I arrived in Ecuador two and half months ago for my Fulbright scholarship. I’ve spent most of this time organizing my research and becoming grounded in my new life in a new land, waiting for inspiration to write. I’ve learned, however, that I cannot wait for life to settle to start; life does not settle. So, I am starting, regardless.
This blog reflects my serendipitous yet persisting relationship with Ecuador first as a study abroad student, then as an intern for a conservation foundation, and now as a Fulbright scholar. I consider this experience serendipitous because I have no previous connection to this country until selecting a one-of-a-kind ecology study abroad program in 2019 which has led to ongoing relationships and opportunities for me to return. This platform has been a compilation of stories from past experiences showcasing the adventure and beauty of Ecuador. For this segment, however, I don’t want this blog to be superficial, breezing over the challenge for myself and others to live within the structure, culture, and ecosystem of this country. I want these stories to be real.
For congruency purposes, I’ll pick up where I left off - finishing my internship with Fundación EcoMinga and Quinde Warmi. For those new to this story, Fundación EcoMinga is a conservation foundation with 15 private reserves in Ecuador, mostly concentrated between Llanganates and Sangay national parks. One reserve, Cerro Candelaria, is a few kilometers hiking distance from the small community in Ecuador’s dream-like cloud forest, called El Placer. Almost a decade ago, Fundación EcoMinga approached some of the women in the community to provide homestays to researchers and students studying in the nearby reserve. Hence the women’s organization, Quinde Warmi, was born. I connected with both organizations while completing an independent research project on reforestation practices in the Cerro Candelaria reserve. During this project, I quickly learned that I lack the attention to detail necessary for monotonously collecting data on trees and I am more intrigued by the connection between people (particularly women) and nature. I returned through a grant from my master’s program (the Korbel School at the University of Denver) to dive deeper into Quinde Warmi. At the end of the six week internship, not only had I come to understand these powerful women and the perspective of the community on conservation efforts, but I was convinced to apply for a U.S. Fulbright award to extend my initial project to more communities across Ecuador.
Fast forward a year and I have arrived in Ecuador. Through the Fulbright program, I have received a grant for ten months from a combination of American and Ecuadorian government funds to do research on the impact of ecotourism on women empowerment and conservation. I am collaborating with two nonprofits from previous projects in the country, Fundación EcoMinga and Red Pakariñan. The latter is an association of communities in Southern Ecuador who support community-based tourism initiatives and projects for the empowerment of rural women. Their enthusiasm and knowledge supporting other rural communities led me to select the organization as my key affiliate partner for Fulbright. They are based in Cuenca, the third largest city in Ecuador located in the mountainous southern region of the country which has become my home base. Otherwise, I travel around Ecuador to different communities with community-driven ecotourism initiatives to understand whether and how these initiatives expand conservation efforts and influence women empowerment.
Organizing the project's purpose and grasping the cultural challenges with the initiatives has proved to be difficult in getting the research off the ground. Fortunately, Fulbright links a tight group of current scholars, professors, and alumni throughout Ecuador. Ten days after my arrival in-country, the Fulbright Commission hosted an orientation in Quito, where I met my other creative and driven colleagues in this year’s cohort. We instantly clicked over initial in-country experiences, especially those of us with research grants. In addition to conducting your own research, you may receive a Fulbright grant to teach English in different universities around the country. This cohort is a total of eleven scholars: five who teach English and six who conduct research, including myself. This year, research projects are environmentally-focused, including biological studies on frogs and water quality as well as agricultural projects.
In designing and implementing these projects, we, as researchers, face many barriers and are highly susceptible to the cultural differences which exist in Ecuadorian workplaces. Some of my friends had been in Ecuador for a few weeks to a month without communication from their affiliate professor or organization. Others have been waiting on delayed research permissions from Ecuadorian bureaucracies. Personally, my affiliates have provided me with minimal direction for my project, although I had hoped the purpose of the study would support their work. For these continual struggles, I admire each of my colleagues for their resilience, flexibility, and initiative and in sharing their struggles, I feel less alone.
One particularly helpful friend I met through Fulbright is Christina. Over the summer, the Fulbright Commission put us in contact as the two grantees living in Cuenca. Christina is a Fulbright scholar from last year, but her research is a critical part of her doctoral dissertation and she was unable to receive permission for her research, previously. Although this has slowed her dissertation, I am grateful she is still around. In the last few months, we decided to rent an apartment together in Cuenca and have navigated the difficulties of living in a new place. We’ve ventured out together to take public transportation, shop at fruterías, or local fruit and vegetable stores, and go to the climbing gym in town. Christina has also served as an important mentor for me as a researcher in the social sciences and as a previous grantee who has maneuvered the various cross-cultural elements which influence our projects.
Although Christina and the rest of the Fulbright community have proved to be essential resources, I still have struggled to manage the culture shock during the first two months. Initially, I was surprised that it hit me immediately after I deboarded the plane in Quito. I am confident in my Spanish, understand the culture, and I look Latina enough not to warrant constant stares. Yet, the difference with this trip in comparison to the other two times I had lived in Ecuador, is I have to do everything on my own.
For the first few weeks, I placed stress on myself to avoid not belonging. It was as if my previous knowledge of the culture and language did not allow me to mess up. Due to this, I felt personal pressure when I couldn’t speak well, did not understand restaurant culture (you seat yourself, then call out for service), or forgot to individually greet each person when I walked into a room. After some time, I realized this immense stress I was placing on myself. My experience has also been that Ecuadorians are friendly to foreigners—specifically foreigners from the Global North (i.e. White folks)—but for my purposes, I could ask for help and it would be received warmly. When I have, Ecuadorians have responded with kindness. They slowly explain directions or point out the grocery store aisle with alternative milks. I could not be more grateful for this element of their culture.
