Un Día en Mis Zapatillas

“These experiences inspire and reinforce the commitment of these participants to service, social justice, and solidarity with the people of Ecuador and the world.”

~ Rostro de Cristo Mission Statement ~

This week, while I was at work at Hogar de Cristo, I talked with another international volunteer who recently arrived from France. Hogar collaborates with many different foundations around the world, and as of now there are volunteers from France, Germany, Chile, Colombia, Spain, and the United States. We were talking about my experience, my schedule, and about Rostro de Cristo (RdC) in general. It was a combination of her interest, surprise, and my ability to answer her questions that led to a realization that I´m part of something pretty unique this year. Although I don´t understand everything about my year in Ecuador, as I´m only 5 months in, I am understanding more and more our mission and why I´m so fortunate as to have found this program. I told her about our monthly All-RdC Day of Reflections, our weekly community and spirituality nights, our weekend work with the parish and our daily community outreach/neighborhood time, and she told me how their foundations don´t have any of that. They have business meetings to talk about logistics and they work full time, and I suppose I never understood how foreign this might be to others.

After that conversation I thought a lot about what I do here, how I explain my year to people, and what it means to be a “Rostro Volunteer” in Mount Sinai. I’ve decided a little day in my shoes might serve the theme well…

8:00-8:30 – Wake up under a mosquito net to the daily combo of music, dogs, cats, and roosters.

8:35 – Actually get out of bed and take a cold bucket shower. Brush teeth and throw on one of two outfits: Maroon Rostro Polo or Green Hogar T-Shirt.

 8:45-9:00 – Fill Nalgene with purified water, grab my satchel (that contains a notebook, my keys, and of course, a Spanish-English Dictionary), greet the Day-Guard, greet Nala and Clubber, leave the Rostro gate. Walk down the dirt, pot-holed road past my neighbors, buy 2 bread rolls at the panaderia for breakfast, wait at the corner for the first 25cent crowded bus out of Mount Sinai.

9:15 – Yell at the bus driver to pare (stop), push my way to the front of the bus, hop off bus that may or may not still be moving.

*9:15-12:30 – Work at Proyecto Mision, the community organizing office at Hogar de Cristo. This is where I have done a month of tutoring in the sector with the Jesuits, accompanied my co-workers to women’s rights workshops, taught computer to the presidents of the computers, and am currently working on a map of Mount Sinai. Much of the time is spent out in the Mount Sinai neighborhood—my neighborhood, talking with the people, handing out invitations for workshops, etc.—but other times I am in the office with “office work” such as writing up informes or inputting information.

12:30 – Eat lunch at Hogar or at a neighbor’s house…depends on the day.

1:00 – Return back to Mount Sinai in another bus

*1:30-6:30 Begin Neighborhood Time/Community Outreach. Visit with neighbors. Literally walk to a neighbor’s, knock on the door or the gate and say “A ver?” to see if anyone’s home. Converse, hear stories, help kids with homework. Sometimes this is just sitting with a neighbor sipping on Cola. Other times it’s watching a movie or playing cards. The point is to build relationships. This part of my schedule looks very different day to day, but it is what has brought me life. I have traveled with a neighbor to the hospital to take his son to therapy, painted the back of a truck, received a pedicure, learned to cook Ecuadorian dishes, and most importantly developed trust with families in the neighborhood I live in.

7:00 – Home by dark and dinner with the community. I cook once a week.

8:30 – Various intentional community activities depending on the day (Community, Spirituality, or Accountability Night. “Fiesta de Limpieza” aka Chore Night)

10:00 – A few games of Chinese Poker, leisurely reading, community time and/or letter-writing.

11/12:00ish – Hit the hay          

*Some days I work at Hogar in the morning, some days in the afternoon. Therefore, neighborhood time changes from mornings to afternoons, which is nice because some children go to school in the morning, some in the afternoon. 

Add going to an afterschool program (where I dressed as Spiderman) once a week to accompany my community-mate Ana at her worksite, and weekends are more neighborhood/community time: 3 masses that I occasionally play guitar at, my catechism class, and youth group.

             

Fr. Jim, the founder of RdC celebrated a mass with us, in our living room, when he visited a few weeks ago. He talk to us about our country’s focus on doing. We so often measure success by what we’ve done, what we do, and what will we do. Even when people meet, the question undoubtedly arises, “So what do you do?” People respond, “I am a teacher” or “I’m a lawyer.” The truth is these are our professions. We make a living with these jobs, but it does not define who we are. Fr. Jim told us that this year will be hard in many ways, but perhaps the hardest is that “we live in a culture of doing, and then you accepted a year with a foundation whose focus is on being.” The challenge is to be here, with the people—talking, laughing, walking, crying—without analyzing how productive we’re being. To accept the fact that there is value in and of itself to just be with a person…and that is where our neighborhood time comes in. I’m not sure I can fully capture, in a blog, what it is I do most days, but I know that it is making friends and it is listening. It is giving support and allowing others to support me. It is learning how to be a guest and it is learning how to have your feet washed when you feel these people owe you nothing (I mentioned I received a pedicure, and it was uncomfortable. I find myself still working on how to accept graciously and how to be humbled). All of this is part of the Rostro mission, and although it is still difficult day by day—difficult to feel unproductive and undeserving yet constantly served in my “year of service”—I can only describe the life I get from being with the people, in my job at Hogar and my time with the families, as a sign that Rostro knows what it’s doing. My time and my attitude is what I have given most this year, and since I know it’s hard to see clearly while you’re in the thick of it, all I can do is keep giving those things.

The last few weeks have been as busy as ever and November came and went quicker than my interest in the hit single Gangnam Style. Before I leave here’s a few things that have passed:

First and foremost, Happy Belated Thanksgiving everyone! We were blessed enough to be able to celebrate the day in conjunction with Ana’s 22^nd birthday…

…with a turkey and all. Greg and I tackled the task of 
preparing and carving it. The day was comical and Disney at best.

Tried stabbing holes. Knife got stuck. (Sword in the Stone)

Making sure it was clean and the right weight. (The Lion King)

 
I was honored two weeks ago to be asked to be a padrino (godfather) of Denys, a kid from youth group. Here they have godparents for more than just Baptism, and I was asked for his Confirmation. After talking to him about the expectations he has, considering I´ll be leaving next year, I graciously accepted the invitation. He’s an awesome, kind, and responsible kid and I was lucky to be a part of that with him.


 

At the beautiful Corpus Cristi parish
Confirmation morning

Attempting to make his tie straighter and skinnier. Only succeeded with the former.

The birthday parties continue…

Elias’ (our guard’s son) birthday party

Upgraded from the back of pickup trucks to children’s faces

The Barcelona (soccer team) logo was the popular choice

Coli’s community night last week was Christmas Decorating Night. We made Xmas cookies, listened to Glee Christmas, and I may or may not have stayed up till 5:30am making a foam chimney. 

At least now we can stay warm.

My Talleres de Computacion (Computer Workshops) came and went at work. Many of the Presidents of the committees didn´t show up, but I would like to believe the few that I did teach over 2 weeks learned a lot. Two of them went from not knowing how to hold a mouse to being able to design a Word document. Overall it was quite the experience to be able to apply the Spanish I´ve learned so far in a classroom setting, and I think it was a success. I am not sure what the next 8 months of work holds for me, but this Thursday I am collaborating with the communication office to film a recycling workshop at a school, so I get to do some video work! Also, we recently got a new boss in the office so I will be re-transitioning, but I hope for the better.

The cooking/learning continues. This, however, has been my best dish thus far. Arroz con Menestra de Lentejas.

(I may or may not have cooked it at a neighbor’s house and brought it over.)

Monte Sinai is getting ready for Christmas and has dived head-first into Advent. Every week my work is doing a singing procession with the Advent candles [See photo at top]. Last week I was asked to play the guitar to lead the group and ended up co-playing with the Director of Hogar de Cristo, Luis Távara: the boss of the bosses.

