Vinculación con la Comunidad - ¡Sé un PAT!

PAT en la Comunidad

PATs son estudiantes universitarios (pregrado, posgrado), quienes se inmersan en la comunidad y proponen alternativas de desarrollo basados ​​en sus fortalezas y potencialidades para obtener: un proceso participativo, colaborativo, holístico, integral e inclusivo que conduzca a cambios positivos y concretos, al mismo tiempo creando colaboración, identidad, voz, reducción de pobreza, conservación del ambiente, estabilización de las economías locales y aumento de la participación comunitaria.

Las pasantías comunitarias consisten en la realización de un trabajo de campo a través de la interacción del estudiante con una comunidad o grupo, a los que se vincula gracias a la relación de éstos con una ONG o con el estado, además de aquellos con los que la Universidad tiene convenio, a la vez que se participa de un proceso formativo como Facilitador social. 

El trabajo propuesto por Chacay es que el estudiante una vez conozca la realidad de la comunidad, deberá corresponder con sus conocimientos teóricos, metodológicos y técnicos propios de su disciplina y debe ser conocido por el representante de la organización quien podrá hacer sugerencias para adecuar el proyecto a las necesidades del contexto. 

La diferencia de este tipo de pasantías con las institucionales está en que el desarrollo del trabajo propuesto implica indispensablemente un proceso formativo, que le habilite para el trabajo de intervención social y el desarrollo de propuestas de inclusión y participación social, donde la interacción con los diferentes actores participantes del proyecto es requisito fundamental en la formulación y desarrollo del mismo.  

Objetivos

- Brindar a los estudiantes la oportunidad de aportar socialmente desde la óptica de Smart Destination a  un campo y situación específicos desarrollando una práctica social acompañada. 

- Desarrollar en los pasantes habilidades de trabajo integral y holístico para la intervención social, tales como metodologías de investigación participativa, trabajo en equipo, liderazgo, análisis de contexto.

Son condiciones 

 a)    cumplir con las calidades que particularmente establezca la dependencia de la Universidad, o la entidad con la cual haya suscrito el convenio (Capacitación breve en desarrollo sostenible, smart destination e innovación rural)

b)    Contar con un anteproyecto aprobado por el Comité Verde de la Comunidad y con la respectiva facultad
c)    Contar con un tiempo mínimo de 2 semanas.

Requisitos 

• Cumplir con los requerimientos que particularmente establezca la dependencia de la Universidad y la ONG con la cual haya suscrito el convenio, así como tener la disponibilidad de tiempo en el horario propuesto por la organización.

• No tener compromisos laborales durante el mismo semestre que interfieran con su trabajo en la comunidad.

• Cumplir estrictamente las fechas fijadas por su facultad para la entrega de informes. Trabajar los informes en los formatos publicados en el programa al que pertenece.

• Una vez aprobado el anteproyecto, construir el cronograma que posibilitará el desarrollo del mismo y discutirlo con su tutor(a) asignado.

• Entregar informe final (versión digital) de Vinculación comunitaria a la ONG y socializar los resultados con la comunidad intervenida, así como una copia en medio electrónico a la Oficina de Desarrollo Humano, previo a la sustentación en el respectivo programa académico o publicación de dicho documento.

• Trabajar máximo dos (2) personas por tema o area.

• Mantener una comunicación permanente con  la coordinación de trabajos de grado de su programa académico, con el Director del proyecto de Grado y con Chacay Staff

ONG – Vinculadas

Inscríbase a chacayfoundation@gmail.com

Agentes de Transformación, Un video que demuestra el recorrido del PAT desde el 2012.

First weekend in Ecuador

Buenas dias de Ecuador!
Good morning from Ecuador!

I have officially been in Ecuador 1 whole week, and I have absolutely loved it! I have tried A LOT of new fruit and food, begun learning my way around Ceci's neighborhood, and learned a lot about what to and not to do when interacting with an Ecuadorian.
We had a three day weekend this past weekend, and were able to use our time well by exploring Historic Quito, the Indigenous market at Otavalo, the lake of San Pablo, and the City at the Middle of the World! Here's a little bit about our adventures - I hope you enjoy it! :)

Friday - 26/5/17
This past Friday was a holiday in Ecuador as it was the celebration of the Battle of Pichincha (which actually took place on May 24th, 1882).  Pinchincha is a volcano near Quito, and is the site where the battle for Quito's independence was fought. Hence, the need to celebrate each year! Most offices and businesses were closed, so Ceci and I headed to Quito Colonial for some sightseeing. One thing that I learned very quickly during my first week in Quito is that you can take a bus or trolley anywhere, as long as you know where you're going. The buses  cost around $0.25 and go all over the place, while the trolley's cost about the same and only go north and south (I think ...). However, they both carry a lot of people, probably way more than comfort, and can cause you to question how much space a person genuinely needs.

We took a trolley to Historic Quito, and once there were able to see a small parade of all the local police forces, watch youth protest (what I am not completely sure), and visit the many sites including a very famous plaza, a couple of beautiful churches, and the many street vendors selling everything from fruit and ice cream to drain strainers for your kitchen sink (crazy, right?!). After visiting Historic Quito, we ventured about 30 minutes out of Quito to have lunch with Ceci's family who was incredibly welcoming and sympathetic to my less than great Spanish.
Favorite memories:
- Taking my first (of many) tourist pictures with the statue commemorating Ecuadorian independence at the Plaza de Independencia and taking another with a quote from Ecuadorian author, Pablo Palacio (No, not Pablo Picasso, Mom)
- Visting the Iglesia de San Francisco and watching children (and Ceci) play with the pigeons out front
- Buying my first mangos verdes con sal (Green Mangoes with Salt!) from a street vendor to try!

