Day 6 (2023)

Hi St. John’s, this is Eli Strayer.

Today began at the early hour of 7 AM (at least early for me) After waiting until five minutes before our meeting time, I quickly got ready and headed to meet the rest of the group. 

Our hosts ran down the game plan and got us sorted in to two groups, we went to board the bus to head to the camp. Unfortunately, on the way to the bus Bella fell and severely twisted her ankle.

Fortunately the ankle ended up being sprained not fractured, Bella had to spend the morning with my mom, Caroline, and one of our Ecuadorian friends getting the ankle x-rayed. Although Bella was alright, the excursion did not go so smoothly. Someone (Caroline) accidentally ran over a curb resulting in a flat tire. My mother had to drive through the hectic Otavalo streets as she chauffeured two mechanics and our Ecuadorian friend around looking for a tire shop. The few words she knew in Spanish didn’t help much as she drove a car with an automatic transmission, and was unable to explain how to drive it to the manual car oriented mechanics.

Back to camp… when we arrived we were once again faced with the treacherous mountain ahead of us that we had to climb as the bus is too big to make the sharp turns. Although it only takes around ten minutes to hike up the mountain, it feels like an eternity and with the thin Ecuadorian air I find myself gasping for air each time I finally get to the top. 

Out of breath, we were warmly greeted by the church staff and children, and were sat down for our breakfast. This morning we enjoyed fruit, scrambled eggs, cheese empanadas, bread, and peanut butter. Like always, the Ecuadorians delivered on the food. Following breakfast we went to the green area to have fun with the kids. There was a wide assortment of activities including uno, soccer, and where I spent most of my time, the four square volleyball net. 

We spent about an hour here until the kids went in to the building on site to sing songs and listen to the pastor. 

While they did this, a few of us stayed out to do some work. This mostly included smashing rocks with sledgehammers and stacking bricks to help build a carport. 

While we were doing this the second group of kids arrived at the camp. Because of the large amount of children at Carmen Bajo, they split up three groups of children based off age and designated a day at the camp for each group. The new group immediately headed off to do a hike with half of our mission team while the other half including me took the group that arrived yesterday to a pool in town. 

The pool was in the back of a building near the camp, and had a greenhouse like covering which in turn made it very humid. Although I felt at home with humidity, I did not pack a swimsuit and was not feeling so great in my jeans. The good news though is that the kids were having a great time and enjoying their last day in Otavalo. 

Eventually it was time for us to depart and we said our final goodbyes to the kids. Back at the camp we again hiked up the hill and made our way to meet the new group of kids. We again spent time playing games and having fun with the kids in the green area until it was time for them to eat dinner. The kids roasted hot dogs as we helped them and after helping each kid out, the mission team sat at our own table to eat dinner. Tonight we were served spaghetti with Ecuadorian chicken and tomato sauce. The cooks at the Otovalo camp are amazing people and often go unnoticed. They work all day making our meals and rarely take time for themselves. The food they make is always delicious and something all of us look forward to everyday. 

After dinner we gathered our belongings and headed back down the mountain to our bus. We ended our work tonight with a debrief where we discussed our emotions and where we thought we served today. Although they can be tiring, debriefs are important to us as they allow us to process and share everything that had positively or negatively affected us that day, and provide a safe space to share our feelings. Although debrief was the end of our work for today it wasn’t quite the end of the night. 

Some of the missionaries decided to play Dutch Blitz, while others went out to check the sketchy zipline, including me. This zip line was one of the best parts of my day. We all gave our attempts going down and each attempt ended in its own interesting way. If you weighed too much you’d bottom halfway down which is what happened to me and most the boys, but if you were light enough you’d zip all the way down until you reached the stopper where’d you’d be instantly flung off into a grassy patch. After each attempt we’d usually be dying from laughter and luckily no one was hurt. Otovalo is probably one of the most beautiful and fun places I have ever been to. 

The mix of the lush green mountains and valleys along with the time we get to spend with the kids is an unmatchable experience. I’m extremely happy that I was given the opportunity to come back to Ecuador and make even more memories I will never forget. Today was an amazing day like usual and I plan on continuing that trend throughout this entire trip. Thank you to everyone who supported this mission and I hope my summary of today can provide a glimpse into just how great Ecuador is.

- Written by Eli Strayer