3 down, 1 to go

...that's weeks of camp I'm referring to - we've already got the end in sight. Since I last wrote on this blog we've had 2 weeks of camp for children, one for the kids from Bastion, then a week off, and last week was for the children who live in the little community of Arenal, right around our camp. This was a first for us, but it was felt that we've been a presence ( a very noisy presence too!) for 3 or 4 years now, and it was time for some outreach to the community that we're a part of. At Christmas there was a program one Saturday for the kids and parents, and that was a huge success, but how would a week of camp be? It was a bit of a challenge to get registrations at first, up until 2 weeks ago there were still only 20. It was understandable, the parents don't know who we are, it's a very Catholic community, what would they be letting their kids in for?? And to have them stay overnight too?? So here we are, with 20 kids signed up for a camp that holds 150 kids, plus staff. And a team coming from New Jersey, all ready to help out at this camp in Ecuador. It was looking like there would be 2 or 3 staff to each kid! But by the time Saturday rolled around, God had been working and 90 kids in all were welcomed at the gate by drums and Barney and a couple of other characters all dressed up in very warm suits (poor guys inside nearly died of the heat!). There was a group of 26 kids from Arenal, a group from the town of Playas, some boys from Burke Horst's soccer team, and a handful from another community outside of Playas. And a group of kids from another church in Bastion. So with leaders and directors and cooks and a nurse, we had a full camp for the New Jersey group to be part of. And it was a great week! All these kids from an assortment of backgrounds all got on fine, and had a wonderful time, singing, playing, hearing stories from the Bible, learning memory verses with actions! And playing on the beach and eating lots too. There were only a few sick ones, compared to the week for the Bastion kids where we had a virus go through, producing high fevers and very miserable little kids.

I had a delayed start to the week, I was to have left on Sunday morning with the group, but had a message saying that one of the ladies (a school mum who goes to church in block 6) was "mal" and asking for prayer. Turns out she had severe abdominal pain, so I went to see her on my way to church, and then never got to church, or camp either. Her pain was so bad that I felt she should go to hospital, and not wait until Monday to see the doctor. So we rounded up a taxi to come and get her, and took her to emergency, my first experience with emerg here. And really it wasn't a bad experience, other than it taking awhile to get on with it. I had to remind them that she needed an ultrasound, but once it was done, things began to move! She had 2 enormous ovarian cysts, one of which was twisted, and had to come out. So before I knew it, I was signing papers authorizing them to do surgery, and she was up the elevator and into the OR before we had time to get used to the idea. And half an hour later the surgeons called me to the window of the OR suite, and there in a basin were the culprits - one grapefuit sized cyst and the other one even bigger! You've never seen anything like it - poor lady, no wonder she hurt.

So she's much better now, went home after 3 days, and is doing well. And I went to camp the next day, where it was much less exciting, but more fun!

Now this week is off and then we're back to camp next week, with the older youth from Bastion. This is the week that my home church ForestView is sponsoring, I know many will be praying. I'm looking forward to seeing what God will do with this group.

Once again the weeks have flown by, more than a month has gone by since my last post. So much has happened.....the school year ended, the grade 6 class graduated, although some of those kids look far too small to be heading for high school, but that's where they're going in April!

And the camp season is upon us, with all the work, and lack of sleep, and and happy times that that means! The first week is over already, plus a long weekend of preparation and teaching for all who will be working at camp as counsellors and helpers. We have had 2 groups from Canada come and go, one group came to camp and the other went to Santo Domingo de Onzole, in the jungle, to work on the crumbling school there, fixing it up. An astonishing amount of food has been purchased, transported to camp, and eaten! Last week was for the "adolescentes", junior youth, there were about 150 or 160 there, and can they ever move food!! Carlos and Alex were the directors for the week, and they kept everybody on the move, with a schedule that would have worn out strong men. This included waking everybody up at 3am on the first night, to go out and play games - not the most popular of sports! On Friday morning we all headed off for a VERY long walk along the beach, stopped after 1/2 hour for a picnic breakfast and devotions, then another long walk further along, a stop to play games, and then finally the walk (or run) back to camp. This turned into a race for those who were up for it, first ones back earned a pile of points for their team. I was NOT up for the walk back, so returned by bus and was there with water for the returning victims! There were a few casualties of that morning for this nurse to deal with.

