). Moreover, we currently support two children in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city on the coast, with their school costs (100 dollars per school year per child). Right now, we are trying to make people in Sweden who used to live in Ecuador take on the costs for the girls home here in Quito, and for the six girls' scholarships. However, we would like to increase our efforts in Guayaquil and help more children there with their schooling as well, and I would also like to make sure that the girls home has some extra resources, such as games, sports articles, and books. Ecuador is a nice country, but the inequality here is striking. It is impossible to live here without wanting to help. In addition to the Scandinavian ladies club, I have also volunteered at the Red Cross. I haven't heard back from them yet, but I hope they may need a volunteer for some project that they are running. All the best regards to my friends at Cosmo. |