Ecuador 2023

I have three stamps in my passport, all from Ecuador!  The most recent one was for my mission trip to Quito to work with the Dunamis Foundation from September 1-13.  The Dunamis Foundation works with girls who have been removed from their homes for various reasons, the main reason being sex trafficked.  I worked with a team of 19 people from my church, Charleston Baptist Church.  

My specific role was to help teach the girls to quilt so that they will have another life skill that they may use in the future.  At the time we were there, there were 9 girls in residence.  We had very specific instructions to not ask the girls questions about their past, but to simply love on them.  I don't know all of their stories; however, I do know some.  One girl, a 17-year-old, had escaped from a gang that was prostituting her and drugging her so that she would be compliant.  She smiled the least of all the girls there.  Another 13-year-old girl had a 6-month-old baby girl.  Another girl appeared to have cerebral palsy and she had been molested from when she was young as her disability made her seem not as worthy.  To look at the girls, however, you did not always see trauma filled lives.  Especially on worship nights.  Most of them loved to sing worship songs!  And they were interested in finding and reading Bible verses.  And they smiled and laughed during sewing times.  One of the staff that worked there, McKelvey, noted it well.  They just wanted to be regular girls.  But unfortunately, that was taken away from them by evil people. 

The facility itself was a well-protected area.  There was a wall around the property and a guard on duty at all times.  Some of the girls go on family visits, but no family comes to the property.  We were not even told the address of the place.  The girls were very well protected.  It was a beautiful place!  At 12,000 feet elevation, we were in the clouds a lot of the time.  When it was clear, we could see the volcanoes, but other times we were literally in the fog.

View from my bunk

The foundation is trying to be self-sufficient.  They have cows, sheep, llama, chickens and bunnies.  They also have horses that the girls used for therapy in addition to using them to learn vet tech skills.  They also grow vegetables for eating and golden berries to sell.  The last day I was there, a calf was born right outside the mission house.  We were wondering why the cow was mooing all night!  In the morning, we found out the reason.  And now the girls will have fresh milk to drink.  

Dave the sheep

Golden berry plants

The calf...hours old

The most important thing about the foundation is its emphasis on the need for God.  The founder, Boris, knows and teaches the girls that the only way to have hope is through Jesus Christ.  He was not shy about his faith and helped teach the girls during devotions about God and their need for Him.  Many of the girls seemed to know and believe this too.  And truly, that was the real reason why we went to work with them.

Like I noted, I was on the sewing/quilting team.  The goal was to teach the girls to quilt so that they could supply the mission house with quilts and provide an opportunity for them to be sold to various mission teams.  We were able to finish two quilts and start another three.  All of them have been sold to our team!  In addition to the money helping the foundation, some of the money will be set aside for the girls to earn and have when they leave Dunamis.  The one quilt that is not being sold was the favorite of all the girls...Moana.  I stayed three extra days to help with the quilting, and in my free time was able to finish a baby quilt to leave in the house that is being prepared for mothers and babies.  

The quilting team and Moana

Girl's baby quilt

The first pieced quilt the girls made...not the finished product, but how the top was laid out.  The girls had fun placing the blocks they had made!

The second pieced quilt.  Similar, but a little different.  The third one that we started had a triangle pieced block to make it a little different.  

The huge pile of material we brought from Charleston!

Along with several sewing machines.

Our well-lit room...even though the first night we worked up there we couldn't find the lights and sewed in the dark!

We were not allowed to take pictures of girls or even have our phones with us, so I do not have many pictures of what we did in the sewing house.  But the rest of the team didn't work as much with the girls.  The other women did rotate through the girls' house and worked with them.  One lady was able to offer haircuts and the girls really liked that!  They were all smiles when Carla gave them updated hairstyles.  There were two other groups that worked on construction.  One group worked on a house on the property that will be used for a school and workshop.  Eventually sewing will happen in this house.

The other group worked on constructing a second greenhouse.  I like to be active and was happy that I got to work with this group two different times.  It was hard work digging holes and passing buckets of cement up and down the steep mountain.... did I mention the elevation!  But we all worked together, and that group was able to get a lot of the poles cemented into place.   

The poles where the new greenhouse will go below the existing greenhouse.  That shows a lot of work!

The llamas Larry, Toots and Merica (she was born on July 4)

CBC left their mark!

Working on one steep hill!

In addition to the work on the property, most afternoons, a group went into the community to do outreach.  

We stayed in the mission house on the property, and it was a really nice facility.  Even if we did have to throw our TP in the trash can!

Hanging out with my good friend Janet!

In addition to the work we did, we had some fun too!  We played cards each night and had two fun days as tourists.  

The first was at the Middle of the World equator.  This was the second time I have been there, but just as interesting!  It is super fun to stand in two hemispheres at one time.  And this time we had two huge shoes to fill!

This time I was able to get the egg to stand up, but I still could not walk the equator line!

We were able to go to the market in Quito and then went to a coffee shop that is run by former Dunamis residents.  I don't like coffee, but they had tea, and I got a really good Chai Latte!  First time I had this drink, and it was yummy!

  

  The other fun day we took a two-hour drive to Otavalo to go to a huge market!  More shopping!  And I even was able to barter a little.  I could at least ask how much in Spanish, but then could not understand what price they told me!  But I was able to buy some nice things for family and friends...and myself!  Supporting the local economy!

Breakfast on the way to Otavalo

This part of Ecuador grows most of the flowers that are sent throughout the world.

Girls that sang and told us about their traditional outfits and sold us bracelets.

After shopping, we went to lunch at a restaurant by a lake at the bottom of a non-active volcano.  It was named Puerto Lago and I ordered trout stuffed with fruits of the sea!  Basically, trout stuffed with seafood.  It was super yummy!  

Volcano named Imbabura

During the last three days when I stayed extra, I was able to go to dinner two times thanks to McKelvey getting us taxis.  Both were yummy Ecuador restaurants.  Lots of rice and plantains!

 

I am truly thankful for the opportunity to serve God in Ecuador.  Every time I answer His call, He always provides.  Literally, He provided, through many people, all the money I needed for the trip.  And He gave me a supportive husband and family who held down the fort while I was gone.  

I hope to go back in the future, but in the meantime, we all need to pray for Boris and the ministry.  It is a God honoring ministry that is unfortunately necessary.  And I am honored that I was allowed to work with them.