The Lucknow Sentinel, 1985-04-17, Page 11Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, April 17, 1985—Page 11
Arearesident adapted to Equadoran lifestyle
Btv Alan Rivett
Ever wonder what it's like to live in a
foreign country and adapt to a different
language and culture? Heather Stanley, a
Lucknow area native, experienced a
completely different lifestyle while living.
and working among the people of Equador.
Heather, the daughter of Ray and Helen
Stanley, returned home March 18 after
staying for four months with the
Cayancela-Morales family as part of an
exchange program. She lived on the
family's farm in the mountains near
Caluma, a small village in the Province of
Bolivar in tiny South American country.
The exchange program was arranged
through the Canada World Youth"organiza-
tion which is funded by the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA )
and sends young people to 15 - 18 third
world countries. Heather said the program
worked on a counterpart system with seven
Canadian participants and a group leader
paired with an equal number of Equador-
ans. Heather was paired with Lilia Santos
Diaz, who lived in the city of Machela in
Equador.
After finishing grade 13 • at Kincardine
District High School, Heather said ' she
wanted to look intp a non -formal mode of
education: After doing some research she
came across the Canada • World Youth
organization. Soon after an interview in
Toronto which she describes as "pretty
tough", Heather was informed of her
acceptance into the program. '
The Equadorans came to Canada for the
first leg of the exchange in North Bay in
August. While in North Bay, Heather and
Lilia, along with the seven other pairs,
were assigned to work in a crisis centre and
on a farm, housing alcoholics. They also
visited the NORAD centre in North Bay.
As part of the exchange, Fridays were
designated as group activity day. The,pairs
of counterparts would discuss important
issues such as unemployment, social serv-
ices and .peace and disarmament.
Canadian Customs
The Equadorans were surprised at a
number of Canadian customs. Heather said
they were particularly impressed with our
ice cream and chocolate. They have it in
Equador but it's different. They were also
surprised with the amount of paper we
waste. She said the paper is expensive over
there so it isnot wasted.
.The bus system in Canada was also
impressive to the Equadorans. Heather
said in Equador the buses are much shorter
and are always packed With people going to
the cities.
The exchange shifted to. Equador in
November. While there, Heather worked
in a medical centre and taught at a school
in Caluma. She decided to go on the
exchange to Equador to become more
fluent lin Spanish, the language spoken in
the country.
Her duties at the medical centre
included treating people with skin rashes
caused from coming in contact with the
poisonous rivers in The area. She says there
"was a lot of malaria caused by mosquitoes
carrying the disease.',She also bandaged
wounds from machetes used to cut through
the dense underbrush. Her most memor-
able chore while at the medical centre,
however, was the delivery of a baby.
Taught English
The people were appreciative of the
English she taught to school children at a
school in Caluma. They consider English to
be the universal language as many of the
products they use Dome from North Amer-
ica. Heather says she once had to assemble
an instrument for a dentist in the village
• because the instructions were in English.
"They really learned it well," says
Heather. "They wanted to learn it so they
could talk to us. They learned greetings,
the days of the week, the months of the
year and some conversational English."
The language barrier was definitely one
of the most difficult aspects of living in
• Equador, says Heather. The first while was
spent repeating words and phrases before
learning basic conversational Spanish.
"It is amazing how you can learn to say
things in simple form by using the words
over and over again," she says. "You have,
to learn basic conversation to survive and it
was a good place to use the language.
Probably years and years of school
wouldn't make you speak it as well as
going to the country."
Saturdays in Caluma were set aside for a
Mingas, she says. This is when the ,com-
munity gets together to work on a project.
Some Saturdays were spent in San Pablo
de Pita, a small city eight kilometres from
Caluma, building a bridge. Other Satur-
days were spent picking coffee beans and
cocoa on area farms.
Heather's Equadoran family had a small
Heather Stanley, daughter of Ray and Helen Stanley, retained home Mardi 18 from a fear
month exdkaage trip to Equador. Shebrought back with her many souvenirs and
hits, including a pan flute which she fa holding. Heather is also wearing an
embroidered dress n nde in Equador. (Photo by Alan Rivett)
farm, growing fruits • such as bananas and
oranges as well as coffee beans and cocoa.
There were 58 members of the extended
family living in four houses.
One observation she made while staying
in Equador was the unstructured life style
of the people. Meals would be served
anywhere between 5 to 10 p.m. with
breakfast being between 6 to 9 a.m. School
would start between 7.30 and 8.30 a.m.
and dismissal time would vary. Traffic in
the cities was unrestricted by stop signs
and speed limits.
"Everything was a much slower pace
(than in Canada), she says. " `There was no
rushing to get some place at a certain time.
There were no clocks over there."
Bananas And Rice
Bananas and rice were the staple foods
eaten by the Equadorans. There are
potatoes and other fruits available but they
were too expensive. The food was usually
wrapped in corn husks and cooked on a
wood barbeque or a propane hot plate with
two burners. She said some of the other
people on the exchange had -stomach
problems adjusting to the food, • but they
soon got used to it.
Heather says she soon realized that
Equador wouldn't offer all the ammenities
of home. The house where she lived was
made of bamboo held off the ground by
stilts. The room which she and Lilia shared
was over a pig pen.
"It was hard to cope with at first," she
says. "For the first threedays the whole
group from the exchange was together.
Whenwe went to the country you just
didn't know what to do. You thought -of
home; you thought "what am I doing
here", but I would never give up. You get
used to emptying your shoes to make sure
there are no scorpions in them."
Third World Country
As Equador is a third world, underdevel-
oped country, there is an abundance of
poverty. While visiting the city. of Kito,
Heather said she saw families living in dirt
houses throughout the city. There were
also a lot of beggars on the streets.
Malnutrition was also a common problem
she encountered at the medical centres.
The Equadorans couldn't believe the
size of . Canada when they were told
Equador was one/fifth the size of Ontario,
she says. The size of houses also amazed
them. Most Equadorans are also under the
misconception that Canada is perpetually
cold. •
"One of the kids at the school said if you
spit, it turns to ice," she said.
Equador is split into three regions. The
sierra region is the mountainous section of
the country while the orienta is jungle like
and remains mostly underdeveloped. The
coastal region is where most of the
population lives, she says. The weather is
always hot since the country lies on the
equator. At Christmas time the tempera-
ture reached 91 degrees.
Heather says it was hard to leave the
community and the family with the
knowledge she would never see them
again. She was, however, glad to be home.
"I missed having hot water and I missed
Mom's butterscotch pies," she says.
Heather says she will continue to keep in
contact' with her exchange counterpart,
Lilia. She plans , on attending Conestoga
College in Kitchener. for Nursing.,
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