Week 3 in Ecuador

Hola todos,

Not much new this week. I can see why mostly only girls volunteer for this program, since a lot of what we do is changing, feeding, playing with, and caring for kids. I worked with Shawn in the nursery this week for the first time. He was all about getting the job done, and not about the "cute baby" stuff. We got a new 5 day old baby in the nursery on Friday, and he could have cared less, while all of the other girl volunteers all had to come in and see the baby.

Shawn is definitely getting baby care practice, though. He just needs to beef up on the goo goo interaction stuff.

I got to stay the night in the Military Hospital this week with one of the special needs kids, who was hospitalized for pneumonia. It was interesting to be there, and a change of pace from the orphanages.

Probably the most fun thing that happened this week was going to Trinidad, a community in the mountains just outside of Cuenca. We go once a week and do an activity with the kids at a daycare there. The drive up was awesome, because halfway there we had a panoramic view of Cuenca, which I had not seen before. Then, over the hill was a completely different community, rural, with farms and houses, and sometimes barely passable roads.

The kids at the daycare were awesome. It was immediately obvious they have parents, as they were able to take turns, follow directions, and addressed us with Senor, Senorita, etc, something I have not heard since coming here. Our orphanage kids have to be chased, timed out (like for spitting--I did that three times during one dinner this week), and coerced into eating, getting along, participating, whatever. It probably stems from a life long string of volunteers, none with the same limit-setting skills, rather than what you usually get with two, or even one, parent. Anyway, I really liked going to Trinidad, and hope to get to go again, as we have to take turns.

I did find out this week the orphange is more than an orphanage. There are three kids there who are siblings (the oldest of any child at the orphanage is 5), and they are there in hopes that their parents can get things together to take them back home. Another little boy, just under a year, is there because it was too much for his grandma to take care of him. She comes every Sunday and spends several hours with him, so I am sure she will take him again when she can. Kids who would be in foster care in the US are there. However, those are just four kids out of about 60, so there are plenty of kids who need homes.

Sam and I went to a baptism last night, of an 8 year old girl whose mother works at one of the orphanages (not the Catholic one, of course). After, we got invited over to the house for a dinner, where many people were crowded in for rice, chicken, and cake. It was great. The kids invited Sam to play, and I felt a part of the culture, which is something we don't get much of working 45-50 hours a week in the orphanage. We went to their church today, too, and along with the little girl, Sam was finally confirmed a member of the church. He was pretty happy about this. He said, "I got baptized on my birthday, and confirmed on Father's Day". His dad confirmed him.

Con Amor,

Familia Reed