Saturday - 27/5/17
On Saturday, Madeline (a friend from Venezuela) and I, spent the day at in Otavalo at one of South America's largest and most spectacular indigenous markets, and this is one of those places which is hard to describe. The market encompasses the majority of the town square, and then some, and is filled with vendors selling almost everything. Need a spoon for your lunch that you bought? Got it. Need a bag or bucket to carry all your purchases in? Got it. We walked around for a good majority of the day, found lunch in town at a small restaurant called Poutin, had some gourmet french fries and headed toward's Otavalo's other market - their animal market. Now, Madeline and I both bonded over our former pet guinea pigs and our love of animals, so this was a fairly awful idea as this was a market to purchase animals to eat. We fortunately spent too much time at the other market, and the animal market was almost closed so we weren't exposed to too many things we didn't want to see. Enough said. Following our adventures through Otavalo, we took a bus to a smaller town called San Pablo and walked to the Lago de San Pablo. This lake was spectacular! Sitting right next to a volcano, the Lake of San Pablo was absolutely stunning. We only spent a couple of hours at the lake since we were dead tired, and eventually headed back to Otavalo to catch a bus back to Quito.

Favorite memories:
- Taking a 2 hour bus ride from Quito to Otavalo (and back) through Quito's hills and valleys (P.S. They play movies for you too!)
- Bargaining for the first time for a blanket and poncho at the Otavalo market
- Buying a coconut! They're sold in carts which walk up and down the street. When you buy one, they shave all the brown skin off, cut a hole in the top, and give you a straw. You get to drink the milk of the coconut AND eat the actual thing. So crazy!
- Taking a boat ride through the Lake of San Pedro and feeling the wind and water splash in your face
- Eating banana empanadas and sharing a scary looking fish with Madeline for lunch

Sunday - 28/5/17
For our adventure today, Madeline and I ventured to the City at the Middle of the World (Ciudad mitad del mundo). This is a HUGE tourist attraction in Ecuador as it is the GPS location of the actual Equator. Here one is able to stand in both hemispheres at once, see crazy demonstrations about gravity at the equator, and, of course, take a lot of pictures. We first visited the Museum of Intinan (museo del intiñan) at the recommendation of Ceci, and here you will find the actual GPS located Equator, along with several lessons about the Amazon and the local people. It was super cool to do all the experiments and experience the equator in different ways like balancing an egg on the top of a nail, walking along a straight line between the two hemispheres, and a water demonstration where the water spins different ways on both sides of the Equator. After visiting this museum, we went to the actual monument which is less than a block away, and was enacted by the French explorers when they first began studying the equator in Ecuador. However, after some advancements in technology, it was discovered that this wasn't the actual equator, but it was too late as the monument had already been made (and it's huge!). At the actual monument, there are more tourist attractions such as a lot of stores, restaurants, llamas, different museums, and even cultural dances in the plaza. Both attractions ended up taking quite a bit of time, and we ended up leaving later in the afternoon, just as exhausted as we were at the end of the day before.

Favorite memories: 
- Visiting the Museum of Intinan, having a small and interactive tour group, and getting to see all the Equator demonstrations!
- Having lunch at the actual monument and getting to try llapingachos (a traditional Ecuadorian dish)!
- Missing our bus stop on the way home and taking the craziest taxi ever (Literally, he was crazy. Drove like an insane person and almost got in a fight with another driver)

MDP, immersion in Ecuador 2017

The Agents of Transformation Program (PAT) of the BCF implements innovative, groundbreaking projects for university students who lay the foundation for Smart Destinations. Programs range from three weeks to three months, and target marginalized communities in the Amazon, the Sierra, the Costa (coast) and on the Galapagos Islands. These personalized training programs introduce participants to community leaders and equip them in the following areas: 

• Stakeholder mapping and analysis
• Community strength-based assessment
• Train-the-trainer curriculum design (methodology to introduce best practices)
• Application of technology to promote and conserve local destinations. 

Outcomes, based on investing in the Seven capitals (human, sociocultural, physical, natural, culture, politics and economic), promoting smarter and greener businesses; community leaders and high school students as agents of transformation; and ecotourism that generates opportunities for development in each of the seven capitals.

Our agents of transformation program creates opportunities for young people to:

• Develop the skills to develop and implement practical alternatives for development
• Explore the different aspects of development in an emerging market economy context
• Develop Spanish language proficiency through cultural immersion
• Work on Smart Destinations through innovative applications of technology
• Implement workshops to invest in developing and promoting Ecuador as a global destination for ecotourism

Live, learn, give, experience, enjoy, and share with peers in Ecuador. FIND OUT MORE

Considering all above, we welcome SARAH  WHITLOCK and CECILIA GUERRERO, MDP Program from Regis University, CO, USA.

Currently agendas:

Week Itinerary Immersion program 

1. Week 1. Adaptation and Orientation Component (culture, language, altitude and cultural organisation  in Quito

• Local tours (excursions to Quito Colonial, Mitad de Mundo, Otavalo, El teleferico)
• Integration activities with local interns (cooking, climbing, biking, planning) 
• Introduction and workshops with local academia.

Week 2. Community Project Planning Component (Quito)

• Curriculum Design for Smart Community Initiative education directed to local stakeholders (Public, Private, Civil, Media and Academic).
• Identification, negotiation and setting agreements with local communities