Considering I’m in the midst of learning these new-fangled Spanish Xmas songs, 
it was absolutely wonderful to have a compañero.

The last thing doesn’t have a picture, but since my last blog Emily, my girlfriend, booked her flight. She gets in this Saturday the 15th! She’ll be here for 5 days and we’ll be splitting our time between staying here in Mount Sinai and going to Baños. The last day she´s here, Nick, a great friend from college, will also be swinging by for a day after his 6 month volunteer/Spanish/medical program in Guatamala. Pictures and stories to come.

Fr. Jim gave us a quote that same night, “Vocation is the place where your deepest hunger and the world’s deepest need meet.” I’m not sure that I know what that is for my future, but I do know that this year is going to form that in some way. I have been given a year devoted to walking beside the people of Mount Sinai—people who are teaching me more than they know—and all the while I’m learning a lot more about myself and how I can just be.

Happy Holidays!!

Miguel

Spiderman, Jesús, and Possum

October, one of my favorite months in the states and coincidentally Cardigan Season, has come and gone and I can’t believe I have been here for over 3 months. I see Instagram’d pictures on Facebook of snow and fireplaces and I realize my sense of time has altered in so many ways. Sure, I am getting used to Latin American time, meetings starting an hour late, but also it is as if I’m in an eternal summer. In the States the leaves have fallen, the cold approaches and I can’t believe it.

Nevertheless, no matter how far away I feel some days, the days here have been scooting along. And here’s what’s happened.

Last update I had played guitar for Rosa’s 91st. Well, this month has been a month of birthdays.

Greg (the one with frosting on his face) has family near Guayaquil and his cousins threw a party for his 22nd birthday.

Our guard, Omar, also completed another year and a couple weeks after we celebrated with his family, he was followed by his son’s 8th, Omar Elias.

We had Brittany´s, who just turned 1 years old. My ice breaker this year has been magic...with the only two card tricks I know by heart.

When I last wrote, Clubber was sad. He needed a friend, and Rostro pulled through. We are now the proud owners of a new 4 month old Rottweiler, and her name is Nala.

My job description just doubled.

There is a Mormon Church a couple blocks away, and the 2 local missionaries came over for dinner. One is from California and the other Colombia and I think they appreciate getting to know other non-natives in the neighborhood.

Weekend commitments at the parish are continuing to go really well. Still teaching confirmation catechism every Saturday and play guitar at the masses when the youth group needs me to. Two weeks ago two masses overlapped and the normal singers couldn’t get to the second mass. Damien, the 19 year old youth group leader and head music minister, convinced me to take the lead. If there are any attendees of that particular mass reading this right now, I apologize.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, but with Día de los Defunctos (Day of the Dead) and All Saints Day, the day doesn’t hold much weight here. I was determined to keep it alive and since it fell on a Wednesday (my day to tutor at the afterschool program) all I needed was a costume meant for a 7 year old. I prayed for wind and cool air and the day turned out to be one of the hottest and brightest yet.

Since it took about 20 minutes to put on, I wore it on the bus there and back...I couldn´t sit down.

My job at Hogar de Cristo is going well. I work 25 hours a week and more and more of that is out in the neighborhood, talking to committee members, exploring new areas, and even attending weekend “block parties ” (see pics below) I had been searching for a place to hold the computer workshops they want me to start, and last week I secured an area. By myself. I went to a school with the intention of only setting up a meeting to then talk about it, and I walked out with a computer classroom. Normally I struggle with feeling productive at work, especially with my Spanish level, but I think that day was a confidence booster and something I needed. I start the first workshop session with the committee coordinators this Wednesday!

Played the Egg on the Spoon in your Mouth race at a committee aniversary party, and placed first.

Also played the Dance Bachata while Holding a Tomato between your Faces game. Did not win that one.

