ECHO 2002 Daily Diary  
Columbia Education Center
ECHO 2002
DAILY DIARY
July 15, 2002

Today's ECHO activities brought to you by


Team Trigo
Ken Garwick
MaryMolt
Cindy Garwick

 


Guarani Currency

 

The Guarani, the monetary unit in Paraguay, has deflated considerably in ten years. In late April, 3000 Guarani equaled $1 US. Today we traded $1 for 6100 gs. Denominations in 1992 were 1, 100, 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 in paper money and 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100 in coins. Now 50,000 and 100,000 bills are available. We have not seen the 1, 5 and 10 gs coins nor the 1 or 100 gs bills.


Térere (tea)

 


Pan (bread)

 


Naranja (orange)

 

Café

HUNGRY? The food abounds on the streets of Asunsión. You can get tea, fresh fruit, fresh bread, empanadas, and meats from street side vendors or from one of the many dining establishments.


Buying bread

 


Queso (cheese)

 


Groceries can be purchased at a local market or a supermercado (supermarket).


Frutas (fruit) of Paraguay


Mandioca a Paraguayan verdura (vegetable)


Rose Marie Zárate de Vooght


Frank Fragano

Rose Marie Zarate de Vooght, teacher at Stael Ruffinelli de Ortez-English School, spoke about recent politics and history in Paraguay. Rose shared her experiences growing up in a home where her father was one of the personal physicians to former president/dictator Stroessner. She documented events that gave the ECHO 2002 participants a glimpse into how difficult it is to develop and sustain a democratic form of government.

Frank Fragano, Principal Technical Advisor Paraguayan Wildlands Initiative United Nations Dev. Program, addressed environmental issues in Paraguay. Topics included water, deforestation, and general pollution in the five distinct regions of the country. The United Nations and Paraguay are establishing national parks to preserve unique ecosystems of central South America.