Start of an Adventure

I'm in Miami right now! We start staging today.

On Wednesday, tomorrow, I will leave the US to live in Ecuador and serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer or PCV. I will be working specifically on Youth Entrepreneurship, and I can't wait. Like a lot of things in the PC, I won't know what that means until I start and give it meaning. But for right now, I know our mission is three fold:

1. Youth Stewardship to increase self-esteem and improve education; volunteers sponsored youth workshops to build leadership sills and self-esteem and train young people in HIV/AIDS prevention and sex education.
2. Community and Organizational Development to increase the capacity of communities to address the needs of youth and families.
3. Prevention to better equip youth and families to deal with life's challenges.

Once we get to Ecuador, we will spend three months in Cayambe, Ecuador (mountain town!!). I will live with a host family in the area, get immersed through the family and receive language, cultural and technical training. We swear-in as official PCVs on August 19th!

This blog is to keep in contact with the people who have impacted my life, to meet new people, and to hopefully inspire and share with those I don't know. Please read as often or little as you like and let me know what you think/ want to hear more about/ don't care about/ or give me inspiring words of wisdom and creative ideas.

Before leaving the states, I met several people connected to Ecuador. Among them, I would like to tell you about two who have already inspired me. Jorge, a salsa partner, is from Ecuador, came to the US and now owns his own carpet cleaning company. His sister and brother (among lots of other family) live in Quito and are entrepreneurs. His brother worked at Good Times in the US, and when he went back to Ecuador, started his own hamburger stand! Man, talk about having entrepreneurship in your blood, I wonder if this is a common characteristic! Penny, the stewardess on my flight to Miami, does non-profit work in Ecuador and now works building primary schools in Guatemala. We talked about the challenges in the area and PCVs opportunities and responsibilities.

I don't know what my internet situation will be in Ecuador, but I will try my best to post regularly. Thanks for all the kind words of wisdom, gifts and thoughts before I left!!