Area highway repairs funded; Music Festival returns; Poverty increases child labor; Ecuador has 1,700 bird species; Go ‘glamping’ in Estancia Buganey

Lunes, 12/6/2023

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

De El Mercurio del sábado, 10/6 (1 article):
Estancia Buganey, un entorno privilegiado (Estancia Buganey, a privileged setting) – The Estancia Buganey, an hour from Cuenca on the vía a Soldados, offers a country getaway with “glamping”, walks and horseback rides in the country, fishing in the river, and a restaurant with food prepared to order from products in the zone. Cristian Pesántez and his wife who was born in the area conceived of the idea a rural getaway and built a glamping prototype in 11/2022. The 2 story lodging units have an equipped kitchen and complete bath and bedrooms with comfortable beds. <Glamping means you don’t have to bring your own sleeping bag and try find the least rocky patch of ground to settle down on.>

The Estancia Buganey, an hour from Cuenca on the vía a Soldados, offers a country getaway with “glamping”, walks and horseback rides in the country, fishing in the river, and a restaurant with food prepared to order from products in the area. (El Mercurio)

There’s an area where you can build a fire and enjoy the warmth of the flames in the evening. <While you’re telling ghost stories to terrify your kids who will be looking over their shoulders to see what monsters will emerge from the darkness.> There are also animals, who all have names, on the property – a baby goat named Shakira who is best friends with Casimiro the burro, alpacas, horses, rabbits and cuys. <Do the cuys have names, too, and is it just “Plato Fuerte?> The cost is $80 plus IVA per couple and includes breakfast. There are discounts for groups or families. The Estancia is also pet friendly but the owner is responsible for the pet’s care and it’s good behavior with the other animals. <No eating the rabbits or cuys.>

Titular –

Trabajo infantil preocupa (Child labor is a concern) – The Día Mundial contra el Trabajo Infantil (World Day Against Child Labor) is observed <celebrated would not be the word to use for this day> every 12/6. Although governments have programs to prevent and eradicate child labor, you can see the serious reality in the streets with children in informal labor and others viewed as a ‘business’ to get money. The Ministerio de Inclusión Económica y Social (MIES) has identified 660 cases in Azuay with 440 corresponding to child labor, mostly in Cuenca, Nabón y Oña. The children’s ages range from 7-12 years. Nancy Torres, Zone 6 coordinator of MIES, said it’s complicated to identify and get to all of them including the children who are beggars. MIES reaches 90% and works with Dinased to approach the parents and try get the kids into MIES programs.

During the pandemic, child labor increased between 12% & 15%, although this went down in 2022. Factors are poverty and extreme poverty and the mobility situation where children and teens abandon the activities appropriate for their age in order to work. According to INEC, in 12/2022, poverty was at 25.2% nationally, and extreme poverty at 8.2%. Poverty with unmet basic needs (the rights to food, health, and education) was at 31.4%; 21.3% in urban areas and 53.3% in the rural sector. In urban areas, child labor consists mostly of selling candy, plastic bags, and fruit on the streets. In the country, children work in agriculture and carrying blocks or bricks. The MIES campaigns focus on raising the awareness of citizens to not give money to or buy from the children since that gives an incentive to the parents or caregivers to keep the kids working.

Cultura –

Observatorio Astronómico de Quito, uno de los más antiguos de América (Quito Astronomical Observatory, one of the oldest in the Americas) – <For all of you trivia nuts> The observatory was created in 1873 during the term of President Gabriel García Moreno and has contributed to sciences in the area of meteorology, seismology, astro-physics and space weather, and astronomy at both national and world levels. The observatory has been designated as a “Patrimonio Monumental de la Nación.”

Ecuador tiene más de 1,700 especies de aves, un paraíso ornitológico (Ecuador has more than 1,700 bird species, an ornithological paradise) – <This one is for all you birdwatchers) There are 1,733 species of birds in Ecuador, 1,673 of which have been documented with evidence, and another 49 that need solid documentation of their presence in rhe country. The Comité Ecuatoriano de Registreos Ornitológicos copiled a list between 10/2019 and 11/2021 which included 3 new species. All of them were seagulls, two of them in the Galápagos and 1 on the mainland. The list also documented rare or infrequent birds including 7 which are considered hypothetical, rare, and wandering (birds not associated with a fixed area).

De El Mercurio del sábado, 10/6 (2 articles):
La fiesta de la Música vuelve con 130 músicos (The Music Festival returns with 130 musicians) – The Music Festival, promoted by the Alianza Francesa de Cuenca will be between el 22 & 24/6 in different public and private spaces. The opening will be el 22/6 in the Parque Calderón a las 20:00 with the Funky Junkies and DJ Lecomte de Bregeot. It will continue el 23/5 in the private venues Aya Ma, La Belga, Bumba, Wunderbar, Gastro Arte, Selina, Viejas Diables y Make Make. 25 artists will perform in these spaces from 17-23:00. Performances in public spaces will be on the 24th: la Plazoleta de la Merced, el Puente Roto, la Plaza de Otorongo and the Portal Artesanal with a different genre of music at each location. There will be both new and established bands which were selected from 262 proposals which is a record for this festival. Half of the bands are from Cuenca.

Following are the performers at the various public venues.
Indie fusión – Plaza Portal Artesanal – 17:00 – 23:30
Morlaco Bipolar
Curandiera
La Doble
Porco Rosso
Fliz Pussy Cola
Lika Nova

Electro Experimental – Puente Rojo – 18:00 – 00:00
Muerto a Puntapies
Vazco
Fragments
The Nook
Felileo
Majo Orellana

Rock Metal – Plaza del Otorongo – 18:00 – 00:00
Lizamett
Lancelot
Bleeding Corp
Uriel
Franken
Mortal Decision

Rap Hip-Hop – Plazoleta de La Merced – 18:00 – 22:30
Chi-co
KRJ
Mel Mourelle
High Modo
Mac Tempo

Cuenca –

De El Mercurio del domingo, 11/6 (2 articles):
Hay recursos para dos obras viales para Azuay (Resources available for two road projects for Azuay) – Of the $150 million the Banco Mundial (BM – <which I always thought was an abbreviation for bowel movement>) approved for road projects in Ecuador, about $40 million will be for Azuay. There is $29 million for rehabilitation work at 29 critical points on the vía Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje which is the main connection between Azuay and El Oro. Another $15 million is for work at 15 critical points on the vía Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme which connects Azuay y Guayas. The funds are at a fixed interest rate and repayable in 20 years with an 8-year grace period. The contracts are expected to be signed in August with the work lasting 18 months. <So a year and half before we can drive to Guayaquil without looking up a lot to see if the mountain is about to engulf our cars?>

Solo encuestas autorizadas podrán ser publicadas (Only authorized surveys may be published) – The Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) informed the news media that only authorized businesses or individuals can disseminate survey results and predictions. Unauthorized pollsters can be fined from 50-250 times the Salario Básico (SBU), or between $22,500 and $112,500. So far only 2 individuals have registered. Go to www.cne.gob.ec to check which pollsters are qualified.

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne