Bog roll fights, visiting the tsachilas and a rare cheese and wine party!

Week 22

30th Jan- 4th Feb 2012

I am writing this weeks blog in advance as we are off to the amazonian jungle on sunday!  As we are only on thursday I am going to make the presumption that nothing substantial is going to happen on fri & sat. This week we have enjoyed a loo roll fight with 3 year old Ainoah in yet another 'Mathambero' game, where i played the role of Mathambero the robber and Robin and Ainoah the scared citizens! Lots of screaming ensued and it is pretty safe to say both Robin and I where shattered after just 20 minutes whilst Ainoah always abounding in energy wanted to play for longer! Ainoah is like a whirlwind and you can never take your eyes of her for one moment or else she will be covering herself in after-sun cream, calling people on your phone or going through your drawers!

On Sunday Robin and I attended Claire's leaving do (another Latin Link missionary out here). Claire is getting married to Edwin (an Ecuadorian) on friday and will be leaving Ecuador to work in Panama! The party was great and was enhanced by two very rare substances in Ecuador: wine and actual cheese!! After 5 months of no wine and only a wierd rubbery bland form of cheese these two treats where consumed with much vigour and enjoyment by all!

On Wednesday the compassion project opened again so we went along for the morning. To our surprise there where not that many children there. But this was a hidden blessing as we got to spend more time talking and playing with each child. One girl in particular called Estelle had brought in her english book from school to show us and then proceeded to sing all of the songs from it.

Today (being thursay) we had a great experience visiting the local indigenous tribe of Santo Domingo the tsachilas with Amy and Victoria! They showed us some of the medicinal plants, how they created sauna's, the spiritual house used for healing, how they captured snakes to create medicine and even gave us a tribal dance complete with their own hand made xylophone! Best of all was the tribal wear and body paintings that both the men and women wore. The leader and shaman of the tsachilas showed us around he described how the red crest that the men wear on their heads is made out of crushed red seeds and is placed in the hair like dye. He also demonstrated how it is both waterproof and long lasting (up to 10 days). 

Check out our pictures by clicking on this LINK.

Please pray for our safety and health as we venture into the amazonian jungle for the next week! Please also continue to pray for Robin and I about potential jobs upon our return. Please pray for the children at the compassion project that during school holidays they will stay safe and out of trouble. Finally please pray for Pati, Katherine and Ainoah as Cesar has flown back to spain.

Mucho amor de Ecuador xxx

p.s On our way back from visiting the tsachilas we saw a massive iguana run across the road! Just look at the spikes on his back............ I would not like to be walking round bare footed like the tsachilas do!

Tagwa jewellery, mortar boards and skinny jeans....

Week 21

23rd- 29th January 2012

This week has been rather a quiet one without any small children to keep us occupied as both the school and compassion project are shut! I have managed to make myself ill again probably due to my own cooking capabilities and then had an allergic reaction to an unknown substance! As you can probably guess the first half of the week was spent indoors re-cooperating. But on thursday we managed to escape out of the confines of our room to go visit a lady who creates tagwa jewellery. Gladys is a friend of Jill's and has had a hard life as one of her sons was kidnapped. This was because Gladys and her family used to live in the oriente near the columbian border where there are lots of gangs and kidnappings occur there . But with the help of Lara Flores, a charity set up by Jill to help abused women and to equip them with skills to be able to work for themselves, Gladys now has her own tagwa jewellery business. Her products are very beautiful and we bought a few items to bring back home as gifts. Jill is desperate for someone to sell the products in the UK as it would be a gauranteed income for not only Gladys but other ladies as well. Tagwa jewellery is very beautiful and would deffinitly sell extremely well in the UK. If anyones is interested in me getting you some please do let me know!

On Friday was the schools prize giving ceremony! It was great to see all the children' s faces again even though it had only been a week since we last saw them. The ceremony was held in the church and all the children had been scrubbed and polished with new hair cuts and wearing their smartest school uniforms to collect their certificates and get their photo taken. It was great to see the children with their parents and people who love them. We both felt so proud of them all! All of the pre-school years, 1 & 2nd Inicial and 1 Basica 'graduated' from their classes and even got to wear a cloak and mortar board!!

Amazingly on saturday I managed to buy some jeans. You may well think, what is so amazing about that? But the culture in Ecuador when it comes to selling things is not the same as Britain. There is no variation. If you want to buy a pineapple you may well get 10 stalls selling them but they will all be roughly the same and for roughly the same price. This also applies to Ecuadorian fashion. There isn't much in the way of variation and 'jeans' only come in one style and that is ultra skinny. Now being not particularly blessed in the long legs department or in the svelt, toned, not an ounce of fat on me deparrtment either, purchasing 'skinny' jeans was not a task I looked forward to. But little did I realise that the worst was yet to come! I had to get undressed in the middle of a bustling market and wrestle my way into a pair of skinny jeans on a quite balmy day with the material clinging to my legs (for those of you who have ever gone swimming and then tried to put on tights afterwards you will know what I mean) whilst trying to balance precariously behind a not so stable curtain rail which was all that hung between me and hundreds of people seeing me in my pants!