A neighbor, Bolivar, heard I enjoy drawing. That somehow got translated to “He could paint a design on your pickup truck.” So this past week I spent some time with masking tape, spray paint, and the name “Jesús.” Pictures to come.

Jimmy works at the health office at Hogar de Cristo and had his test to be able to give HIV tests this past week. “Cramming” for that kind of a test looks like this:

Got my blood drawn in our living room as well...it would have been rude not to let him practice on very-visible veins.

And this past weekend we had our first of 4 Rostro retreats. It was in Ayangue, a very small beach town set back in a cove, and it was absolutely gorgeous. The retreat was led by an old Rostro volunteer, Amy, and it was a weekend to rest, reflect and take advantage of the amazingly large photogenic cliffs and rocks.

The crabs were abundant but had a sixth sense. Couldn´t get close enough so settled for the shell.

The Mount Sinai Crew

The whole Rostro de Cristo Clan

Jaime and I, when on our hike, came across the Little Mermaid rock. Naturally--after finding a way to get out there and after many, many attempts--we got a picture.

Lastly, and this one fortunately doesn’t come with a picture, my list of new foods is getting longer. I’ve spoken of cow tongue, stomach, hoof and heart…and a few weeks ago I added fish eyes. Well, last week topped it all. The day before my graduation, the Creighton Center for Service and Justice held a missioning service for all post-graduate volunteers, and the guest speaker was an ex-Rostro volunteer. She told a story where she ate something at a neighbor’s, and afterwards discovered it was possum. After that service everyone was curious and worried and asking about my diet for the next year, and I just laughed. Well, last week I ate possum. Perhaps I will write about the experience in a future blog, but just know I tried it, I kind of liked it, and shortly after had possum liver. I will not forget that soon.

Like I said, 3 months has flown by, and I imagine the year will continue to do so. As Christmas approaches it seems like the sun does too, and everything is moving along. There are, of course, days I feel I may be moving backwards (not knowing what to do at my job, days when Spanish seems impossible) but those are becoming so much less frequent. Every day is a challenge in some way, but the community I have here—in my neighborhood, at work, with Rostro—has made all the difference.

Tomorrow’s another day, usually I have no idea what’s in store, but I think I’m beginning to like that.

Until next time.
Miguel

Un Ambiente de Crecimiento

“When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may

 begin to use it with love and respect.” 

~ Aldo Leopold ~  

A Sand County Almanac 

Last year at Creighton I took a class called “God is Green,” an environmental theology class. I really did enjoy the class and alongside work and trips with our Center for Service and Justice, the latter half of college sparked an interest in sustainability (global warming, public transportation, pollution, etc.). In those years I was blessed with access to a fair share of information, experiences, education, and in many ways I wonder how much that was backed up in action. I´ve been reflecting a lot recently on why that interest didn’t make its way into my everyday life in the way I know it could.

A few weeks ago our community decided we wanted to build a compost bin for the house. Last weekend Wellington (the same guard who got the Mariachi Band) and I built a large wooden bin so we could start composting at our house. I was told by an old volunteer that if we ended up composting we could talk to Felix and Aura, a neighbor and good friend of Rostro, about giving it to them when decomposed to use in their gardens. 

This past week I went to visit them and we talked about our new composting project. It was shortly thereafter I found out that the two of them are extremely into eco-friendly living, ecology, and natural recipes/medicines, etc. They showed me their water-free bathroom and I was absolutely fascinated. It is raised about 5 feet in a bamboo cane structure, and instead of water, they use sawdust. The excrement is then mixed in with the sawdust and sits over time in a tank hanging below the bathroom. When it is completely mixed it can be used like fertilizer/mulch for ornamental flowers and various plants. Fascinating. They were extremely excited to help us with the composting, and every week or so I will be going over to gather leaves and sticks and carbon-rich things to add to our bin of mostly kitchen scraps.

