Day 4 (2018)

Today when we arrived at the church, we broke up into four different groups. Each group was assigned to four different houses up on the mountain near the church to complete work for the people living there.

My team (Pablo, Danny, Mary Mac, Neil, and Juan Carlos) were assigned to help assist an elderly woman at her house in the mountains. She needed her kitchen to be cleaned, a door to be repainted, and the roof to be redone. When I entered the kitchen I was shocked to see the state of it, and the smell was nauseous. I spent about 20 minutes just cleaning burned rice off the bottom of a skillet. After we were done with the kitchen, the roof, and the door, I went back into the kitchen to grab my bag and was surprised to see a young lady cooking with the same pan I had worked so vigorously to clean. She was preparing food for the lady's young son, who she had not been able to cook for because the pan had been so dirty. It made me happy knowing that I helped with something that she was passionate about, especialy since it needed it done for not just her but some else she loved.

Later on in the day we led activities at a festival for children who also live up on the mountain. Catie, Sibley, and I were in charge of the "fishing" station (which was a blanket suspended buy a swing set to act as water). Although I don't think the kids quite believed they were fishing, it was pleasent to see how happy they were when they got Sweedish Fish clipped onto their fishing poles. It was also special to see the joy on all of their faces, just from being at the carnival.

After the carnival/festival we played a very intense game of "What are the Odds" on the bus with our new Ecuadorian friends. It was a good experience because it invited everyone who wanted to play. It was also a good way for language barriers to be broken down between one another. To cap off the day, everyone went to the mall and ate at KFC. - we filled up an entire section of the food court with our team and the youth from Buen Pastor.

The day was full of manual struggles and mental struggles. However, it was filled with love and passionate emotion, and I believe it was one of the best days we've had so far. I pray for a good, succesful rest of the trip.


(written by Bella Stoddart)