¡Pelican Rescue!

Shell (American ex-pat extrodinaire), was strolling along the beach yesterday minding his own business and admiring the lovely birds fishing over the waves. Suddenly a pelican came swooping down with its eye on (what it must had thought was) a tasty fish, and BOOM, crashed into a rock hiding under the water's surface.

But our wily pelican was in luck. Shell came rushing in to the rescue. Calling over some local guys to help, they scooped the poor thing out of the water and brought it to shore. The wing was badly broken, but after some clever splinting, the bird was relatively calm, and Shell called us for some advice. Luckily for Shell and our pelican friend, we knew just what to do.

MSS has been working with Acuario Vadivia, so several years now. They're not just the only coastal Aquarium in Ecuador, they are the only animal rescue center in the area. Mr. Pelican was bundled into the back seat of a car and rushed to help.

Javier, the head biologist at the Aquarium, cleaned up, fed, and re-splinted our brave little pelican and placed it with the other rescued seabirds that are living at the Aquarium to recuperate. Though the wing seems to be too damaged to allow our pelican to fly again, he will be able to live out his life, well fed and safe with the other pelicans at the Aquarium. Thank you to Javier and the rest of the great staff at Acuario Valdiva for providing this great service for the local wild life and a great educational center for the local community. And of course thanks to Shell, the Pelican rescuer!

If you are interested in volunteering at Acuario Valdivia, or any of other great volunteer projects, contact us at the Montañita Spanish School at info@montanitaspanishschool.com or check out our website at montanitaspanishschool.com.

Corinne at the Guarderia

The other day, I got a lovely email from a former student and volunteer named Corinne from Switzerland. She had been traveling through South America with her boyfriend when she landed in Montanita decided to work on her Spanish skills with us at MSS before continuing on her travels. While studying, she decided to visit the Guadería with me one morning, and fell in love with all the kids. She ended up at the staying there and volunteering for two weeks, getting to know all the children and helping the staff at this super worthwhile organization. Today I got these awesome photos in my inbox.

¡Sonrisas grandes!

The kids at the park with Betsy to get some fresh air.

Is it snack time yet?

Corinne in the toddler room.

Thank you Corinne for all the time you spent with the kids of Manglaralto and for sending me these great pictures. And the señoras and niños all say hi!

If you are interested in volunteering at the Guardería, like Corinne, or with any other of our fantastic non-profit partners, contact me, April, at info@montanitaspanishschool.com. It's not just about traveling and learning Spanish. Get involved! Be a part of something!

Werner at the Primary School

Werner was our last volunteer at the Primary School in Montanita, and he has taken the job head on. Working with hundereds of students from 7 to 16 years old is definately a challenge, but Werner has conquered the hearts of the kids and been teaching English for 5 weeks.

A few weeks ago was the big Defile in Montanita. Kids representing schools from all the nearby
pueblos came together in Montañita for a big parade. Obviously, Werner walked with his class, and we all came out to cheer him on.

Thank you Werner for all your hard work. The kids already miss you! And good luck to Dushka, who just started volunteering this week. We're so proud!

If you are interested in volunteering at the Primary School, like Werner, or with any other of our fantastic non-profit partners, contact me, April, at info@montanitaspanishschool.com. It's not just about traveling and learning Spanish. Get involved, be a part of something!

New Supplies and Volunteers at the Guardería

Yesterday, we were able to present the Guardería with brand new chairs and tables for the children. The old one's were beginning to fall apart, and there weren't enough for all the new kids.

Thank you so much to all the volunteers that have been working so hard to help the children and the families at the Manglaralto Guardería, and thank you all for contributing to the donations that made this gift possible.

Here are a few of them that are volunteering at Guardería now:

Sarah, a volunteer from the States making a collage with the 4 and 5 year olds.

Ann, another volunteer from the States posing with Pamela

Stephanie from Switzerland posing with Leandro.

