The document summarizes Rachel Geil's experiences volunteering in Ecuador and interning in Kentucky. In Peru, she studied traditional Andean culture and found they view the world as having reciprocal relationships between nature, gods, and people, in contrast to Western thought which views humanity as having authority over nature. In Ecuador, she volunteered at CENIT, an organization assisting working children, coaching soccer and working in their street outreach program. Her internship in Kentucky involved creating a directory for a local food organization and attending a leadership summit on issues like supporting beginning farmers.

1. The Psychology of Food:
A comparative experience of food and culture in Peru and Kentucky
By Rachel Geil
Part 1: Peru
I spent three weeks attending an anthropological
field school in Carhuaz, Peru that emphasized
experiential learning and community participatory
action research in order to understand numerous
aspects of traditional Andean culture. When
studying their conception of food, I found the
following experiences to be the most informative.
nature
god(s)
people
god(s)
people
nature
Andean culture vs. Western culture
Part 2: Community Farm Alliance
My biggest takeaway from this experience was the striking
difference in the mindsets of the two cultures. Traditional Andean
culture understands the world to be full of reciprocal relationships
between people, deities, and the earth, all of which are sacred, all
of which equal. On the other hand, conventional Western thought
perceives the world in a more hierarchal fashion, with a removed
deity who has power over both people and nature. In turn,
people believe they have the authority over nature’s resources,
which can sometimes lead to misuse and exploitation. These
attitudes, for example, can be seen in the way they think about
food. While Andeans see food simply as sustenance, people with a
Western mindset will see it as a commodity.
Seed Exchange
The Market
Fieldwork
As part of their Winter Solstice
celebration, a group of schools
gathered together to do a seed
exchange. Each school brought a
diverse selection of seeds,
mainly grains and maiz, that
grew well in their area to trade
with othersafter a traditional, ceremonial commencement which
included a sacrificial offering of a cuy (guinea pig).
Here, the kids exhibited a great wealth of knowledge,
curiosity, and involvement in their agricultural-based
lifestyle.
Though most people grow
food solely for their family’s
own consumption, the
women with extra who can
afford to travel into the town
sell it in the marketplace on
Wednesdays and Sundays. Potatoes, vegetables, and
medicinal herbs were among the most common food
items, but manufactured wholesale goods were also
prevalent among certain vendors.
The best way to learn was by
going into the fields to help
farmers plant. They typically
use cuy droppings as fertilizer
and plant a wide variety of
crops in a single field.
After returning from Peru, I spent the remainder of
my summer interning for Community Farm
Alliance, a statewide grassroots organization
dedicated to bolstering the local food system
throughout Kentucky by encouraging small-scale,
family based agriculture. It was interesting to note
the impact that local legislation had on local food
opportunities, much more than in Peru, reiterating
the Western idea of food as a commodity.
The Directory
My main task was to
create a participant
directory for the
Eastern Kentucky
Food Systems Collaborative, a sector of CFA, in order
to create a network of farmers, non-profit
organizations, educational institutions, health
professionals, and anyone interested in Eastern
Kentucky food production and distribution. Besides
basic contact information, the directory included
reasons to work for a healthy, sustainable food
system and an inventory of current programs that are
doing so.
The Leadership Summit
I also participated in CFA’s
annual Leadership Summit at
Kentucky State University
which brought in interested
participants from around the
state, including local government officials. CFA
reviewed their involvement in a variety of legislation
work concerning food policy and farm policy, as well
as identified the main issues facing Kentucky farmers
today. Like in Peru, farmers struggle with distributing
their local food to a wide range consumers. A unique
concern for Kentucky is the idea of supporting
beginning farmers through loans and education
programs, like the Agricultural Legacy Initiative.
Soccer
CENIT Overview
CENIT, or the Centro de la Niña Trabajadora (Center for the
Working Girl), is a non-profit organization located in the south part of
Quito, close to the most impoverished neighborhoods of the city. Run by a
Catholic order, CENIT aims to assist working children and their families by
providing educational opportunities and other outreach services to which
they would otherwise not have access. For more information, visit
cenitecuador.org.
Social Work
Spanish Immersion
One important aspect of why I chose this specific program is the
element of complete immersion I got to experience both at my volunteer
site, as well as my home for the seven weeks I was in Ecuador. Besides
interacting with the children and their families exclusively in Spanish,
often times the volunteers spoke in Spanish together as well. Being from
different parts of the world, it was the only language we had in common
when we hung out and traveled together on the weekends.
Moreover, I chose to do a homestay during my time in Ecuador.
By living with an Ecuadorian lady, and away from most of the other
volunteers, I got to practice my Spanish continually, learning practical
expressions. By the end, I was even having dreams in Spanish!
“AMA LA VIDA”
At least once a week, I
coached a group of CENIT teenage boys
on a dirt-covered concrete “field.” This
was some of the most challenging, yet
rewarding work. Not only did I have to
break many of their ideas of gender
roles to earn their respect, but also their
problematic home lives made them an
especially difficult demographic with
which to work.
Additionally, I helped lead an off-site soccer
camp for 12 to 14 year-old girls. This was an incredibly
special experience as these girls gained a feeling of
empowerment from their time on the field, as well as
new, completely donated gear.
Even though this part also
included a lot of paper work, I
learned an incredible amount about
the structure and struggle of the
families with whom we worked. It
was an eye-opening experience to come into contact
with these young girls and help them navigate their
lives.
sang songs, played games,
and led many educational
activities. In my time there,
we taught them about the
Ecuador flag and alphabet.
Street Outreach
I spent the
majority of my time working
in the “Rescate” (meaning
rescue or recovery) street
outreach program. Every
day, we would pick up
children at their parents’
“puestos” so as to provide a
Selfless in South America:
A summer of volunteering at CENIT
Rachel Geil  Centre College  Class of 2016
daycare-like environment for the children.
Otherwise, many of them would be with their
parents all day, working in the markets at very
young ages. We provided the attention and
intellectual stimulation that they would not
otherwise receive, as many of them will not
attend school.
I worked specifically with the 3-5
year-olds in the Camal Market. In our daily
time with the children, we worked puzzles,