Our first half of the trip was spent in the rainforest, northwest of Quito. Here's our team at a waterfall near the community where we stayed -
Our team was mostly a group of strangers that God brought together, and it was incredible to see how God used talents, enthusiasm, and servant hearts to do everything from install new toilets at orphanages to lead Bible lessons to encourage children as they talked about their dreams. Oswaldo, to the right, was our inspirational translator. He and his wife Denise felt God call them to service in Ecuador.
In the rainforest, we had time to meet the children of the community's two schools, time to have fun, and even a little time to relax. When we arrived in the afternoon, we were taking on a "leisurely stroll" involving river crossings and climbs up and down large, muddy hills. But four days later, we too considered our half-hour hike a leisurely stroll, as we became accustomed to muddy walks.
Cas said I wasn't allowed to grin with a machete in hand. Daniel relaxes on the hammock of the home we stayed in while in the rainforest.
The rainforest community was very poor, yet very content. It was humbling how content they were, as we probably had more clothes in our suitcase than they possessed. Here's a typical home. Lush, beautiful surroundings meet very rural living conditions (i.e. often no running water, no grocery stores).
Our first full day in the rainforest, we drove to the school. Here's our bus crossing one of the bridges. Thank goodness we were ignorant of how narrow a margin of error we had. After one trip in the bus, we decided it was safest to walk.
Our first full day in the rainforest, we went to one of the schools. God orchestrated it perfectly, as the school needed to complete inventory on the day we arrived, so we were able to give a lesson, sing songs, and play with the kids while the teachers and parents organized supplies.
We told them the story of Ruth and talked about how God has a plan for their lives. Then we had them draw their hopes for the future. This isn't something these children were asked, as the expectation for most of them is to work with their parents when they turn 12. After the lesson, we headed outside for face painting and play time. Cas was "it" in a game of freeze tag and man those kids were fast. After that, none of the adults volunteered for that role!
Here we are singing "Tu Ti Ta" a ridiculous song that in Spanish had us with thumbs up, bow-legged stances, rear ends up, tongues out, eyes closed dancing in circles. The kids loved it so we performed the song numerous times with each group of children we met.
Our first project for the rainforest community was helping them with some steps leading to their river. We mixed cement, formed assembly lines for rocks, and were very proud of our result.
For our second project, we were asked to help with a pipe project. I envisioned holding a wrench for our handy guys. Instead, the team climbed up and down two muddy mountains for 2 hours with a 300 foot pipe. It was the most intense workout I've had all year, and everyone walked away with thorny splinters and clothes that needed to be burned from the lovely odor of sweat + mud. However, the project enabled homes in the community to be a big step closer to fresh water, something I certainly take for granted every day.
Our final day was our fun day. As a reward for helping the community, one of the residents took our team on a waterfall hike. Not a leisurely stroll, but a breeze compared to the pipe project, and a beautful destination.
On the way home, Cas posed with a motorcycle. Then the three adventurous people and me (I succumbed to peer pressure, adventurous has never been a word used to describe me) went on a zip-lining adventure. We used zip-lines that normally haul palmetto plants, and flew across the beautiful farm, taking in the rolling, lush mountains.
Here I am in the middle of the zip-lining adventure -
And here are Daniel and Cas, our guys who were the zip line guinea pigs for Lizzy and me.
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