Martes, 21/3/2017: Exports to China up 184%, Health fair, Road damage, Citizen concerns, Alternative healing

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Today’s (Tues.) agenda events –

Día de la Poesía – There was/is a poetry recital marathon that started at 19:00. (There was a long list of poets, so I wonder how long they’ll keep reading?  Until everyone else gets bored and goes home?)

Martes de Cine – “El ojo de la tormenta” (The eye of the storm), was the Tuesday movie at the Alianza Francesa.

Upcoming and ongoing agenda events –

Alternative healing therapies – Tues. and Wed. will be therapy with magnets at the centro Pascana next to the Puente Roto.  Call 282 4029 for more info.  (I wonder if replacement joints will interfere with the therapy?)

Película – A movie will be shown Wed. at 10:30 in the Biblioteca Municipal de Quingeo (Quingeo Public Library) for the Día Mundial del Agua (World Water Day).

Articles about –

Mónica Soledad Brito Merizalde – The author presented her book, “La ética ambiental, una utopía o una realidad” (Environmental ethics, a utopia or a reality), to the Academy of Modern Literature in Mexico.  She writes about the destruction of nature, industrialization without ecological limits, use of land without planning, and industrial waste disposal that’s made rivers into sewers.  She points out that the main error in ethics is to treat it as only about the relationship of humans with other humans.

Agenda 21 – There will be three workshops from miércoles to viernes to design the Agenda 21 Pilot City project about using culture to achieve economic and social development.  To read the full article with times, places and subjects of each workshop, go to www.elmercurio.com.ec.

Story telling – An event with storytellers will be tonight and tomorrow at 20:00 in the sala “Alfonso Carrasco Vintimilla” in the CCE (Luis Cordero y Pres. Córdova).

Exibición – Gil Vanegas will open his show of paintings and ceramics, “Nuestro patrimonio” (Our heritage) tomorrow at 19:00 in the Galería de la Alcaldía (Borrero y Bolívar).

Padre Bolívar Jaramillo – This priest of the Salesian Community has returned to Cuenca after serving at other schools in the country.

Otras cosas – 

Titular – Lluvias destrozan vías (Rains destroy roads) – The foto looks like a small, muddy Niagara Falls with the water flowing across what’s left of a road – basically the uphill shoulder.  The rest of the road to the Piñas canton has fallen down the mountain out of the frame.  Stranded travellers either returned or transhipped. (So is the convention to cross the slide and find a bus or a ride on the other side?  Or do drivers just trade car keys and contact info and make plans?)

The recent rains have been the strongest in a couple of decades and are expected to continue to abril.  An atypical heating of ocean waters to 5 degrees higher than normal off the coasts of Ecuador and Perú has caused the rains and thunderstorms.  So far the winter has left 16 dead and 1,155 people who have lost everything.  Manabí has been hardest hit although slides, flooding, sinkholes, a secondary lahar from the Cotopaxi volcano, building collapses, and gale winds have been reported nationally.

Exports – Non petroleum exports which represent 64% of all exports and 35% of all tonnage, grew from enero 2016 to 2017 by 14.5% in value and 14.2% in tonnage. Volume of exports to various countries grew from 19.2% (Mexico) to 184.7% (China). The 13 sectors which grew are banana and plátano, aquaculture, fish, cocoa and cacao products (no more shipping Ecuadorian cocoa to Belgium and getting chocolates back), flowers and plants, agroindustry, metal working, coffee and coffee products, leather and shoes, personal and home care, crafts, and tagua buttons.

Survey – The 4th Survey about Citizen’s Perception of the Quality of Life in Cuenca was present today at 19:00 in the Museo de la  Ciudad.  Security and mobility were two issues that worried people.  83% of the respondents would not feel safe walking alone at night in Cuenca, and 63% would not feel safe walking alone at night in their own neighborhood.  24% of respondents or their family members had been robbed in the past 12 months – 56% theft without violence or threats and 45% with violence. 56% had some or much confidence in the National Police.

The biggest traffic problems were:  too many vehicles, “indisciplined” (scofflaw) drivers and pedestrians and lack of respect for pedestrians and bicyclists.  70% used public transport either every day or several times a week and 58% were happy with the fare.  They were unhappy about the frequency of buses at night, access for the disabled, and security.  For transport, 52% of Cuencanos use the bus, 28% use cars, 24% walk, and 6% use taxis.  (Wonder how this compares with the gringo community)

Employment was a concern – 68% of correspondents were working, 7% looking for work and 24% neither (us lucky jubilados?).  Of those who were working, 54% were worried about losing their jobs in the next 12 months.  Making ends meet comfortably correlated with the highest educational level achieved.

Feria de la salud – There will be a health fair on jueves from 8:30-14:00 around the Plaza Cívica (Mariscal La Mar y Mariano Cueva) with services such as blood pressure testing, weight and size control, body mass index, nutritional advice, and prevention of skin cancer.

Restaurant inspection – 14 chain restaurants in Millenium Plaza, Mall del Río y Monay Shopping were inspected to see if they were conforming to the regulations about waste disposal.  Only 4 of the chains complied.

San Francisco Plaza – The winning bidder for the work on the plaza, which was supposed to be announced last week, will be announced Wed.  Also pending is where the vendors will be relocated to.  (Calling the grammar police – that sentence ended in a preposition.)

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne