Dear InterConnection,

As one of the organizations that have benefited from the services of Interconnection we are pleased to share with you these results as well as  tell you about our plans for the future. 

The Chimborazo Foundation is a legally registered Ecuadorian NGO whose seven members offer their services free of charge to the Quichuan speaking Puruhae people who inhabit the Plant & Wildlife Reserve of Mt. Chimborazo. Fourteen Puruhae communities have been organizing and preparing themselves for the past four years to be co-managers of this 56,000 hectare Park area with Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment. Our Foundation has been supporting these efforts through training and the implementation of a variety of community development projects.

The programs include conservation, education, ecotourism, and employment generation. Activities have included the construction of potable waters systems, irrigation systems, a bridge, electricity for two communities, community buildings and schools. Alpacas have been re-introduced, sheep raising improved and cuy raising supported. Twenty young natives have been trained and licensed by the Ministry as nature guides. Five women have been trained in preventive health and the use of medicinal plants. Two women’s weaver’s cooperatives have been organized and equipped and are successfully operating. 

The website has become a very important resource for the communities of Pulingui San Pablo and Chorrera Mirador Alto as a source of information to share what they have accomplished and the services they offer.  Because of the website a Canadian High School twinned itself with the communities and contributed money to build a classroom when the school had two teachers but no building of its own. The Rotary Club of Barrie, Canada confirmed their support for the irrigation project after become better informed through the website. Numerous tourists have gotten into contact and visited the area after finding out about the ecotourism services offered by the communities.

As this area becomes a better-known destination for tourism the website will become an increasingly important resource for communicating and coordinating with tourists who wish to visit. The 70 native women organized in the two weaver cooperatives are working hard to improve the quality of their handicrafts that they have been selling to national tourists. The acquisition of alpacas and the potential of the vicuna wool from the free roaming vicuna on the mountains hold out the promise of producing for the international market. It is hoped that should the website develop e-commerce then these products can be marketed through it.  The website has been used as an important email exchange for communication with children in schools in the United States (Truitt Middle School in Dallas and St. Mark’s School in Houston) and Canada (Pearson Collegiate in Victoria, B.C.) and holds a great deal of potential in this regard.  

The Puruhae communities of Chimborazo are part of a growing native movement in Latin America that are gaining prominence because of their insertion in national life in their respective communities. Interconnection can play an important role at this time in the networking of these native peoples by providing an Internet site and services.

It has only been 30 years since the Puruhae of Chimborazo were liberated from the hacienda system and began receiving an education and participating actively in Ecuador’s society and public life. It is an important time to be supporting their efforts and the Internet is proving an essential resource, which is accessible to them. It is our hope that Interconnection will continue to offer its important web hosting services and that it will find the support to expand the services being offered.

In Solidarity,
Thomas J. Walsh
Executive Director.