“Ecuador ama la vida”
The official motto of Ecuador translates to “Ecuador loves life” and this could not be a more appropriate way of describing this beautiful yet underrated country. Fun Fact: Ecuador upholds the concept of “universal citizenship” — where they believe that everyone that has stepped into their country should enjoy the same rights as their citizens. This is also why Ecuador is mostly visa-free for most international citizens, and has been receptive in the face of the Venezuelan crisis, absorbing more than 500,000 migrants since January 2018 (almost 4,000 a day). (Source)
A little bit more about Ecuador and Quito:
- At an elevation of 2,850m above sea level, Quito is the second highest official capital city and is almost as, if not higher than the tallest mountain in Germany. Acclimatising there was initially a challenge since walking upslope for even 5 minutes left us utterly breathless due to the altitude!
- Although Ecuador is largely considered a developing country (about 21.5% of the population live below the poverty live), I was pleasantly surprised by the infrastructure in Quito and even the security in the city compared to neighbouring countries.
- We learnt quickly that “Cash is King” and it was really challenging to break a 100 USD bill at most establishments which I would attribute to history. (As it is, ATM limits stand at 600USD) More importantly, there is an interesting story on how the dollarization in Ecuador came about in 2000 which you can read more about here.
- “Cuy” (Guinea Pig) is a famed delicacy in Peru and Ecuador. How did this become a delicacy? In the early days, guinea pigs were domesticated by indigenous people in the Andes for their meat (before Cattle was introduced) and for most then, being able to afford Cuy became a status symbol.
I was fortunate to have the opportunity to be assigned to Quito, Ecuador for 4 weeks as part of the Social Sabbatical program. It was an incredible 4 weeks of learning and meeting folks who were dedicated and passionate to their work and craft. Along with 11 other fantastic colleagues from across the world, we supported 4 different organisations in the work they were doing: to grow the Ecuador economy via the development of the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, and to equip the next generation of Ecuadorians with 21st century skill-sets.
Along with 2 teammates (Deniz and Till), we were assigned to work with CEIE (Corporación para el Emprendimiento e Innovación del Ecuador) which was founded in 2013 by individuals who were committed to creating a positive impact on entrepreneurship and innovation in Ecuador, with the aim of stimulating and accelerating the ecosystem to support entrepreneurs in generating products and services that are high potential, scalable, and competitive internationally. As a growing organisation, CEIE was facing challenges with managing their current IT systems that would be able to measure the impact of the ecosystem and to produce indicator reports for all the actors that are part of their network. Our scope of work was to empower them with the capabilities to define, document and communicate business requirements and develop IT project management capabilities, allowing the organization to develop the technical solutions needed to better engage its extensive AEI network, measure the impact on the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem and communicate its results to stakeholders. This was something refreshing for me (my day to day work is marketing) and it afforded me the opportunity to learn something new since we set out to share with them our expertise on agile methodologies and project management skills.
Over our 4 weeks, there was plenty of cross-pollination between the SAP project team and CEIE, and the employees at CEIE left such deep impressions on us. The go-getter CEIE team was working on several impactful programs benefiting multiple parties (entrepreneurs, local companies etc) and it was great to see the amount of energy and passion they had in the work they were doing to contribute back to the country. We also got to see the other side of Quito since the team welcomed us with open arms and brought us out to experience the Quito life and the accompanying “Chuchaqui” (hangovers) and it was really incredible getting to know the dynamic CEIE team better through these sessions.
“Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten”
Outside of our project scope, I had plenty of time to get to know the other 11 colleagues on a personal capacity at our joint dinner sessions and with our packed weekend adventure trips to the fringe of the Amazon rainforest where we experienced canyoning and tubing, shopping in Otavalo, ziplining across the rainforests in Mindo, visiting the Middle of the World (Mitad Del Mundo) and complaining about the unfortunate persisting and itchy bites from sandflies etc. Our local coordinator (Estef) from Pyxera also went above and beyond to support and facilitate any of our unique requests to make our stay welcoming. Even though I was far away from home, I felt that I had found a new family by the end of these 4 weeks. Throughout the assignment, we all experienced some kind of ailment/illness and everyone was often on the lookout for each other, sharing a lot of care, concern and medicine. It was also much fun to share each of our experiences, traveling and even partying together as a group (I was touched that everyone came out to celebrate my birthday!) and I am certain that these newly minted memories will forever stay a part of us.
In my concluding thoughts, this journey despite feeling so surreal, has been nothing short of amazing. By opening my eyes, heart and mind, I felt that I had learnt a lot about myself via a process of “self-reflection”. During this process, I learnt to take things slowly and in stride — I felt a lot more inner peace and I could see things with a clearer perspective. My recommendation would be to go for the opportunity if it ever presents to you, you will not regret it!
Do also check out what my other team mates had to share about their experiences here: https://medium.com/sap-social-sabbatical/tagged/ecuador
