Day 4!

Hello Ecuador team family and friends! This is Andrea here, writing a blog tonight. Today to started off, we met Wellington and Soraya, a married couple. Wellington got Hansen's disease when he was 21, which is considered young. He spoke about how before he got it, he didn't believe in God. Once he got Hansens, he hated God. Then Wellington took a chance and prayed to God one night. After seven years, he was cured and has a deep relationship with God. It's amazing the way God works.

After lunch, we visited Nuevo Mundo, a prestigious coed school in Guayaquil. They have two programs: the morning school and the afternoon school. The morning school is kindergarten to 12th grade with an international baccalaureate program. The students pay and are very wealthy. The afternoon school is for scholarship children, from kindergarten to 10th grade, from more poor areas like Duran and Arbolito. By 10th grade the afternoon kids have to pass an exam to continue on Nuevo Mundo. Even if many pass it, only a few can be accepted due to economic hardships of the school. I found this really interesting. It really shows how the kids who want this opportunity for a good education really work hard. In the US, we seem to take education for granted and it really change my perspective. The group got a tour of this wonderful school and continued on our day.

-Andrea, Ecuador team student leader