When I first started as a volunteer for Ecuador Mi País I knew I wanted to do something meaningful with my life, with my work, and with my skills. My paid job at the time was completely boring, meaningless, monotonous, but paid the bills. I knew I needed a challenge. I knew I needed a change, but my monthly paycheck was like an intravenous needle that was barely keeping me alive drop by drop without letting me live fully. When I found Ecuador Mi País I knew I found the solution. Working for this Organization would allow me to have the excitement of taking decisions, have work challenges, find new co-workers, new friends, and help people with my work; thus changing my life and the world in the process.

The options when I first joined the Organizations were not much, but I knew that the organization needed a presence in the Internet. I had some technical skills working with databases, utility programs, and had done my thesis for my MBA in electronic commerce, so I had an idea about how websites work, but I had never done one in my life. Anyway, that was my challenge! I signed up to create the first website of the Organization and to put it in the Internet. I have to admit that I was lucky, or as the famous writer Paulo Coelho puts it: “when you do things for the first time, the universe confabulates itself to let you succeed”.

We collected one dollar per person at the first meeting of the Organization and bought the domain. Later, Roberto Andrade came up with the first design of the website, and I had a friend that had a server, so I asked him if we could borrow some space to have our first website online. To make the story short, I got a copy of an html editor and not much later I was managing and maintaining the official website of the organization that was live to the world. It was like a dream come true. I had all the challenge that I needed and I felt that I was doing something meaningful for me and for the kids from Ecuador that cannot go to school because of lack of funds. A few months later we were able to collect donations through the website and were sending money to Ecuador to fund education projects.

Then, I got so interested in the work that I was doing for Ecuador Mi País that I decided that I needed to pursue a Masters in Information Systems. That is how I immediately applied, got accepted and enrolled for a Master ’s Degree at George Washington University and a few months later I got the opportunity to start my own company based on the new knowledge and skills that I had. Obviously I took that opportunity.

At that time, the economic depression came and my entire division at my paid work was closed, so I was laid off. However, Eruditos, the company that I just created was starting to sell and I got a scholarship at the University, so losing my job was completely uneventful. In fact, at last I had the feeling that I had been able to pull that intravenous needle from my body and I was starting to live freely and fully.

Bernardo Darquea