By Daniela Grijalva

The Healthy Living Initiative would not be possible without the support and hard work of our foundational Development Team. Over our many years of research and community service, our team has been composed by individuals from interdisciplinary backgrounds in international studies, biomedical studies, communication studies and other majors. These individuals have taken the initiative to not only expand the missions and visions of HLI, but additionally to further general knowledge and research about various topics of interest within the communities we work with. Their projects aim to generate a more comprehensive picture of the situation in rural Ecuador, and to generate creative solutions alongside stakeholders to achieve positive change. The energy they bring to our project is invaluable, and their creativity is the driving force behind the constant innovation and expansion of the Healthy Living Initiative.

Ana Carolina León, an Ecuadorian biologist, has been one such amazing member of our team. Hailing from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, she graduated in International Development Studies at Ohio University in May 2020 and is currently getting her second Masters degree in Environmental Studies, also at Ohio University. During her time working with the Healthy Living Initiative, and as part of her academic research, Ana has been working tirelessly on the topic of Productive Household Gardens within Loja’s rural communities.

In rural Ecuador, it is not uncommon for family plots of land to include a small household garden, in addition to the traditional fields they may tend to for more widespread agriculture. Many of these household gardens began as a simple way to sustainably use excess water that could no longer serve for drinking or cooking purposes. Ana postulated that these household gardens were actually a great asset of each family, and that they could potentially serve to holistically improve a family’s quality of life.

In this way, Ana’s research contributes and fits in perfectly with our goals at the Healthy Living Initiative. “HLI sees the improvements of living conditions as the key for long-term control of Chagas disease. This project wanted to take on the opportunity of enhancing the productivity of household gardens and understanding how this asset can become a new income generating activity that can also be improved in the future with new farming and more sustainable methods. If this were possible, it would therefore create the capacity for housing improvement, which is the main mitigating factor to diminish the prevalence of the disease,” says Ana.

Her research points to a great opportunity for holistic improvement of quality of life in the communities. If she could prove through studies and surveys that houses with productive gardens were better off financially and emotionally, this component of the housing model could be a useful addition to the already comprehensive Healthy Houses being built.

For the past year, Ana has been collecting data, conducting interviews, and reviewing information from community officials in Loja province in order to study this topic. She worked with faculty and staff at Ohio University to create surveys and interview guides that helped determine the productivity of current household gardens, and to brainstorm ideas as to what materials the families felt they were missing that might change their garden game. In the summer of 2019, she worked with all the families in Guara, Chaquizcha and Bellamaria that already had a household garden to understand which were the benefits and difficulties from having this garden. We look forward to seeing her published results!

Stay tuned for an upcoming piece that explains more of Ana’s research in depth!