Village of San Miguel

San Miguel is an Afro-Ecuadorian community located at the convergence of the Rio San Miguel and Rio Cayapas in the Esmeraldas Province in Northern Ecuador. The village has a strong connection to the heritage of its people and maintains the use of their own language. One of the primary economic resources of the community is eco-tourism that is supported by the village’s eco-hotel that can house up to 20 visitors. As a catalyst to encourage additional eco-tourism in San Miguel and the surrounding areas, a service-learning study-abroad trip was organized at Purdue University in 2005. Working alongside Verde Milenio, a non-profit organization based in Quito, the program has proposed many designs to enhance the village. While there, the team toured the village and surrounding land and developed three projects for closer study by focused groups. These projects focused on the community entry plaza, the village ‘main street,’ and future development which included a new school proposal and updated infrastructure. The entry plaza included the main stairway leading from the river dock to a central pavilion and the square at the village church. The ‘main street’ project consisted of a secondary multi-functional plaza located behind the church and the main stairway leading through the village. The future development completed a topographical analysis of the village, proposed locations for additional buildings, and introduced the use of bio-digester for renewable products to be utilized by the villagers.