My "Job Decription"

Well, this is officially my 51st blog post...that's a lot of blogging. That's approximately 8 blog posts per month, 2 per week, not bad. I hope you've all enjoyed the first 50 and will enjoy the following 3000 posts even more (If I ever get to 3000 posts, someone please shoot me, or pay me lots of money for it). Anyhow, I've realized that very few of you have any idea of what I've been doing down here in my 'job' in Licto. The reason for that is that I only write about the interesting parts of my life down here, and work hasn't really been all that interesting compared to volcanoes, jungles, and the like. So, in light of this I decided to post a bio I recently had to submit to Peace Corps of what I've been doing for the last 4 months in my site (coming up on 5). So, in short, here's what I've been doing in Licto, Riobamba, Chimborazo, Ecuador, South America (those aren't various locations, that's just the long version of where I live):

As of August 2006, Ryan has been living and working in the province of Chimborazo in the small, semi-indigenous town of Licto. On the outskirts of Cantón Riobamba, nearly all economic activity in Licto is of an agricultural nature. With very few family farms able to invest in mechanized equipment, low productivity keeps most families at a level of subsistence farming. From child workers who daily go to Riobamba to sell candy or shine shoes to adolescents and adults who go as far as Quito, the United States or Europe in search of better living conditions, migration is becoming a major problem in Licto.
Ryan has been spending most of his time collaborating with INNFA (Instituto Nacional de la Niñez y la Familia) in and around Licto. INNFA, a non-governmental organization, provides impoverished families with scholarships which allow their children to finish their high school-level studies. INNFA employs hundreds of educators across Ecuador, who, in addition to the administrative collaboration with scholarship families, also develop youth groups in marginal communities, both urban and rural. One of Ryan’s primary work areas has been that of helping these youth cope with the daily problems they face, from the threat of coyoterismo (human trafficking) to a simple lack of employable skills. Ryan works with youth groups within Licto and in nearby indigenous communities to help them gain skills which will make them more attractive to potential future employers, including basic information technology skills and life skills. In addition, Ryan has recently presented a proposal to a local high school-level academy to begin giving talks on sexual education to a group of at-risk adolescents in the academy. In addition to his work with youth, he has also been working in the area of micro-finance, facilitating the successful operation and growth of community banks in and around Licto.
Ryan also recently began developing a strategy to improve the availability of public computers and internet in Licto and its surrounding indigenous communities. The lack of information technology knowledge among Licto’s population undermines their search for greater employment opportunities. Ryan’s endeavor to combat this weakness includes both soliciting grants for the purchase of hardware and the development of sustainable frameworks under which these systems can operate in the long-term.

So, if any of you are interested in this type of work, come on down and help or sign up for Peace Corps.
Disclaimer: My work is by no means what all Peace Corps Volunteers do, even within Ecuador, but it's also not anything that's never been done before by a Peace Corps volunteer.