“It was amazing growing up in the Amazon. I was surrounded by nature, animals, and rivers.. It was a really peaceful life. It also changes the way you think when you grow up in the rainforest, for example, it changed how I think about taking care of the environment and climate change. When you grow up in the rainforest, you can see the Amazon River, and other amazing places. Overtime, you watch how they’re transformed and destroyed. It’s really painful for the people who spend time in those environments to see how they’re destroyed by deforestation and things like that. For example, think about Stanley Park. Imagine that all of the trees in Stanley Park are cut, so that there are no more trees. It affects the city and the view of the city. These views in Ecuador were an important memory for me growing up, and they’re not there anymore.

“Ecuador is in Latin America, so it’s a war country. The city there that I’d compare to Vancouver is the capital, Quito. But, Quito is a really dangerous city, while Vancouver is really safe. When I was walking to my university there, a big man with a knife asked me for my cell phone. I noticed that he was high, so I told him “I am not going to give you my cell phone!” and ran. But you should never do that. It’s better to give up your cell phone and save your life.

“I am a digital animator, which is why I came to Canada; to work in the animation industry. Since I was a kid I loved Pixar movies, anime — all animation movies. I always wanted to create stories and create characters to animate. In Ecuador, we need more animation schools and high-level artists. My biggest dream is to improve the animation industry there.”