Volcanoes
Ecuador has 26 volcanoes. The one most known is Cotopaxi which is located near Quito, the country's capitol city. Ecuador's volcanoes, and Andean mountain range was created by the subduction of the Nazca Pacific ocean plate under South America's continental plate (Volcanoes of Ecuador, n.d). When the Earth's crust breaks apart, magma becomes exposed and creeps up towards the surface from the upper mantle. When a volcano erupts lava and ash deposit accumulates allowing the volcano to grow bigger over time. It has been 70 years since Cotopaxi last erupted and as of right now President Correa has issued a yellow alert and has put the area surrounding the volcano in a state of emergency. If Cotopaxi does not erupt by the time we arrive in Quito I do not think we should visit. If the volcano does erupt before we arrive and there has been enough time for the danger to subside then I think a journey up the volcano would be very worthwhile.
The Bus System
Quito has a very efficient way of transportation. They replicated the bus system in Brazil and have made it their own. The fact that the trolley buses used are electronic cuts down the emission exposed to the atmosphere. They are being very environmentally cautious in this way. Over the years they have perfected their system and made it work better for all the parties involved. Right now they have two different bus systems; Trolebus and Ecovia (Cracknell, 2003). The difference between the two is that the Trolebus is run by the municipality while the Ecovia is privately owned. I am excited to see how this system works and how different and maybe even more organized it feels compared to our public transportation. One of the most time consuming things about getting on a bus here in the US is the fact that you have to pay when you get onto the bus. In Quito they have perfected this and instead they have a system where you pay before entering the fully enclosed passenger shelter. This makes entering and exiting the vehicle simple and organized. This also helps keep the buses on time which is very important in this city. There is nothing worse than being late and having no control over the situation. Everyone in this city is very busy and need to get to certain places on time and the people running the bus system want everything to run smoothly as well.
Quito Itself
Quioto has a population of about 1.5 million people. Many of these people lives in the slums. There are three different types of slums; barrios peripheries which is on the urbane edge, conventillos which is in the historic centre and rural neighborhoods which is where the low income families live that commute to the urban areas. Many of these areas came about because of a rapid growth in the city's population as well as the economic instability. There are two different types of people that live in the slums. The first is a homebodies woman who stays home to work around the house and take care of the children while her husband is at work. This women would aspire to go back to school and get an education to find a job and help her family money wise but transportation makes these dreams very limited. The second type is a young person going to school land working with aspirations to get a diploma and move away from the country because opportunities are very limited for them. 40% of Ecuador's total population live in poverty and 13% live in extreme poverty (Carrion, 2003). People living in the slums of Quito don't have running water or even a proper sewage system if they have a sewage system at all. Most people loving in the slums have every intent on improving their homes and situations but realistically this will not be 100% possible on their $200-400 a month income. To me this is very sad. There are ways that this entire situation can improve but who's to say that it would fix everyone's problems. Transportation will always be an issue. If you have to commute form the outer edge of the slums into the urbanized areas everyday you will be spending a portion of the money you are making at your job and it is in way counter productive. The bus system in place appears to be better for those commuting within the urban areas and does not serve the outer communities as productively as it could. As of right now there is no master plan to improve the situations in the slums. Economically the city has been reactivated due to commercial development and commerce with Colombia.
Ecuador, and the Environment
Ecuador is very rich in biodiversity. Because of this the government focuses on protecting and preserving the diversity. There are many policies that guarantee contamination free environments. In order to guarantee a contamination free environment, policies such as the Basic Environmental Principles were out in place which gives people an obligation to protect their environment. In 1996 Ministry of the Environment was started. It is their duty to coordinate programs, policies and projects that involve the environment. Ecuador has also established national parks, and protected areas. Because they care so much about their countries environment and the areas around them it is easy to understand why they are more ethical when it comes to making decisions that involve the environment. They have more biodiversity in such a small area of the Earth's surface that they need to protect because those areas are not in any other place on Earth. "The nation posses a number of environmental "jewels" such as the Galapagos Islands and a section of the Amazonrain-forest" (Robertson, 1999).
