Yachay Tech University welcomed Chelsia Hetrick, Cultural Attaché and Carolina Herrera, from the Press, Culture and Education Office of the United States Embassy, Francisco Vaca, Zonal Coordinator 1 of SENESCYT, María Patricia Ordoñez, from the National Institute of Cultural Heritage and Jacqueline Álvarez, Deputy Mayor of Urcuquí, who took a tour of the Yachay Tech Archaeological Collection.
“Safeguarding the Caranqui Cultural Heritage in Northern Ecuador”, a project presented by Yachay Tech and financed by the United States Embassy for an amount of 220,271.20 USD, aims to preserve the cultural heritage in Urcuquí.
José María Lalama, PhD., Rector and President of the Supervisory and Institutional Strengthening Commission (CIFI) of Yachay Tech, welcomed the authorities and stated that: “It is a great pleasure for Yachay Tech to work in this type of projects, because we are a university created under the concept of research and innovation that generates science; our students and faculty are always engaged with these great projects and preparing scientific articles”.
The Rector stressed the great opportunity that the support of the Embassy of the United States represents for the University since having a museum will benefit Yachay Tech and the country, and will allow generating alliances and work actions with universities in Ecuador and the US. He also highlighted the joint work carried out between the University, the National Institute of Cultural Heritage and the Autonomous Decentralized Government of Urcuquí.
Chelsia Hetrick, Cultural Attaché of the United States Embassy, thanked the University for the invitation and stated that it is a great opportunity and a very important project for the Embassy. “We are proud to support this project, which also has the support of the INPC, SENESCYT, and other entities that are helping to preserve the Caranqui cultural legacy in Urcuquí.”
Hetrick also highlighted the joint work between institutions to preserve culture and its assets for current and future generations.
After visiting the Yachay Tech Archaeological Collection, located at Hacienda San Eloy, in the Urcuquí canton, the authorities held a work meeting to articulate actions inherent to the execution of the project.
The creation of the Museum will benefit the university community and the population of Urcuquí and will allow for the treatment of archaeological goods and the preservation of the collection that consists of more than 58,000 articles that belonged to the Caranqui culture. Of these, 2,800 are complete and well preserved. (Most of the collection is composed of ceramics, tools, human bones, animal bones, shells, metal sculptures and textiles associated with burials).
In this sense, Yachay Tech strengthens ties with the US Embassy, and ratifies its commitment to research and preservation of Ecuador’s cultural heritage through inter-institutional work and community engagement.
