The Journey of a Friendly Giant

Cerro Blanco is a part of Bird Life international and is considered an important area because of its several bird species that are critically endangered and rely on its environment.  For those that do not know him, Eric Horstman, my boss, is extremely passionate about nature and its protection.   “I have personally noticed his love for birds. He often attends international conferences, and has developed quiet a name for himself through several different international networking events.” -Tania Rios, supervisor at Cerro Blanco Yellow tailed Oriole  Two years ago, Eric received a message from a woman named Jane Johnson. She was in the process of completing a children’s book about a Grey Cheeked Parakeet that they owned named Tangerine. He was happy to help Jane Johnson with anything that she needed to know about the bird. After a few months of emailing back and forth, Jane and her husband Clifford Johnson finally decided to visit Cerro Blanco to see the colorf...

This passed week has been the week of connections and discoveries. When it comes to my plans for Puerto Hondo, the community I am working with, I’ve met many people that have inspired me to think BIGGER. It all began with an Ecuadorian friend of mine, Raquel, who owns a small NGO consulting organization here in Guayaquil. When she told me about her organization a few months ago, I instantly offered my help if she ever needed any volunteers. Her few months of silence led me to believe that help wasn’t something that she required. Nevertheless, to my surprise she called me one evening after work and asked for a strange favor. “Can Lindsay and you go to Bucay to do some food tasting please?” My love for food forced me to instantly agree with excitement. The conversation was very short because she had a meeting to attend; she thanked me for the favor and quickly hung up. After my happy dance was finished, I began to realize that I had absolutely no idea exactly what I was doing for her. ...

Patience is definitely something I´ve learned and developed at a young age. In fact I’m pretty sure it´s my mother´s favorite word! Though in the past this annoyed me, I now see the value in learning how to be patient,  patiently . Some people understand the concept of patience, but they simply cannot wait to see the positive outcome of their patience, with patience. I always remind myself to wait, everybody has a pace, and mine may normally be much faster, however, it doesn’t mean it´s better. Learning to wait can only bring positive things, especially when it comes to international development and capacity building. I'm focusing on establishing relationships within the community that I´m working in before jumping into workshops. Slowly but surely I am getting a short debrief of the issues some of the women are facing individually. I have been documenting this and will keep my eyes wide open for any patterns in answers, and that will inspire the topic of my first workshop. I will...

When everything around you is suddenly unrecognizable, different, new and sometimes strange, fear is usually the first reaction. Fear of the unknown is often inevitable; When I arrived to the City of Guayaquil in Ecuador, I was scared out of my mind for three reasons:  1.      I was by myself. My partner Lindsay, can't join me in Ecuador for a full month after my arrival.  2.      The length of this trip ( 6 months ) exceeds any trip I’ve eve  taken in my whole life. 3.      It was real now, after all of the training and preperation, it was time to dive into ecaudor and see if I will sink or swim.  To help with my jitters my nose was stuck in my book "The Alchemist". I left from Toronto airport around 3pm, stopped at Bogota Columbia, where I had a 2 hour layover. I decided to scan through a few stores in the airport and found the Spanish version of the book I was reading "El Alquimista" I took it as an op...