Summer in Ecuador: Just a Good Week

Hola everyone!

I just wanted to share with you a couple of good things that happened this week while I was at the orphanage. I actually got to spend the whole week in Quito and going to the same place, which is the first time that has happened, so I was really looking forward to going back to the same kids every single day. The kids at this orphanage are really cute and just really need love right now. I spent a lot more time with my little girl Anayi (I learned how to spell her name! :D) and we definitely had a lot of fun continuing to bond. I played games with all the kids such as "got your nose" and I think they were a little confused because it may not translate quite the same in Spanish, but by today they were "getting my nose" too, and laughing the whole time. We got to listen to music and dance. Some of the older girls taught me some new dance moves, so maybe my dancing skills have improved. I love being able to help out while they eat lunch as well. The ladies there have a lot of it organized, but it can still get hectic with trying to plate up everything and serve it, especially when they kids don't like to sit the whole time, so I am able to be there and help them either get the food out or get the kids to stay in their chairs. Today, I got to bring my nailpolish and paint a couple of the girls' nails. They were so cute and excited just to have a little red on their nails, and I may have to bring it back again later next week to touch up their nails. But, the best thing that I am able to give these kids is just love and attention. The women who run this orphanage do an amazing job at caring for the kids and doing their best to get volunteers in to help them, but it is still really hard to make these kids feel like individuals. A lot of the kids have been through so much already, and I don't want them to ever feel like they are not loved and not wanted. There are a couple sets of brothers and sisters at this place who have been taken away from their mothers for various reasons, and the hard part about that is they have different fathers and different family members that may want to take them. There are a couple of grandmothers that want one child because that is their blood relation, but the other isn't, and the orphanage doesn't really want to separate the siblings that are there. There is also a little girl who is suffering badly from withdrawl right now because her mother was addicted to alcohol while she was pregnant. They were lucky enough to remove her from the household, but she is really struggling and looks about 2 years old when she really is 5. I also found out that the children at this orphanage are not up for adoption unless they have absolutely no family relation options that could take them in. A lot of the time the families do want to take the children, but because they are poor, they do not have the money resources. There are only a few kids there that are up for adoption right now, otherwise, they just hope and pray that family members will find resources to take the kids in full time to give them the full love. The little girl who I spend a lot of time with, Anayi, is not up for adoption, which is probably a good thing otherwise I would end up with her back in the states in August :-) but she and her 1 1/2 year old sister Daisy are just waiting to see if their Grandma or Aunt will be able to take them in. They have been living in this orphanage for about a year now, and it is hard because Anayi still remembers her mom and dad a little, but little Daisy will never know them. They were not functional, but it is still hard to go away from something that they knew. But, like I said, I did my best this week just to freely love these kids and do anything I could to show them I do care for them and want them to be happy and have fun. I became a jungle gym for them and I come home every day completely exhausted, but I love it. Yesterday they had me be pretend to be a tiburon (which I found out later meant shark, I thought it was dragon so I pretended to be the wrong animal, but they didn't seem to mind), and I got to chase them all around and it was just a good time. I feel so blessed that I got to spend this whole week with them.

This weekend I will help out with a youth group on Saturday and spend some time at that church with the community there, and then Sunday we may take some time to watch the World Cup final game. I just got asked last night to go to Otavalo from Monday until Wednesday to help out with a pastor's retreat that is going on. One of the other girls who I am working with is going, and the missionaries asked if I would be willing to go as well. It is a convention for new pastors that come from indigenous areas in the jungle, and they bring their wives too. I will spend most of my time with the pastor's wives, and we will do things like a Bible study on how they are special and we get to go shopping in the market, and basically just let them relax for a couple of days and let other people serve them. It is a helpful get away for them and they won't have to worry about their children, food, their husbands, just anything. I am real excited to be a part of that and really honored that the missionaries asked me to be there with them too. Also,I am hoping to get the chance to meet up quickly with the family I stayed with at the beginning of the summer and say hello to them again and introduce my friend Michelle to them. I will be sure to let you know what happens with all of that. I will be able to go back to my orphanage on Thursday and Friday next week too before the next team comes, so it will be yet another busy but good week!

That's about it for now. I can't believe how late into the summer it is already; only a little over a month left, and when I look at my schedule, it doesn't seem like too much time. I'm making the best of my moments here!