The Listening Project - Field Visit Report Ecuador

The Listening Project organized a two-week field effort in Ecuador in February and March of 2008. None of this could have been accomplished without the help and collaboration of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) - Ecuador, in an organizing/hosting role, plus the following organizations: CARE International - Ecuador, Christian Children’s Fund (CCF-Ecuador), Kindernothilfe (KNH), the Observatorio de la Cooperacio´n al Desarrollo en el Ecuador (represented by Ciudad - Centro de Investigaciones) and Plan International Ecuador. These organizations provided a significant part of the funds, staff, and other in-kind support (vehicles, logistical help, etc.) to the effort, and CDA provided two national consultants and one international consultant to facilitate this Listening Exercise.

Three groups of listeners, each composed of a facilitator and staff from the participating NGOs, visited three chosen areas of Ecuador, respectively: Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, and Esmeraldas. Chimborazo and Cotopaxi are both highland provinces with large numbers of indigenous villages that are linked politically and economically to towns and cities populated largely by mestizos. Esmeraldas is a lowland, coastal province, populated primarily by people of African descent, plus a much smaller population of urban whites and rural indigenous people.