Felix and Aura have been an inspiration for me on many levels. Aura told me that when she sees the women and children coughing all the time it is a reminder of the reality she lives in and just how important “little, responsible practices” are. Here in Mount Sinai, pollution and environmental problems are extremely prominent. Every day people burn their trash and plastics in the dirt roads and the health of the people has been directly affected. Most trash that is not burned is thrown into the canal behind our house or on the corner of a block. Children play with garbage because it’s everywhere, and when the flooding comes the water they wade through is, therefore, polluted. I am living in a location where sustainable practices are not people’s priorities, as they live by what they can afford. Yet, Felix and Aura have taken an interest and believe in getting to know the land around you. They are in a similar economic situation as their neighbors and on top of that they have put into practice taking care of the earth as part of living a healthy life. 

Perhaps that is the problem. When we are not directly exposed to the effects of problems, or so blatantly so, it takes a different kind of discipline to take action. In downtown Chicago, despite the pollution from cars and buses filling the air, I can simply walk into a fresh, air conditioned building that is clean and allows me to forget for a moment about the reality of unclean air. When I take my garbage out to the curb, whether or not it is filled with plastic bottles that I forgot to recycle or with banana peels I could have composted, a truck comes and takes it far away so that when I retrieve my empty cans I can forget what is happening to my garbage, my plastic, my food. In Mount Sinai this is not the case. Environmental degradation discriminates against the poor in the world. Those who can regulate home temperatures, drive a car to work, filter their water, pay for garbage services: they are not the people who suffer from the effects right away, and I think it is easy for them to forget their responsibility to the cause.

After talking to Felix and Aura and seeing their effort and their interest alive amidst this reality, I realize I have had no excuse for non-action, and I hope this active willingness to learn and to practice sticks with me for the rest of my life. It has been easier to challenge myself down here than in college, but I will not always have the smell of burning trash or inconsistent water supplies to remind me of the importance of living sustainably. I shouldn´t have to. If my neighbors can find the value in educating themselves about the dangers of pesticides, aerosol, extreme weather, and the benefits of gardening, recycling, water conservation, there is no reason I should not. I come from a place of privilege, and it is a personal responsibility to put those resources to use. I ought to because I can. 

Sigmund Jähn, a German cosmonaut, said, “Only when I saw the Earth from space, in all its ineffable beauty and fragility, did I realize that humankind's most urgent task is to cherish and preserve it for future generations.” Not everyone is fortunate enough to see the Earth from space. Similarly, not everyone can or does travel to a developing country or witnesses environmental struggles elsewhere, and in that light I believe it is an earned responsibility to share with others and lead through the small, daily things. Until I return to the states, we´ll work as a community to do our part here.

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” ~ Archbishop Desmond Tutu

P.S. For those at home, if you´re interested in composting and don´t know much about it, here´s How to Compost in 8 easy steps! http://www.wikihow.com/Compost

Paz,

Miguel

Little Things

“It does not do to dwell on our dreams and forget to live.”

- Albus Dumbledore -
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer´s Stone

3 weeks since my last blog, and much has happened. Yes, it’s been an eventful few weeks, yet I feel as though I’ve gotten into a rhythm. This is in no way to say that I am accustomed to everything; the “poco a poco” thing is still going strong and I still remind myself to be dorky, awkward, and stupid every day. Sure, the music at 6 in the morning is growing on me, I can maneuver a manual car in and out of traffic, and my cooking repertoire is expanding day by day (made mashed potatoes last week!)…but I know I have a long way to go. Two days ago I ate a cow foot at our night guard’s house. I´m not used to everything just yet..

