We encourage our Friends of Ecuador community to support Mushuk Yuyay, an organization we have worked with for several years. 

You can support them through the Ecuador Relief Fund here.

They are hoping to raise $35,000 but whatever support we can provide would be helpful.

The Asociación Mushuk Yuyay is an indigenous-led financial and agricultural cooperative located in the region of Cañar, Ecuador. The association employs a network of local producers to grow native staple crops such as quinoa and amaranth, the harvest of which is purchased by the association at a just price and sold under a commercial label named ‘Alli Mikuna’ – ‘Good Food’ in the native Kichwa language. This label sells their grains primarily to communities within Ecuador, but international purchasers have also shown interest in this nutritious food.

In May 2020, local producers in Cañar initiated the harvest of their staple crops and in June 2020 celebrate the FIESTA DE INTIRAYMI – Kañari festival of the Sun, in gratitude to the Earth Mother Pachamama for the harvest reaped.

During the 2020 harvests, the local production is anticipated to yield:

• 180,000 Kilograms = 396,828 pounds of BARLEY
• 21,600 Kilograms = 47,606 Pounds of QUINOA

Under normal circumstances, 40% of this crop is purchased by the Association Mushuk Yuyay, 30% saved for farmer consumption and seedstock, and 30% sold to the local market.

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the local markets have remained closed for sanitation purposes, and many producers are left with the question: where to sell the remaining 30% of the crop? With no other outlet of sale, local farmers will likely have to sell to middleman exporters rock-bottom rates for their traditional grain.

In response to this, the local producers in Cañar have requested Asociación Mushuk Yuyay raise funds to purchase the remaining 30% of the 2020 crop at a just price. This is the only available solution they see which does not lead to economic disruption and potential recession for the producers.

For this specific reason, Asociación Mushuk Yuyay has humbly requested donations from the international non-profit community in order to purchase the remaining 30% of this crop and protect their producers from economic exploitation by the export market.

Holy summer of volcanic activity, Batman!

Apologies for the radio silence. We’ve had a busy summer and early fall here at Friends of Ecuador. I’ve been readying for the fall semester at the University of Texas. Ben has completed a move from Kenya to Zambia. So, we’re just finding our feet again, but we’l be reporting some new news from Peace Corps Ecuador, Ecuador, the National Peace Corps Association, and more.

This issue has Cotopaxi active again, the Pope in Ecuador, updates from Peace Corps, and stories from volunteers. For each newsletter, we’ll be sharing some stories from recent El Climas so be on the lookout for several stories each month.

Please send us any comments or feedback or story ideas at foe@friendsofecuador.org.

Here is the description of Sadie’s TEDx talk:

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Join me on a virtual trip back to the Ecuadorian Amazon Jungle where I lived with locals (rats, bats, and snakes), drank chicha, spoke Kichwa, and ultimately learned a hard lesson: there is great power in failing.