Ahora es Ecuador!

It's day 5 of my Ecuadorian adventure. It's incredible how much can happen in such a short space of time. To sum up the last five days into a blog post...ah where to begin...so much change in such a short amount of time!
Well firstly, its HOT. And I mean sticky, sticky hot. 33 degrees at least and 75% humidity. And we haven't even hit March yet which is the hottest month in Guayaquil, the city I am living in. I have arrived at the hottest time of the year, but locals call it 'winter' because it's the rainy season, and well, there is no winter here!
So there will be showers of rain, thunder and then intense sun on and off the whole day. I feel like I'm adjusting to the warmth pretty well, i hear the words from a book by Ruhiyyah Khanum, 'People in the west pay so much money for sauna's, when in the tropics you can live in one for free!'
The warmth of this place is matched by the people. Friendly, warm-hearted and out-going.
Since arriving here on Wednesday it has been bang bang bang, busy straight away! Meetings with script-writers writing the next series of films for the project, consultations with the production team, rehearsals with the actors for the project, and tomorrow we begin filming the next installment.
What is this 'project' you may be wondering. It's called 'Medios para la Transformacion' - Media for Transformation. It was born out of consultations at the Baha'i World Centre about the role of Media and Social Change. The project here in Ecuador is working at a grass-roots level with the people of Chongon, a poor rural area outside the large city of Guayaquil, in creating a deeper discourse and reflection on various social issues that affect them, by using the mediums of video and other art forms such as posters and theatre, and then providing community forums where the video is presented and a dialogue begins.

The project has been running for just under one year already. My role is slowly evolving each day, today I helped direct and train the actors as well as consult with the producers about the overall running of the project.

This is the first stage of the film forums, so there is a lot more learning to be had about engaging the community of Chongon more, especially in the forums, finding ways to really get them reflecting on the issues...I'll be experiencing my first forum this Friday night, can't wait!

It's getting late so thats all for now, we're up early tomorrow filming at a near-by farm. I hope to write a lot more questions and learnings on here, and for you to share your thoughts too!
Hasta pronto!