Day 6 - Una Minga

Today marked the greatest day of the program so far as we constructed the playground and had great success with the computer lessons in Santa Ana.

The computer project went much smoother today (pictured above). Despite the many technical problems yesterday, the computers functioned perfectly today. The instructors in our group became accustomed to the foreign programming and felt at ease in explaining their lessons. All of the attendees were able to make their own email addresses and learned to operate Google. Many of them created Facebook accounts or learned to improve that experience. I know many of the kids here have already received emails from many of the residents of Santa Ana. That correspondence further cements the bonds of partnership that have already been created in our time here. Both sides have gained so much through this experience.

We’ll be making our third and final trip to Santa Ana Sunday to present them with the computers that we brought with us. The training has taken place in nearby Concepcion because the furniture company wasn’t able to deliver the proper equipment to hold the lessons in Santa Ana. However, next week, after we have returned to Quito, the town will be able to fully install the computers that the city of Bowling Green donated and Gene Iglehart programmed for them.

As for me, I had one of the most humbling days of my life.

First, I should make it clear that we didn’t just make a park today. I played with the kids there for hours. We played tag and I realized how out of shape I was after I remained sucio (dirty) for five minutes, unable to tag someone to become limpio (clean). They also enjoyed wrestling…

before

after

We took off around 7 a.m. this morning to greet the construction workers from Technowsiss. Once we got to Santa Ana, we immediately began unloading the truck with many pre-assembled pieces. Then we started digging in order to erect the two towers that came with the playground set. I know I’m supposed to act like it was easy work with the motivation of an entire town behind us, but those towers were certainly heavy and those holes were particularly deep! It was well worth it though as piece by piece fell into place, especially with Wade Haga making sure everything remained level.

Wade Haga

Hand in hand, the men of Santa Ana and our team for the park project worked to erect this park that had existed in only our minds for months. There is an old word that dates back to ancient Andean culture for this called una minga. It means community work. 

My favorite interaction is when one of the local men offered us some trago de caña, otherwise known as moonshine, to speed the process along. 

trago de caña, Ecuadorian moonshine

As we hammered nails and screwed in screws, I couldn’t believe how tangible our dream had become. All the nights spent worrying about failure and all the scrapped plans seemed so distant as the kids started jumping on the columpios (swings) and resbaladeras (slides). It was impossible to believe this started as an idea to smuggle pieces of wood in our suitcases to build a couple of benches.

Hand in hand, the men of Santa Ana and our team for the park project worked to erect this park that had existed in only our minds for months. There is an old word that dates back to ancient Andean culture for this called una minga. It means community work. My favorite interaction is when one of the local men offered us some trago de caña, otherwise known as moonshine, to speed the process along. As we hammered nails and screwed in screws, I couldn’t believe how tangible our dream had become. All the nights spent worrying about failure and all the scrapped plans seemed so distant as the kids started jumping on the columpios (swings) and resbaladeras (slides). It was impossible to believe this started as an idea to smuggle pieces of wood in our suitcases to build a couple of benches.

Before we left, one of the men thanked us for coming and partnering with them. He told me that it meant so much to Santa Ana to have this opportunity. He closed by saying, “Siempre, las puertas de Santa Ana están abiertas a ustedes.” (Always, the doors of Santa Ana are open to you all.)

He has no idea how thankful I am for the opportunity to help, though it didn’t stop me from trying to explain.

There is a beautiful phrase in Spanish for all my hopes for the community of Santa Ana:

Ojalá que la gente de Santa Ana disfrutare este parque por siempre. [God willing, they will enjoy this park forever.]

Nick Bratcher