Ecuador is a very agricultural dependent country, this is why it is important for them to protect the environment. Many of the villages near streams depend on the water to grow crops they either sell or live off of. If the water in the stream is contaminated than in result the crops and soil will become contaminated. Water from the streams and other water sources are also used in the home. Sometimes the water is consumed right form the water source. In other places the water is stored in containers which, after time recontaminates the water. This was studied on the Northern Coastal area of Ecuador and it was found that water treatment is important. Boiling or treating the water with chlorine was seen to have improved the condition of the water before consumption. I feel as though Ecuador truly does treasure the biodiversity they have and that is why they have all these policies and programs to protect it. In the Us there are national parks and land preservations but there is a difference between the type of lands we preserve and the types of land Ecuador preserves.
I think that because there are more citizens in Ecuador that depends solely on the land and are very agriculturally dependent, they have an incentive to want to do everything they can to preserve the land they have now. I am very excited to see everything Ecuador has to offer that I am unable to see here in this country. One of the most amazing things about traveling around the world is getting the chance to see something that you would never get to see if you stayed in your own country.
Ecuador is a very agricultural dependent country, this is why it is important for them to protect the environment. Many of the villages near streams depend on the water to grow crops they either sell or live off of. If the water in the stream is contaminated than in result the crops and soil will become contaminated. Water from the streams and other water sources are also used in the home. Sometimes the water is consumed right form the water source. In other places the water is stored in containers which, after time recontaminates the water. This was studied on the Northern Coastal area of Ecuador and it was found that water treatment is important. Boiling or treating the water with chlorine was seen to have improved the condition of the water before consumption. I feel as though Ecuador truly does treasure the biodiversity they have and that is why they have all these policies and programs to protect it. In the Us there are national parks and land preservations but there is a difference between the type of lands we preserve and the types of land Ecuador preserves.
I think that because there are more citizens in Ecuador that depends solely on the land and are very agriculturally dependent, they have an incentive to want to do everything they can to preserve the land they have now. I am very excited to see everything Ecuador has to offer that I am unable to see here in this country. One of the most amazing things about traveling around the world is getting the chance to see something that you would never get to see if you stayed in your own country.
Ecuador's Economic and Political Situation
In the past U.S and Ecuadorian relations were good. Based on decisions made by past president Correa, our relations with Ecuador are not that great. In 2009 the lease for the U.S Air Force base, Manta was not renewed which disturbed the monitoring of drug detection. Politically and economically, the country has had its ups and downs. Several presidents have been removed from their positions because of corruption that allegedly occurred. When President Correa was elected his views on the U.S were made very clear. He did not care for our country and this is why he decided to not renew the lease for the air force base. This caused issues between the countries because economically they are tied to our country because 45% of Ecuador's exports come to the United States (Seekle, 2008). There are currently no ties between Ecuador and Colombia due to killing raids on Ecuadorian citizens in a FARC camp near the border. This crisis has strengthened the ties between Ecuador and Venezuela.
Works Cited:
Carrion, D., & Vasconez, J. (2003). The Case of Quito, Ecuador. 1-24.
Cracknell, J. (2003). Quito Busways, Ecuador. Retrieved December 20, 2015 from http://amalavidaexperience.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/0/2/39029957/paper-quitobussystem.pd
Robertson, C. J., Hoffman, J. J., & Herrmann, P.. (1999). Environmental Ethics across Borders: The United States versus Ecuador. MIR: Management International Review, 39(1), 55–69. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40835731
Seekle, C. (2008). Ecuador: Political and Economic Situation and U.S. Relations. CRS Report for Congress, 1-6.
Volcanoes of Ecuador, facts & iformation / VolcanoDiscovery. (n.d.). Retrieved December 19, 2015, from
http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/ecuador.html
Carrion, D., & Vasconez, J. (2003). The Case of Quito, Ecuador. 1-24.
Cracknell, J. (2003). Quito Busways, Ecuador. Retrieved December 20, 2015 from http://amalavidaexperience.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/0/2/39029957/paper-quitobussystem.pd
Robertson, C. J., Hoffman, J. J., & Herrmann, P.. (1999). Environmental Ethics across Borders: The United States versus Ecuador. MIR: Management International Review, 39(1), 55–69. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40835731
Seekle, C. (2008). Ecuador: Political and Economic Situation and U.S. Relations. CRS Report for Congress, 1-6.
Volcanoes of Ecuador, facts & iformation / VolcanoDiscovery. (n.d.). Retrieved December 19, 2015, from
http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/ecuador.html