Katja at the Acuario

Katja dedicated a full month volunteering at the Animal rescue center at Acuario Valdiva. She amazing girl from Switzerland, whose previous work at a zoo, as well as her preparations to go to veterinary school next year, has bad her one of our most hands on and proactive volunteers we've sent to Acuario Valdivia. We are so happy to have had her, and I'm sure the animals feel the same way. Good luck in Veterinary School!

Katja administering antibiotic to a sea turtle who has been injured by a boat propeller.

A project with a Aquarium's Biologist, recording sex, size, and weights of the large collection of rescued land tortoises. 

Transportation of one of the Aquarium's injured Pelicans to her new pen. The aquarium has many Blue-footed Boobies, and Pelicans that have injured or severed wings, and can no longer fly.

Acuario Valdivia has to beautiful Humboldt penguins, and male and female.

Vilhelm at the Acuario

Vilhelm had been taking Spanish with us for several weeks before he decided to throw himself into a new project at the Aquarium in Vadivia, a little village 20 minutes from Montañita with the only coastal Aquarium in Ecuador. Since then he has been helping feed the animals, and then in the afternoons he works with the children in the Aquarium's ecological kids'club, playing games and soccer, working on environmental projects and teaching English and yoga.

Vilhelm meets the Ecological Kids Club children

¡Pengüinos!

This crazy pelican wouldn't leave Vilhelm alone while he was trying to feed the sea turtles. I guess he decided to give him some of the fish so that she'd leave him alone

Lobo, the cubby sealion, getting his lunch fom one of the girls in the Ecological Kids Club.

If you are interested in volunteering at Acuario Valdivia like Vilhelm, or any of other great volunteer projects, contact us at the Montañita Spanish School at info@montanitaspanishschool.com or check out our website at montanitaspanishschool.com.

The the guys at the Aquarim are always looking for an extra set of hands, and the kids love when new people come in to work with them and teach them something new. Be creative and make a difference!

Selina at the Guadrería!

Selina, an awesome chica from Switzerland decided to spend a couple weeks during her stay working at the Guardería (day Care Center) in Manglaralto. She was kind enough to share some of her photos of her experience with us so we could post them here.

Playing with the kids in the 2-3 age group classroom.

Taking the kids outside for some air.

Sonrisas :)

Lunchtime!

If you are interested in volunteering at the Guardería like Selina, or any of other great volunteer projects, contact us at the Montañita Spanish School at info@montanitaspanishschool.com or check out our website at montanitaspanishschool.com.

Come make a difference in the day of some super adorable kids, and learn Spanish while you're at it.

Pool Day with Ecological Kids Club

The Ecological Kids Club is a group of awesome and adorable kids from the little village of Valdivia. After school, they go to the Aquarium in Valdivia to learn about the animals, volunteer as tour guides, and work on projects in the community. They have been working hard cleaning the beaches and giving tours to keep up with the tourism "high season." We figured they deserved a day of fun!

Fifteen kids and Javier, the Biologist that runs the Aquarium and the kids program, all came to join us at the Montañita Cabañas to play in the pool and get to know some of the students.

A few hours later, the kids were exhausted... ok, well maybe I was the only one, but keeping up with 15 energetic kids is tough!

As when you put any group of kids in a pool, Chicken Wars are essential. I tended to lose :(

Thanks to Javier and all the kids for an amazing day!

¡Volunteer!

One of the things I love about my job here at MSS is that I get to help you find ways to volunteer your time that can really enhance your experience in Ecuador and give back to the local community. Volunteering is great way to get out of the “traveler’s bubble” and really see the real Ecuador in a way that you might not otherwise. Here’s a bit of information about the non-profit organizations that we work with in the area:

The Centro de Discapacidades works with local children with special needs, from the high functioning to the severe. It’s a really amazing organization because they work without any public funding to serve a community that really has no other options for assistance. You’ll not only be taking some stress off the parents by helping take care of their children, but you can also share your skills and education with people who really need the help. We’re looking for qualified professionals like therapists, but the center could also use volunteers who are interested in assisting the staff in other ways. Such as teaching them games or activities that work with special needs children, or helping the staff with their English.

