Kentucky-Ecuador Partners Honored
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 14, 2009) -- Partners of the Americas has awarded the 2009 “It Started with an Exchange” Award to the Kentucky-Ecuador Partners. The Partners of America chapter, which has been headquartered at the University of Kentucky since 1969, was recognized for its community development work in Jatun Molino, Pastaza, Ecuador.
“This model of sustained involvement with Jatun Molino has provided the opportunity to develop deep friendships and a level of understanding and appreciation that would not have been possible under other circumstances,” said Kentucky-Ecuador Partners Executive Director Kay Roberts, who also serves as the community liaison for the UK Office of International Affairs.
The Partners relationship with Ecuadorian rainforest communities dates back to the 1990s, when Joe Molinaro, a professor of art at Eastern Kentucky University, began researching pottery of the Ecuadorian Amazon and produced a documentary with Partners funding. A 2004 exchange forged a relationship that has grown into a multi-faceted community development program in Jatun Molino.
Molinaro and Roberts, along with Quito volunteer Miguel Castanel, have sought ways to address the needs of communities involved in the partnership. In addition to exploring alternative firing techniques for pottery produced by rural women, this group also led Kentucky-Ecuador Partners in undertaking various other activities, including collecting pottery for the “Sponsor a Pottery Village” project, developing a budget to repair the water system, establishing a fund for medical emergencies and coordinating other fundraising activities.
In 2005, when an unidentified illness killed several people in rainforest communities, National Geographic produced a television program on the Jatun Molino outbreak. Molinaro joined the team as cultural consultant, and Castanel joined as logistics coordinator. The two helped ensure that the project was carried out in a culturally appropriate way and did not intrude on the personal lives of the grief-stricken residents who had suffered grave losses.
In addition to providing hands-on assistance, volunteers held two Kentucky exhibits of cultural items from various Ecuadorian indigenous groups, with support from a Partners assistance grant. Ultimately, another exchange developed when more Kentucky volunteers, as well as pottery artisans from California, traveled to Jatun Molino to follow up on the established projects.
At that time, the community of Jatun Molino identified a solar panel for their school as a primary need, so Castanel designed the system and developed a budget while Kentucky Partners raised funds. U.S. students studying in Ecuador, including study abroad participants from the UK Honors Program and their program director Larry Grabau, worked together with Partners members taking supplies to Ecuador. Items were then transported to Jatun Molino by bus, truck and canoe. Castanel and community residents built a platform and installed the solar panel in the summer of 2009. The panel now powers two computers and a printer for the school.
Future plans for Jatun Molino include technology assistance as well as science and environmental education.
“This experience serves as a reminder that community development is addressing local issues by listening and then acting responsibly,” said Roberts.
The University of Kentucky sponsors the state's official relationship with Ecuador, Kentucky-Ecuador Partners, through the non-profit umbrella organization Partners of the Americas. Founded in 1964, Partners of the Americas links U.S. states with Latin American and Caribbean countries in partnerships that use the energy and skills of citizen volunteers, their institutions and communities to address shared concerns of social, economic and cultural development. Partners volunteers and professional staff build on this fabric of enduring linkages to mount a wide array of activities and programs. Their work covers areas as diverse as emergency preparedness, agriculture, cultural exchange, domestic violence prevention and strengthening of local governments. Partners of the Americas is a private, non-profit and non-partisan organization. Kentucky-Ecuador Partners was founded in 1964, and the University of Kentucky has supported the chapter as one of its global initiatives since 1969.