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Living in
Ecuador: Cesar Alvear Morales’ Story
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By Linda McFarlin
A woman living in Ecuador is not often deferred to in public. For
instance, unless she is very old, pregnant or carrying a young child,
men rarely give up their seats to women on buses.
Lugging 3 bags of groceries and a new clock for the kitchen onto a bus
from Ibarra to Cotacachi, I was pleasantly surprised when a young man
helped me juggle my way into a seat next to him. Then he returned
to the book he was reading. Even without knowing much Spanish, I
figured out that he was reading John Gray’s, “Men are from
Mars, Women are from Venus.”
We talked all the way to Cotacachi. I invited him to come to our
apartment to meet Gary (and to help me carry my packages up our four
flights of stairs!) He shared with us how Gray’s book had
altered his views about women and the ways men perceive them.
As you will see when you read his story, Cesar has a passion for Ecuador. That passion sparkles in his eyes as he talks.
Like so many young people we have met in Ecuador, Cesar has a special
quality. One cannot help but be inspired by his enthusiasm and
unique insight as he speaks of Ecuador culture, politics and changes he
would like to see. The passion of the young is one of the
exciting things about living in Ecuador.
Part I of Cesar’s story covers the influences that have shaped
his life and his changing relationships with his brothers, other men
and with women.
In Part II, to be published in the next newsletter, Cesar speaks
of President Correa, elucidates his views on Ecuador politics, and
describes what is happening with indigenous pride.
Don’t miss it!
Living in Ecuador: Cesar’s Story—Part I
People Can Do Great Things
I’m 29, single and living with my parents in our family home in
Cotacachi. My bloodline is mestizo, which is part Spanish and
part indigenous.
Right now I teach high school math and am also finishing my last
semester in college in business administration. My goal used to
be strictly business and making money. But I have learned about
much more--economics, psychology, Ecuador politics, organizations and
finance.
All of this has helped me to see that people can do great
things. What is now much more interesting to me is helping
my community, much more important than making money.
I Fell in Love with Human Beings
I fell in love with human beings and they are really great. "Riches is not about money. Riches is about people."
Ecuador is a third-world country. The rest of the world calls us
poor. Many of us have very little money, but we are very rich in
other ways. Because the people here are now seeing how really
rich they are, seeing their own true value, I am able to see many
opportunities for the people, for my country. Living in Ecuador is a good thing.
For example: the indigenous don’t really need much
money. They have their land and the food they grow on the
land. When they need something extra, they can sell some of their
crops or sell a cow. They are happy living in Ecuador like this.
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Getting Things is Not the Center of the Universe
The West tries to get us to buy more things—more expensive
things, better things, bigger things. I thought about that and I
don’t agree. Getting
things isn’t the center of life. To be the best person you
can be is much better than being the richest you can be.
We get information at college but not a real education.
Ecuadorians become workers or live life in a selfish way. They
don’t learn about the important things. My father is
amazing. He taught me so much. He does things for people
only to see them have a better life.
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The Best Reward
The best reward is not money. It’s to help people be better than they were before you met them.
My father does that. He wants to do that through the
Assemblea. First he had to learn how Ecuador politics works and
now as the president of the Assemblea Cantonal, to do good things for
the people. He teaches the participatory democracy
action groups how to create what they want. When they started,
they didn’t know how. With my father’s help,
they have learned how to be effective.
Cesar’s Views about Women
God made women to love. It’s amazing to find people in this
time and age that are all about love. I have had many conversations
with women. Men are often selfish, competitive, trying to get the
most out of life. I find that many women are loving and happy. I never knew
that something like that could exist in the universe.
This new insight has helped me with my brothers. This is a very
machisimo society. Men here have some wrong ideas about
women. This is sad. They judge a situation only as a man
and don’t see it from a woman’s perspective.
I tell my male students, "Shut up, don’t talk to her like that!" when they say inappropriate things to females.
"Let her be a woman and let her like what she likes. While you are
in my class, you will respect the differences between you and
women."
We can’t punish women for being different.
They like sweet things, pretty things.
The power is with the men
right now. If they don’t change, nothing will change.
Living in Ecuador will be better for all of us if we respect each
other’s differences.
In our next newsletter read Part II of Cesar’s story—his
views on Ecuador politics, presidents and indigenous pride restored.
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