The Guardería is a day care center located in Manglaralto, a quiet village just south of Montañita, and it is an unprecedented resource for the community. This safe and educational environment is completely free for the parents and they also provide meals for the children while they’re there. This makes an enormous difference for the families in a poorer community like Manglaralto. It allows (usually young) mothers to go to work or school and contribute to the family income, and it allows more children to be better prepared for primary school. Your time volunteering at Guardería will improve the experience for the children by lowering the student/teacher ratio and exposing them to a different language and culture. You’ll also have the satisfaction of knowing that you not only gave these children a good day, but also improved the lives of their parents, their families, and therefore their community. That’s a lot of people you are helping!

Acuario Valdivia is a community project that has been operating for 11 years. It is the only coastal aquarium in Ecuador, and people bring in injured and stranded animals from all up and down the coast. Not only do they do amazing things for the animals, they have also taken on the role as a community center for the tiny village of Valdivia. They have begun an Ecological Kids Club at the aquarium in the afternoons and gives the local kids a fun, educational space to hang out after school.

You have the opportunity to join this unique community project and share your passion for wild life and ecological protection. Volunteering during the morning hours will mean that you will be working directly with the animals, feeding them, cleaning them and giving them medical care. In the afternoons you can work with the Ecological Kids Club, helping them with their homework, giving English lessons, or making arts and crafts out of recycled trash picked up off the beaches. Your only limitation is your creativity!

The Ecuela Primaria is situated right in the center of Montañita and there are about 370 students aged from 4 to 16 years old. As just a native English speaker, you can supplement the grammar books, which tend to have a lot of errors, and help their English teacher. You can come up with activities and games that will take advantage of your pronunciation, and help the students with their speaking skills, which tend to be where they need the most help.

There isn’t a good structure when it comes to the English classes at the school, but this provides a great opportunity for you as a volunteer to make a real difference in the program.  There are chances to get involved in sports or art classes, and really make use of the skills that you have. If you have teaching experience and more confidence in the classroom, Genoveva, the director of the school, is more than willing to work with us so that you can take a more independent role and create a curriculum to teach while you are there. The opportunities to make a difference are endless!

Besides these volunteer organizations, we have programs with clinics and hospitals in the area that specifically attempt to help the under-served and poorer communities out here on the coast. If you are a doctor, nurse or medical student, and want to make a difference here, please contact us!

I don’t want to sound too cliche, but volunteering for a couple weeks really can improve the lives of people in the local community and enhance your life too. A couple weeks may not seem like it’s going to change the world, but in the aggregate it can make a real difference. If every student that came through our school donated 2 weeks of their time, the cumulative effort could really effect real change.

If I’ve piqued your interest, you can reach us at our website at http://www.montanitaspanishschool.com/ or email me (April) at info@montanitaspanishschool.com. I hope to hear from you!

Xmas at the Montañita Primary School

The primary school in Montañita is one of the local volunteer organizations that we work with. Our volunteers teach English to kids from 5 years old to 16. 

The Friday before Christmas, the Primary School threw a Christmas party that lasted the whole day! I made it down to watch the show and take some pictures:

The kids escape from the sun while they watch the performers and wait for their turns.

One little reina struts around the stage.

The boys from a Form 1 class have a game of musical chairs

Santa and Genoveva (the director of the school) give presents out the winners of the games.

Many of the girls were dressed like little princesses for this event. Even covered in frills and tulle, the girls were running around, playing the games with the boys in the hot midday sun.

Xmas at the Finka

The Christmas celebrations in our little corner of the world are in full swing. This past weekend, my friend Amela, the Medical Volunteer Coordinator and the Director of Finances at the Montanita Spanish School, went to a Christmas party of the year at Santa Maria del Fiat, the Finka for short.

First a little background. The Finka is a Catholic clinic and Church that is run by nuns who live on site. Hermana Ruth, the head nun and Medical Coordinator, is a small Ecuadorean woman with a big smile and an even bigger heart. The clinic, like most out here on the coast, is very basic, but they do wonders for the community with the limited resources they have. They have been running a kid's program for years, in order to improve the preventative care for children. Once a month children from newborns up to 5 years old come to the clinic for a free check up and medication. Every year, people from all over the world, including our school, go spend 4 weeks to up to a year volunteering at the Finka as nurses, doctors, medical students and specialist, pharmacists, or in their records department.

So back to the party. How does a small Catholic clinic do Xmas in coastal Ecuador? Well, it starts with a Mass. This was only Amela's second Catholic mass, so by keeping an eye on what her neighbors were up to, she was able to kneel, stand and sit at the right moments, though she started regretting her decision to sit right up in the front! Every little girl was in a frilly princess dress, and the little boys were in dress shirts and ties. One of the nuns in front pulled out a guitar started playing, and the small church was so full that when everybody started singing the sound was amazing.

After the Mass, there were cookies, and snacks. Amela brought candies and balloons for the kids from MSS, and the show began. There was a nativity presentation, and then a singing/karaoke game with the mothers. A group of señoras got up, sang along to a song, and then when the speakers cut out they have to continue singing and try to remember work it goes. As hilarious as all this was, it was made even funnier by the fact that the whole time, Mary and Joseph from nativity scene, were still hanging out behind them in full costume. They stayed there through a group of mothers doing a traditional dance, and through a children's show. The little girls and boys all strutted up and down the stage with their fancy outfits on, and Amela was made the judge to pick the best dressed boy and girl to be the King and Queen.

After all the shows were performed, snacks were eaten, and presents were exchanged, the first Xmas party of the year came to a close. This is my first Christmas here in Ecuador, and with all the parties at Montanita Spanish School, and with our volunteer partners like the Finka, it has been quite the fiesta. More Christmas fun to come, stay tuned!

Beach Day in Montanita

We made quite the picture as we all walked down to the beach together all hand in hand; 40 primary school children from Montanita, 8 MSS students and 6 teachers from the Montanita Spanish School, and 5 of us staff member and some family that didn’t want to be left out of the fun. We were all heading to the beach for a game day with the Spanish school and a group of local children. The kids were so damn cute that I started snapping picture before we even made it to the beach. Some of our MSS teachers and students used the event as a learning opportunity and came down during the class hours reserved for “Language Application” to practice their Spanish. The kids aged from 7 to 13 years old and were so excited for a break from the normal routines of classes, and the chance to goof around with us extranjeros. We broke into smaller groups of about 8 niños with a few MSS students and a staff member to help with the Spanish. And then the fun began.

One group got a rope out and began a tug-of-war battle. On another part of the beach we set up 3-legged races and sack races. Further down, there were groups playing more traditional Ecuadorian games. The ninos and our Spanish teachers taught us the words to the song for the game in Spanish and we all joined in. We finished off the day with a giant game of Ameba Tag and El Gato y El Raton. I had forgotten how much energy kids that age have. After running and pulling and hopping around for 2 hours, I had bruises on my knees and my muscles were screaming. The niños who had been playing a lot harder then I had, were just screaming for more. After all the games had been played, and lunch had been eaten, we all grabbed hands again and escorted them back to school. Again, we must have made quite the picture; the same large group returning, but this time exhausted and completely covered in sand.

The Montanita Spanish School is not just committed to teaching Spanish right, but also being involved in the local community in a positive way. We do this through our volunteer program, and by having regular events, like this one, with our non-profit partners in the communities. It allows our students to really experience more of the amazing Ecuadorian culture, and our friends in the community to get to know us and our students. It was with these goals or community activism and cultural exchange in mind, we organized a day at beach to throw ourselves in the sand, practice Spanish, and be kids again.