Research Progress

A quick update - more to come

I've been working closely with an advisor in FONAG, the organization I'm working with in Ecuador. We've agreed that it's best to approach the communities through the community leaders first, so that they may disseminate information to the community members, so that they may expect us for group interviews, etc.

I've also had the opportunity to go on several trips to choose my three community study sites. I've decided to make things simpler and will be working with three communities in two watersheds important for FONAG that are southeast of the city. Through the interviews I want to capture a bit of diversity in geographical location - that is proximity to the city. So, I've proposed to work in:

Chaupi - the furthest from the city. It's located almost directly south of Quito. The primary livelihoods are agriculture and cattle ranching, though the center is relatively well built-up. It takes about 1.5 hours to reach the town from the FONAG office in the west-center of Quito. We were able to establish good connections here with the local community junta (governing group) and a man who works closely on water-related issues (as well as with the junta) and is very disposed to work with us.

Barrio Santa Rosa in Cutuglahua - the closest to the city. It's neighborhoods were consolidated within the last twenty years. Its population's livelihoods are students, some professionals, commerce with some subsistence agriculture (in the backyards). It takes about 45 minutes to arrive here from the FONAG office. We've been able to contact the President of the Junta de Agua (governing group for water managment) in this neighborhood.

San Fernando - a rural community just south of larger urban areas in the Los Chillos Valley which is southeast of Quito. In this area the people are dedicated to agriculture, cattle ranching, in addition there are those who work in Quito since public transportation to Quito is very reliable. It takes about 1hr. to arrive here from the FONAG office. We've talked with the President of this community who has invited us to return for the monthly community meeting on July 5th. He's also expressed that he is very willing to help us by encouraging the community members to participate in the interviews.

The gradient that these three areas represent in terms of geographic distance from the city and livelihoods is what I was hoping for. Also, their population sizes are relatively similar - around 1,000 each. For the interviews, I'll be working with households (rather than individuals), thus hope to be able to cover a decent percentage of the population in each community. The commonality I see between them is their location in the same sector southeast of Quito.

For the interviews with officials of relevant organizations in Quito (e.g., Department of Public works, Department of Planning, etc.), I've decided to wait until I'm further along in working with the communities. I believe this will allow me to develop more insightful and probing questions, based on what I will be learning from the communities.

Overall, research progress is going well. I've gathered a good amount of digital data, but continue working on acquiring that information I still lack. And of course, I've already run into the "we can't give you this info without your organization submitting official requests and signing a million different contracts for it." For the most part though, everyone has been wonderful in helping me out.