Day 6!

¡Buenos dias!

Hello from day six of this truly amazing mission trip. It is hard to believe that we are already leaving tomorrow. We have already grown so attached to this place.

Today was a very productive day. After breakfast we chose through Durán and stopped in AJS. There we visited the old Rostro de Cristo house, which now holds the daycare for the local children. They gave us a tour of the beautiful facility, which serves children from preschool to kindergarten.

Next we departed to Arbolito, where we stopped by to see the current Rostro de Cristo house. We were able to see, talk, and take pictures with Wellington and the Rostro volunteers. After, we were able to see a mural of some of the kids at Semillas and Manos (which Rostro runs in the afternoons) created by Jamie.

Then, we returned to Damien House and ate lunch. Once we were finished, we had to complete putting up the screens. After this long and laborious task was accomplished, we all felt very proud and satisfied.

We are extremely sad to be leaving tomorrow, but we are also very excited to be coming home and seeing you all.

Ya les vamos a ver,

Andrea and Chris

The next full day in Ecuador!

¡Hola! Welcome to day five of Ecuador! Our day was full of hard work, tours, and a group discussion with three special guests. When we first got to Damien House in the morning, we spent time talking with patients and playing Dominoes. But plans quickly changed, as always. 

We had three guest speakers (Wellington, Soraya and Marcos) share their stories about their past struggles with Hansen's disease. Wellington told an inspiring story about his journey with Hansen's disease at 21. 

The disease posed a problem. He had two children and his wife was pregnant with their third child. He struggled to support his family while living with Hansen's for seven years. Welly still struggles, but through his past, he has found faith, which brought him closer to God. 

We also had a busy day of work that consisted of cleaning the screens in the women's rooms. We got a laugh out of it because it took us forever to put the screens back where they belong. 

We hope to have another amazing adventure tomorrow filled with laughs and smiles. 

Amor,

Julianna and Carly

Day 3 in Ecuador!

We have reached the midpoint of our week long Ecuador trip! It's hard to think that in four days we will be leaving. 

When we first arrived at Damien House this morning, it was organized chaos as usual. The first thing we had to do was gather the recuperating patients from the nerve decompression surgeries for a picture. A few of them were leaving to go back home that morning. Sister Annie explained to them that they should be very thankful to God and the medical volunteers because the surgeries they received cost about $25,000 in the United States. She even said, "You should feel like you won the lottery!" Next, we did some cleaning and attended a lively Mass in the chapel. 

After lunch, we traveled to La Puntilla, a nicer area on the outskirts of Guayaquil. There we visited a private Catholic elementary and high school called Nuevo Mundo. Nuevo Mundo is cool because it is separated into two parts. For those who pay tuition and attend morning school, every class is in English and the curriculum is challenging. The other part of Nuevo Mundo is that in the afternoon children from one of the poorest parts of the Guayas province, Durán, are able to use the same facilities and receive an otherwise unattainable education, all for free. Once they reach tenth grade, several students are given scholarships to finish their high school careers in the morning school. 

Seeing the dedication of the teachers and the students' passion for success reminded our group how important our education is and has been. A quote on one wall of the school reminded us that "An education opens up doors that no one can close." We were also asked to ponder this question: "What is the point of an education?" 

Hasta mañana,

Mary Claire and Matt

Abel, one of the scholarship students, speaking to our group at Nuevo Mundo.