Day 5 (2022)

Today (Monday, 7/11) we woke up for a 7:30 AM breakfast of croissants and hard boiled eggs with fresh orange juice. Once we finished breakfast we headed to the bus to go to the church of Buen Pastor. Unfortunately today is our last day working with them before heading towards Otavalo. The ride to Buen Pastor is a moment I look forward to every day. The city of Quito is filled with beautiful colorful buildings and a stunning mountain backdrop. The streets are full of people and vendors on the corners. 

When we arrived at Buen Pastor we greeted the members and then found our seats for the devotional led by Caroline Devitt (translated by Willy for the Spanish speakers). After we prayed and ended the devotional, we were split up into groups, and met the families we would be assisting in painting for the day. While we waited for our members to buy the paint, some of the youth taught the adult members modern day slang (now that they know it it’s not very cool anymore though). 

Once we acquired the paint we boarded the bus and headed to the house of the woman we were helping. I was grouped up with Chris, Ainsley, Willy, and Rachel. When we arrived at her house we were immediately welcomed like good friends. We got right to work and started sanding the walls of the room with sand paper. After a lot of hard scrubbing and piles of paint dust on the floor, Willy brought in the paint and brushes. I used my long arms to paint high up on the walls and Ainsley and Rachel used rollers to get the rest. After doing a few coats, the painting was going great, and I barely had any paint on me. Unfortunately, Ainsley and Rachel did not like the I had kept myself paint free, so they came at with paint brushes until I looked like a member of the Blue Man Group. During the time at their house we were able to talk to the family members and learn about their life and their struggles in Quito. Hearing about the problems in their lives was heartbreaking, but the mother was very grateful that we were able to come and help in any way we could. Even though she was struggling a lot, she was able to happily welcome us into her town and home with open arms which I am forever thankful for. 

After finishing up painting it was time to head back to Buen Pastor for lunch. We played some games with the Ecuadorians as we waited for our food to be prepared, including one called ping boom (which I was a natural at). So far in Ecuador the food has been amazing, and today was no exception. We were served grilled chicken and rice with an ahi dressing which is a form of salsa that tops the rice. After eating my plate and helping someone finish theirs, we headed to the front of the church doors where we thought we would say our final goodbyes to the few that remained there. But when we opened the doors to the church we were greeted with purple streamers and a church full of people surprising us with a goodbye party. 

Walking through the church was surreal, all these people cheering around us and celebrating. Just the thought that all these people coordinated this event and all showed up just to say goodbye to our group is insane to me. We sat down at the front and watched a heartwarming compilation video of all the amazing memories we had made with the church in just a few short days, but the fun with them was not quite over yet. Just after we finished watching the videos, the dance party started. I’m horrendous at dancing so this was not a very smooth time for me, but some of the Ecuadorians gave their best attempt at trying to teach me some dance moves. Even with my terrible dancing the dance party was great, we played some of our favorite songs and they played some of their favorite songs too. By the time it was over most of us were completely out of breath. 

For a final surprise, Buen Pastor brought out gifts for all of us that included handwritten cards and some Ecuadorian candies. The church then gave us a last send off prayer and we started saying our goodbyes. Everyone was giving final hugs and taking photos together. This was an extremely bittersweet moment, many members of Buen Pastor and members of our group were crying while saying goodbye. As we rode the bus out of the area we could see them waving goodbye one last time. I am extremely grateful and happy to have been able to meet the wonderful community at Buen Pastor and make so many unforgettable memories. 

The next stop for us was dinner, which we would be served at a place called Casa G. Casa G is a house that takes care of boys who were previously living out on the streets. It is under the same group as Education = Hope and provides education, food, shelter, and much more to these boys. Just like nearly every other place we have visited here in Ecuador, we were welcomed with open arms. After meeting the man who ran the house and some of the boys who were a part of it, we were served a dinner of spaghetti, rice, meat sauce, and bread. This was a meal I was more familiar with and it tasted great.

Tyler Schnittker and I sat next to and talked to one of the members of the house. He knew a fair amount of English but occasionally we had to use Tyler’s broken Spanish and google translate to assist us. Through this process we learned much about him including what movies he liked, sports he played, his job, and more. Even though communicating was a little tough sometimes, we all learned a lot about each other and it was interesting to see how he really wasn’t very different from us. After finishing up dinner we said goodbye to the boys there and headed back to our hostel. As the tiredness crept in we had a debrief and talked about our day and the different people we met. 

Overall, today was an absolutely amazing day in Quito. Being able to help the community and give back felt great. Even though leaving Buen Pastor was very sad, the memories and relationships we built there are priceless, and I will never forget the amazing community they have.

- Written by Eli Strayer