As for how things are progressing, “todo bien” (Spanish equivalent of “s’all good”). A big part of my last month and my last blog post was my job. The tutoring in various sectors of Mount Sinai with the 3 Jesuit Novitiates continued throughout September and, sadly enough, the three of them left last week. We are now in the process of figuring out how/if the tutoring can continue in the future. Coli and I are not professionals in Spanish, and to help 5 to 15 kids every day with a variety of homework in Spanish seems unrealistic. So as of right now I am back in the office most days, accompanying others in the office to workshops or general visits to the sectors of Mount Sinai. Two Fridays ago I actually got to go with a group of 3 students and a professor from Clarkson University in NY as they did water testing in Mount Sinai. I translated for them (as best I could) and helped with nitrate and chlorine testing (And to think those chemistry labs would never be of use!) Most of the time in the office, however, is spent studying Spanish Computer Vocabulary. They would like me to begin giving the computer workshops to community leaders in November. Please pray for this month of Spanish improvement…

Fran, Wilo, Coli, Ana, Freddy, and I at a lookout 

over Guayaquil the week before they left

Time with the other 7 volunteers in Duran has been wonderful when it happens, and two weekends ago we got to do something awesome as a whole group, including the new boss, Darcy. Hogar de Cristo, where I work, builds houses in Ecuador every day for people in need, and typically the labor is done by teams of volunteers. We were able to set up two house builds to split between the 17 of us (including the Jesuits) and embarked on the construction adventure two Saturdays ago. The process is very much like Habitat for Humanity—we worked on it with the owners of the house—however these houses get put up in 5 hours. We started at 10AM and by 3 we had two bamboo cane houses under our belts, with the help of two hired Ecuadorians. Both houses were in a very rural area and the view from the top of our house was breathtaking (see first picture above). It may have been due to my weight or lack thereof, but I was chosen to scale the walls once they were up to put on the roof. An awesome experience, and it is a bizarre feeling when you look at a full house and can say, “ya, we did that..”

 

Got a little bit of my rock climbing fix that day

Our half and the family of the house

Speaking of manual labor, we had our first cistern clean last month. It involved a 5:30AM wakeup call and frantically scooping up buckets of water, passing them up above our heads before the tanquero of water came to refill. It is perhaps the closest I’ll ever feel to a motley crew on a sinking ship. Next time I will be wearing swimming trunks.

A seemingly unimportant thing: I finished the Harry Potter series last week. I had read the first 6 years ago, and somehow put off the final piece for 6 years. I still have the last movie left, so the adventure is not quite over. As for the timing…could have waited a couple days as I got sick 2 days after finishing and am just now coming off of the throat infection. Missed the celebrations for Chris’ birthday—everybody went to a Barcelona soccer game—and I could have been exploring the final chapter of fantastic story. So instead I watched one too many movies. Can’t believe a hadn’t seen a classic like Saving Private Ryan…

Yesterday was Rosa’s 91st birthday. Rosa is a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother of a family that lives a few blocks away from us. One of the most honest and hilarious women I’ve met so far, and I love visiting and sitting with her by her hammock. She does not mind my terrible Spanish, and often we can sit and merely enjoy one another’s company. A good friend so far, and we made her banana bread while I brought my guitar hoping I could remember Happy Birthday on the spot. I did not.

Rosa and some of her grandchildren

Yesterday was the Despidida (going away party) for Megan and the "Welcome!" to Darcy which means we officially have a new boss. She’s extremely kind and I’m excited to be a part of this transition. I also want to give a shout out to Megan for all of her hard work and life she has put into Rostro de Cristo. Please keep her in mind as she transitions back to the US.

Wellington, a guard and right hand man of Rostro, got a

 Mariachi band for the party. Absolutely amazing

Little things happen every day, and I am learning to remember them, to be grateful for them. It is the little things that get me through the day: the hour spent at Bolivar’s house helping him fix his pickup truck and realizing I’m learning more about cars in Spanish then I ever have in the states. It is way Rosa slapped me after I got done stumbling through Happy Birthday, a hit I know came out of gratitude. The constant worry, advice, and care that was thrown my way when neighbors heard I was sick. Having the time to recreationally read. Seeing a family waste no time making their new house their new home, setting up a birthday party underneath it WHILE we were putting on the roof. The fact that the Novices stopped by the house the day they were returning to Quito because they heard I was out for the count. They’re all things that quickly pass or could become routine, but I find those are the things I write down. They’re things that supersede language; they care not about one´s Spanish ability. Sure, I am excited for the day when I can express what those things meant to my day in the native tongue, but “it does not do to dwell on our dreams.” Until then I can be grateful.