All in all it has not been a very energising week but it has had it's funny moments. Please check out the pictures by clicking on this LINK.

Please pray for our continued health and safety (boring yet effective)! Please also pray that the children will all have a great holiday and be safe. Also I have applied for one or two teaching jobs please could you pray that the right doors open and that both Robin and I would find the right jobs upon our return.

Mucho amor de Ecuador xxx

Farewell Assemblies de Dios Escuela

Week 20

16th- 22nd January 2012

This week was our final week working at the school. Although it was sad to be leaving the children and teachers whom we had gotten to know it was also a happy time with lots of birthday fiestas! Not only was this the last week of term for the children but it was also the dreaded 'exam' week. We still went into the different classes and 'helped' (the children trying to get us to answer the questions for them)! During break times we made the most of being able to spend time with these delightful bundles of fun and energy. On monday Damaris in 2nd Basica had a surprise birthday party with piñatas, birthday cake and balloons. All of the children where delighted that they didn't have to do anymore exams for the day.

On friday the last day at school all the pre-school classes 1st and 2nd incial and 1st Basica had a party where al the children who had birthdays that term where celebrated. Lots of little children wearing birthday hats getting very excited and giggling at the clown that came in to entertain them! It was with heavy hearts that we left the school already missing all the smiley faces of the children and their funny habits. Such as Dominic with his tiny little legs constantly running everywhere, Justin making beep beep noises and pretending to be a car, David coming over to sit on Robin's lap and babble away to him, Joel's incredibly cheeky smile and sticky fingers, Jonathon's love of climbing through your legs, Valeria's steely grip ensuring I sit next to her in class, Junior's love of hanging upside down, the girls playing horses and chase, Derlis pretending to be a lobo (wolf) and chasing others around the play area, Melanie's incredible strength, 3rd Basica's ability to play nicely and include the girls in football games, Ariel's hyperactiveness, Andres's laid back approach to learning and so much more. They all are such wonderful children and we both feel that getting to know them has been such a priviledge and joy.

Check out this weeks photos by clicking on this LINK.

However we looked forward to the next two weeks working at the compassion project where we might stumble across one or two of the children from the school. It came as a surprise to realise that the compassion project was going to be shut for the next week and half but would re-open from the 1st to the 18th Feb! Whilst we where working there on saturday we realised that there was a serious lack of any sort of games equipment (only 1 basketball)! We discovered this when we went with a group of 20 to 30 odd teenagers to the park which has a football pitch and basketball pitch only to discover that nobody had a ball which lead to 15 mins of hanging around until everyone headed back to the compassion project base. An unsuccesful trip! Although the compassion project has over 300 children coming through it's door's the resources they have are extremely limited with the majority of money spent on feeding the children.

As our plans have slightly changed please pray that we may use this free time wisely. Please also pray for the Vallejo family that our good relationship with them stays strong as we haven't seen that much of the extended family recently. Please also pray for all the children in the school and compassion project that God would protect them and that they would enjoy their vacation. As always please pray for our saftey and good health!

Other highlights this week:
-Going swimming at the gym Robin attends which is full of posters of horribly overly muscular men for inspiration check out the pictures to see some!
-Peter the rochweiler has a not one but two girlfriends!! Someone brought their female rochweiler over hoping for peter to help produce pups............. unfortunatly Peter did not like either lady and now Carlos is worried about his manliness!
-Junior during lunch break running around with a broom between his legs as a hobby horse. Very cute.

How time has flown!!

Week 19

9th- 15th Jan 2012

This week was our last 'normal' week at the school as next week the children have exams. It has been a fun week with the children at the school and at the compassion project. Yet again we are slowly realising what life is like for the average Ecuadorian person. I was suprised to find out that Elizabeth the English teacher at the school only earns $250 a month she informed me that her rent is $100 a month. Leaving her and her son $150 to live of for the entire month!! In sterling that is 100 pounds. Perhaps then it is not so surprising that so many of the teachers don't indulge in christmas presents as they don't have enough money. Culturally Ecuadorians dont tend to practice saving as the majority of people don't go away on lavish holidays and houses are more reasonably priced instead the general trend is that people spend everything they earn each month on living and getting by.

In school we played a lot of hangman this week with 4th and 5th Basica and enjoyed helping the younger children with their writing. During break time Robin had fun playing football and  Basketball with all the small children. They in turn had lots of fun climbing all over us, sitting on our laps pretending to ride a horse and requesting to be dangled upside down! Two little girls in particular enjoyed standing on the bench behind Robin and flicking his ears!  

