During my months of traveling in 2021 and 2022, I had the opportunity to teach web design skills to a number of individuals that I stayed with. One of my favorite experiences was when I stayed at Rhiannon, a rural community located in the mountains of northern Ecuador. While staying with them, I shared my knowledge about building websites in exchange for learning about plant tending and permaculture practices. The community had hired a web developer to build their site for them 10 years back, but because they were no longer in contact with the initial developer, the weren’t able to make changes. I was able to show them how to navigate the WordPress interface, create new pages, rearrange their content, and upload new photos. In addition, I directed them on how to set up and work with a staging version of the site. Along the way, I found myself cleaning up a few outstanding bugs and leaving the site running more smoothly than before.
Having the chance to teach members of the Rhiannon community how to take control their web presence was one of the most satisfying parts of my travel experience, and reminded me of how much benefit my technical expertise can bring beyond the scope of traditional work.
You can view their website here.