Working on making these shorter and more frequent,
Miguel
 

Education and Tid Bits

A quick recap of the last few weeks.

• The first retreat group of the year came down from Santa Clara University, California and they visited Mount Sinai on Saturday. I got to take a small group of them to a neighbor’s house (Jessica) to visit...by myself. One of the fluent retreatants did translate, which I am grateful for. HOWEVER, being there for an hour, I feel like I could have done fairly well translating for them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad she was there, but it was comforting and exciting to feel like I’ve made progressive in that regard.

•  We had our first power outage while cooking. My headlamp has not been useless (see bullet #5).

• Jim—a volunteer in Duran—just got Settlers of Catan sent to him. If you do not know what that is, it is a board game that looks like THIS. If you are familiar with it, you know how thrilled I am.

• I got my first Ecuadorian haircut. $1 at a neighbor’s barbershop for the best buzz-cut I’ve had in ages.

• I learned how to change a tire Thursday night. Probably should have done that years ago.

• Clubber’s nails won’t fit in the dog nail clipper. A problem I am in the midst of solving.

• Friday night we all went to the airport to pick up Darcy, the new In-Country Director. She will have a month of orientation with Megan, and then it’s a year with us volunteers. Welcome and best of luck, Darcy!

• I just started giving English lessons to Damien—the 19 year old leader of the youth group and head of the music ministry at the church—and I’m excited to continue. He’s very eager to learn, and with meeting up once a week I’m looking forward to getting to know him better. But I will not allow him to become better at English than I am at Spanish. Kidding. But seriously.

This last piece is not much of a bullet point, becuase it´s been a huge part of my recent day to day life. So three Jesuit Novitiates came from Quito to Guayaquil and are working in our office for one month as part of their novitiate work. Freddy, Wilo, and Fran—who all have a fantastic sense of humor and are extremely patient when my Spanish is terrible—were assigned to work with Proyecto Mision and since last week have made huge changes in how I’ll be spending my days this month. The three of them thought it best to go around to all the sectors and ask the committees what they need most from a group of volunteers (instead of just putting together workshops of things they are knowledgeable in), and almost across the board was help with the children’s school work. The education system of Ecuador, in general, has many struggles, yet many of the children of Mount Sinai are far behind where a typical child their age should be. The Novitiates, Coli, and myself, decided to make a schedule of tutoring workshops for the various sectors, allowing any child who needs help in a subject to come. There are now two a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, which means we visit each sector twice a week, hoping that gives any child an opportunity to attend if they need it.

 The Novitiates and I

(Fran, Freddy, myself, and Wílo)

Last week was the first week, and for the most part it went really well. Attendance is anywhere from 2 to 10 kids, depending on the day, but I really believe this is a project worthwhile provided we have one kid. Most of these children have English homework (with directions in English) without knowing their English alphabet or numbers past 20. Wilo was helping a 10 year-old girl with ordering 3 digit numbers (between 100 and 999) from smallest to largest while I was working with a 7 year old on how to spell her name. With this project, which I hope to continue after the novitiates return to Quito, the face of my job has changed immensely. However, I strongly believe it is still ingrained in the vision and mission of the office. Children are among the most vulnerable here in Mount Sinai, and if my time here can advance the education of some kids just a bit, I think it’s a job worthwhile. These children have no base for so many subjects, and yet they are graded on quizzes every week and held back for performing poorly. If our office aims to accompany the people of Mount Sinai in development and improvement, I think providing support for the children in school can and should be an aspect of our work. It is different and not the work I expected, but I have had a wonderful time with it so far. I’ll check back in with that in a future blog.

Overall, things are speeding up and with every day I wonder where the time has gone. We’re almost at 2 months and I can’t believe it, but I am finding comfort in so much of what I am able to do here. The homesickness comes and goes, but having a supportive base of volunteers and neighborhood community makes all the difference.

Time to continue working on the Clubber Nail Problem.