Shine Fm Blog

Hello From Ecuador

What a trip so far. We arrived in Quito, Ecuador Monday evening and stepped off the plane to what felt somewhat like Calgary weather. Cool, but humid.
We were greeted by a representative with Compassion Canada who met us and escorted us right away to a bus which took us to our hotel. It was already dark, so not a lot to see at that point.

We settled in to the hotel and most were content to hit the sack as our day would start early Monday 6:30.

The rooms were very comfortable and we are certainly well taken care of not only by the hotel but also the Compassion staff.

This morning we awoke, ate and boarded the bus for a half hour trip to one of the Compassion Compounds right here in Quito.

It was such an amazing experience to pull up to the little church and
see a courtyard full of anxious and excited children. We were the first Compassion visitors they had ever seen, so it was very special for them.

There were children so small they couldn't hardly walk yet right up
to teens. As this is summer vacation for the kids (and most go to visit
relatives) there were less children at the compound than usual. About 70
or 80 were there to greet us.

We spent time with the children, played with them, they had planned a program full of dancing and celebration. It was so touching to see them perform for us...to know the hard work they had put into their dances.

We visited their classes, one was for kids between 8 and 10 and they
were hard at work on their mathematics. The other was for the 3 and 4 year
olds, and it is mostly craft based. They were so proud of the little
sunflowers they had made.

After the class time, we made our way to the compound kitchen to
prepare and serve meals for the kids. There are so many kids at this
particular compound and the meal room is so small that they have to do
their lunch in shifts.

They served us an exceptional meal as well and afterward we headed to
some of the homes of the children in the program. We had a chance to
see how they live and to meet their families.

Our group visited the family of 3 of the children enrolled in the
program. There are a total of 4 children in the home, and a mother and
father, although many of the families are fatherless and it is just
single mom raising the kids on her own.

The father (Caesar) is a baker and makes fresh bread every day in a
bakery. His wage is the minimum in the country...$240 per month. Their
home was tiny...a small kitchen with just enough room to work in, a small
bedroom with enough room for a hard wood bed and dresser, another room
that looked like an office or storage of some sort, then if you went
outside and around to another door, you found the other bedroom with just
enough room for a bed, dresser and an area to hang clothes. The 3 younger
boys shared the first bedroom off the kitchen and the mom, dad and 3 year
old little girl shared the bed in the outer bedroom.

Their rent runs them about $60, but the mom has recently been
diagnosed with diabetes. Now her medicine is provided by the hospital for
free, but they have to pay for their syringes. Things are tight as she is
not well and would from time to time sell fruit in the streets to make
money, but can't do this anymore. (Will post some pictures when I get
back)!

They were so thankful for the basket of food and supplies Compassion
brought along and were also so thankful for the program that the kids are
a part of.

We guests also brought bags and bags of toys and supplies for the
many children in the program. Rather than giving it all directly to them,
we presented it to the pastor and staff at the church so they could
distribute it as they see fit.

Compassion has been serving in this particular church for 8 years now
and when they began, there were a total of 62 children in the program.
Today, there are 235 children aged 3 to 18...205 are sponsored and 30 are
still waiting for a sponsor. Tomorrow we are heading to a Compassion Child Survival Program...which serves mothers and their babies. Can't wait to see the
babies!!

Night Night from Ecuador