We where working with the teenagers at the compassion project who rather unsprisingly acted like teenagers. Blowing up a condom like a balloon whilst one of the leaders chased him round the court trying to get it off him! They are a very friendly bunch of teenagers and invite us to play football or hang out and listen to their music with them.

On thursday we took the school assembly which is a devotional time. We where up the front singing songs with actions and Robin read out his testimony. One of the teachers then read out the father's love letter (a collection of verses from the bible) to the children and we where amazed to see that the children actually stopped chattering away and listened to what was being said. For those of you who may not know 'The Fathers Love Letter' here it is:

You may not know me,
but I know everything about you.
Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up.
Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways.
Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.
Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image.
Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being.
Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring.
Acts 17:28

I knew you even before you were conceived.
Jeremiah 1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation.
Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake,
for all your days are written in my book.
Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth
and where you would live.
Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother's womb.
Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born.
Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented
by those who don't know me.
John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry,
but am the complete expression of love.
1 John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you.
1 John 3:1

Simply because you are my child
and I am your Father.
1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could.
Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect father.
Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand.
James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs.
Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope.
Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3

My thoughts toward you are countless
as the sand on the seashore.
Psalms 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

I will never stop doing good to you.
Jeremiah 32:40

For you are my treasured possession.
Exodus 19:5

I desire to establish you
with all my heart and all my soul.
Jeremiah 32:41

And I want to show you great and marvelous things.
Jeremiah 33:3

If you seek me with all your heart,
you will find me.
Deuteronomy 4:29

Delight in me and I will give you
the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires.
Philippians 2:13

I am able to do more for you
than you could possibly imagine.
Ephesians 3:20

For I am your greatest encourager.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you
in all your troubles.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are brokenhearted,
I am close to you.
Psalm 34:18

As a shepherd carries a lamb,
I have carried you close to my heart.
Isaiah 40:11

One day I will wipe away
every tear from your eyes.
Revelation 21:3-4

And I'll take away all the pain
you have suffered on this earth.
Revelation 21:3-4

I am your Father, and I love you
even as I love my son, Jesus.
John 17:23

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed.
John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being.
Hebrews 1:3

He came to demonstrate that I am for you,
not against you.
Romans 8:31

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

His death was the ultimate expression
of my love for you.
1 John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved
that I might gain your love.
Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus,
you receive me.
1 John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you
from my love again.
Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I'll throw the biggest party
heaven has ever seen.
Luke 15:7

I have always been Father,
and will always be Father.
Ephesians 3:14-15

My question is…
Will you be my child?
John 1:12-13

I am waiting for you.
Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad
Almighty God

We are both really enjoying our time out here and love spending time with this children so it is sad to think that next week will be our last at the school! How time has flown.

Please pray for our continued health and safety and for the lives of the children at the school and compassion project. As our return to England grows more imminent please pray that we will find the return jobs upon our return. Please also pray for Carlos as his son plans to leave soon taking his family with him to Belgium, please pray he wont be to lonely without them.

Take a look at this weeks photos by clicking on this LINK.

Other highlights this week:
-Joel a 4yr old with a serious case of sticky hands syndrome. Always picking up anything he can get his hands on and claiming it as his own! I found him using the teachers stanley knife to try and sharpen a pencil!
-The class getting locked out of the classroom as the headmaster took the wrong set of keys.
- Sat on the floor with the class watching the Barbie movie. I had a little girl on my lap called Valeria who farted on my leg and stunk both Robin and I out!
-Going to the cinema to watch the new Sherlock Holmes film in English!!
-Realising just how long it takes to feed small children. Robin was trying to feed Junior and Caleb  who barely finished their food before the end of break!

Enjoying the smiles of the little children....

Week 18

2nd - 8th January 2012

A rather quiet week this week as Robin is recovering from his illness but he is now completely better praise the Lord! PLEASE no more ilnesses!! School has been fun and the children have been very playful with Junior and the boys climbing all over Robin and the girls running around screaming. We have also been to the Compassion project which had changed a little bit. Usually on saturdays they have both the teenagers and young children at the project which can mean 300 children squished into a very small space. But the structure has changed so that the younger children come on mon- wed and older students come thurs-sat.

It is strange to think that we only have 2 weeks left at the school before it breaks for holidays until April. Reminding us that our time in Ecuador is slowly coming to an end. Having spent the last 3 - 4 months helping, playing and getting to know all the different little characters in the school it makes me feel sad to know that we wont get to see there smiley faces anymore. I wonder if they will be alright. What their lives hold in store for them and what they will grow up to be. At times like this you feel bad for leaving them but whilst we where sat watching them play at lunch break taking tumbles on concrete floors and just getting straight back up again and brushing themsemves off I knew that they would be alright becuase there are people here like the teachers in the school who will love them and look after them.