This has been especially apparent working with my affiliate organization, Red Pakariñan. While in Cuenca, I have been going into their office most days to chip away at organizing my research methods and to get to know the organization’s functions and the people. Eric Ochoa, the manager, has been my mentor providing suggestions for communities to visit and feedback on my methods whenever I request. Yet, he’s anything but serious. One afternoon during the holidays, he climbed up the creaking wooden stairs to the loft that is the shared office of Pakariñan with a bottle of Jaeger and Redbull and began handing out drinks. It was his attempt to encourage everyone into a mood for partying, because any holiday in this country is an excuse to drink and dance. I connected my phone to a speaker and turned the volume up on Bad Bunny’s latest album which sent him off singing the lyrics and dancing around the office. Eric tells me, however, that no one loves Bad Bunny as much as Dani. Daniela Avila is the only other coworker around my age, so we get along well and share the same passions for running, riding bikes, hiking, and any other outdoor adventures. She only stands about 5’2” or 3” tall, but her heart is one fit for a giant, along with her contagious laugh and open smile. She’s invited me to events and parties, up to her family’s estate outside of the city, and on bike rides so I may make friends and get to know Cuenca. There will certainly be many adventures to come.
Overall, living in Cuenca has been a delight. Christina and I rent a modern and spacious apartment just outside the city, but a half a block away from one of Cuenca’s river walks. There are four tributaries that run through Cuenca and the city has constructed gravel and paved multi-use paths with some parallel to protected bike lanes. These paths border green spaces, many initially lined with Eucalyptus trees, an invasive tree from Australia found across South America. Recently, however, the city has begun to replace these trees with native Ecuadorian saplings. Downtown Cuenca is made up of historic buildings, most restored to retain the old-world aesthetic, with restaurants and store fronts mixed with antique churches. For my Colorado friends, there are also a few microbreweries which have made me feel more at home. Although the city rounds out the top three largest in Ecuador, the culture is tranquil, blended with strokes of artsy and progressive. Combined with partially cloudy and sunny days that never drop below 65 degrees Fahrenheit nor above 78, it is simple to understand the reason this city is so charming.
For these reasons, nearly 10,000 expats have made it home and more are showing up each day. They are the cause of new coffee shops, chic bars, and breweries, but they also contribute substantially to gentrification. My new Ecuadorian friends in Cuenca have told me that housing has become more expensive and less cuencanos can afford to purchase homes or apartments in the boundaries of the city. In turn, this causes greater urban sprawl and more deforestation as the slopes of the Andes on the outskirts of the city are converted into farmland to support the livelihoods of the poorest cuencanos. Before they told me, I did not know international gentrification was a phenomenon in the way it is often described domestically. Yet there are many impacts the Global North has imposed on countries, like Ecuador, in the Global South. Many of us lack this awareness, but I hope my writing may illuminate some of our heavy impacts.
After about two months in Cuenca, I began my research on ecotourism, a positive impact those of us from the North may have on Ecuador and other similar countries. Ecotourism is a form of tourism centered around exploring the natural spaces of a destination in a manner that minimizes negative impact or even creates positive impact for the destination. True ecotourism should also integrate the customs of the local culture for tourists to experience and support. With many sustainability efforts today, however, ecotourism has been diluted to include many lodges which may feature a natural element—such as the beach—without being operationally sustainable. This often takes the form as zero waste, sustainable building materials, or minimal water use, among many other practices.
If organized with integrity, ecotourism can be an effective form of sustainable development at the community level. International tourists visit a destination to hike, learn about the local flora and fauna, and indulge in the local cuisine. Locals may become trained as nature guides or run sustainable hotels and restaurants. As a result, this may commoditize nature and augment the need to conserve it. This also creates employment opportunities for locals that preserve their natural environment rather than destroy it.
The intention of my project is to study the communities which have achieved success in community ecotourism. My project focuses on initiatives that maintain sustainable practices and are operated by the local community. I plan to visit about four to six communities with a form of a community cooperative ecotourism initiative in different parts of Ecuador from the coast to the Amazon and throughout the Andes. In these communities, I will get to know the people, the environment, and the practices the community keeps through the initiative. I intend to focus on the involvement (or lack thereof) of women in these ecotourism initiatives and the ways in which they contribute to conservation efforts. Towards the end of my grant period, I hope to return to each community along with my affiliate organizations and partners to provide workshops and other support in reciprocity for all they will provide me.
Although my initial time in Ecuador has been challenging to orient myself in the culture, I welcome the coming months as my research takes shape in beautiful environments across the country from the beach to the Amazon. I approach this research with an open heart and mind to listen deeply to each community's stories and to share them through this medium with all of you. Then, you must carry out your part and pass them on. Many Ecuadorians in small rural villages sing the lyrics to our songs and recite scenes from our movies, but what do we know of them? Our seafood, petroleum, and candy bars take away their precious resources for little compensation, and we remain ignorant. Through reading and sharing these stories, I hope we can all extend compassion to fellow human beings and witness their struggles and successes as our own. Let them serve as reminders that through our oceans, the air we breathe, and our infinite night sky we are all interconnected. And we owe a little more love to one another no matter where we exist on this very special planet.