Gardens and I have had a complicated relationship. The idea of a garden sounds really great in Michigan in May when its just warm enough to want to be outside but not so hot that weeding is a terrible chore. But as July approaches and temperatures in Mid-Michigan sore into the high 80s, my interests… Read More Local food in Ecuador – the power of grassroots organizing

Walking on to the site of a waste transfer station in the north part of Quito, the stench is almost overwhelming. I had heard a lot about this site from my partners at the Christian mission’s women’s program where I had been working the past few weeks and wanted to take a look for myself.… Read More Los recicladores—the most underappreciated people on the planet

I didn’t have a job when I graduated from Alma College. I still don’t. I bought a plane ticket to Ecuador in May and that was as far as I got in making any kind of plan. It wasn’t exactly the first time this had happened. In the summer of 2012, I had been awarded… Read More My post-graduation “plan”