Please pray for our safety and continued good health. Also for the children in the school and compassion project to grow up knowing that there are people who love them and care about their futures. We would also like to thank God for the fantastic welcome and brilliant experience it has been and continues to be working at the school and compassion project. Finally please also pray about the right jobs becoming available for both Robin and I upon our return.

Take a look at this week's photos by clicking on this LINK.

Much love from Ecuador xxx

Other highlights this week:
-5 year old Valeria grabbing my hand as soon as I entered the classroom directing me to sit next to her.
-Valeria's very cute and slightly gross 3 year old sister who is always covered in dirt picking up an exceptionally dirty crisp from a extremely dirty floor and eating it.
-Ainoah playing with Peter the rochweiler sitting on him like a horse and trying to put his hair in bunches!
-One of the 3 year old boys in PE whilst trying to hola hoop exercises pretending to be a car and when people came to close started going 'beep beep'.
-Torrential rain all day and all night. There was so much water it was like a monsoon!

New Photos!

I have now managed to upload all the photos for week 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 please take a look at that by following the links on the blogs! Enjoy!

Cultural differences...

Week 17

27th December- 1st January 2012

Hola! This has been a bit of a mixed week as Robin has been poorly with a strange fever that wiped him out for a few days.  This has meant that we have both been stuck in our room going slightly crazy with cabin fever! But we did manage to go into school for a few days where we were greeted by a smiley happy child called Junior who wanted a hug. School this week has been interesting as we have both discovered that most of the children did not recieve christmas gifts. After asking a few children what they had got at christmas and recieving shrugs of the shoulders and shaking heads in the way of a reply we quickly learnt that quite a few of them had not recieved anything. Even when we asked the teachers if they had bought all their christmas presents yet for their children they replied they had not and would not be buying them anything as they can not afford christmas. Christmas in Ecuador is celebrated but it is not as big as the New Years Eve fiesta. Unlike New Years when the 1st and 2nd of January is a national holiday, christmas has no national holiday. The majority of people where working on christmas eve and on christmas day. The shops stayed open and even the fruit and veg market on our street didn't shut. Perhaps it is a mixture of poverty and christmas being less important than it is for us Brits that meant that the children did not recieve gifts. One little boy in particular (David 4/5 yrs old) made our hearts melt as he climbed up onto Robin's lap and started saying that Robin was Papa Noel (Santa Clause) as Robin had dressed up as him for the School Christmas fiesta. He sat there pulling at Robin's facial hair chatting away confused as to why his beard was so short now as last time he saw him it had been much bigger and white! David then asked Papa Noel (Robin) to please get him a medium sized red car as he had not recieved any gifts for christmas and then gave Robin a hug.

On saturday night we attended Carlos's family New Year celebrations. Robin and I had helped create some of the munyeka's (guys) for the midnight bonfire. The munyeka's where all supposed to be different members of the family and even Robin had one! Apparently the tradition is to set fire to the munyeka's at midnight as a symbol of getting rid of all the garbage in your life from last year and wiping the slate clean for the new year. We went to Sandra and Carlos Jnr house for a roast turkey and rice dinner before heading back to our house for a street party. It seemed everyone was out on the streets and there where tons of fireworks and explosions going off all the time!  Some of the munyeka's where very life like so when you saw them strapped to the bonnet of  cars it looked like somebody had just had a horrific accident. We mostly sat around and chatted and did a little bit of dancing until midnight when the munyeka's where set alight. Then came lots of hugging and kissing and the crazyness began as people began jumping over the burning munyeka's only just making it across, often landing with sparks of fire on their shoes! Even the local firefighter was joining in dragging his young son and daughter over the fire.

Check out the photos by clicking on this LINK.

Please pray for the end of sicknesses!! We are both bored of being ill. Please continue to pray for our safety, this week another person got robbed on our street and it is difficult always having to be alert in case of robbers. We only have a few more weeks working at the school before they shut for holidays so please pray that we can make good use of the time and bless them in anyway possible. Again please pray for jobs upon our return home.

Lots of love from Ecuador
xxxx

Other things that have amused us this week:
-Finding out that Peter the rockwheiler loves to eat ice.
-Having to stop the children fighting over being able to sharpen their own pencils after an outbreak of pencils needing sharpening!
-Trying to feed two 3 yr old girls. One of whom unfortunatly had chickens feet with rice. The other girl refused to eat hers and I only managed to get 4 spoon fulls in as the majority of the rice went on the floor!
-Singing 'row row row your boat' with 2nd Basica who loved the actions!
-Playing the 'Mathambero' game with Enoah.