Visiting groups often means missing luggage, which has to be retrieved when it eventually arrives, and both of last weeks' groups arrived without some bags. With everybody who lives here fully occupied last week, I was the one who had to do the retrieving, and I now consider myself the missing bag expert! My experience in not taking "no" for an answer from guards at the hospital served me well at the airport too. All bags were successfully got and sent to their owners, 4 of whom were far away in the jungle.

And I now have an adventure of another kind to add to my list. On my way back to camp after one of my airport trips, I was robbed, thus joining the ranks of the many Ecuadorians who have been robbed. I was waiting for the bus to Playas, at a place that is well known for being dangerous - I wasn't alone, and I've been there before. As the bus arrived, Ivan went to put under the bus the suitcase I had retrieved the night before, and as I headed for the door of the bus, I was surrounded by a bunch of guys who came from nowhere, and they just crowded tight around me, so I couldn't get on. I had no idea what was happening, until I finally got onto the bus, took my backpack off and there were 2 zippers wide open. Oh no, that's not good. So with a sinking feeling I looked at my purse, and it was open too, and with the sinking feeling getting deeper, I put my hand in and of course, my wallet was gone. Not a happy find anywhere, but it felt like a disaster being so far away from home. In my wallet were my credit card, bank card, driver's license, the all important and just renewed Censo (the Ecuadorian ID card I have to carry with me), and assorted other stuff, including cash. So we raised the alarm and were dropped at the police station, and details were taken and we all knew we'd never see any of it again. Ivan went on to camp, and I crossed the road and got a bus home, to deal with my missing stuff. Cancelled my cards, and within an hour of doing so got a call, and the end of a very long story is that most of my cards were returned to me. I paid for the privilege, but I was so glad to have that censo back that it didn't matter. There is cause to think that I may have paid the thieves for my stuff, but hey - I got it back. Problem is I had cancelled my bank card and I was completely unable to pursuade my bank in Canada to reinstate it, so I have a slight cash flow problem until my new one comes, but that's in sight. So I have new experience under my belt, and am now rather more wary than I was, I've learned a new techique for carrying a backpack, and at the end of it all I'm very thankful. I was not threatened at all, didn't even know it was happening, and I'm fine. All I lost was stuff, inconvenient - yes, but not the end of the world. I eventually went back to camp that evening, and went back to many hugs and lots of TLC. And that was a reminder of what is more important than stuff. And although it didn't feel like it at the time, I know that God was still watching over me, and kept me safe.

"The Rain"

One week ago, it rained hard for the first time in many months. We were ready for rain, looking forward to it, it's been getting hotter and hotter since December began, and so dry and dusty and brown. It needed to rain, it tried to for a few days, and finally last Friday night, the heavens opened. And so arrived "winter" here, the rainy season. It has rained every day since last Friday, and will keep it up for the next 3 or 4 months. Sometimes light rain, sometimes tropical downpours that have to be seen to be believed. Downpours that are like waterfalls from the sky, pouring down onto a city that can't handle that much water arriving at one time. So streets flood, houses flood, streets of Bastion that were dry, hard packed and dusty a week ago, become huge mud puddles.

I have to be honest - I haven't dealt with this first week of the rain very well. It brings major and minor inconveniences with it, and I'm a pampered Canadian, not used to having to deal with these things in my life. The first rain brings out the "grillos", rather large (big ones can be a good 2 inches long) members of the cricket family. I have no problem with crickets, I've always quite liked them, you can't beat the sound of crickets on an August evening. But these are crickets on a whole different scale, they're way bigger than Canadian crickets, they come into the house at night through every little opening they can find, fly up at you from nowhere, chew holes in your clothes, and if one gets into your bedroom, the noise will keep you awake all night. My cat has proven useless at dealing with them, she plays with them for a few minutes, then loses interest. So I think this is the real reason for wearing flip flops here, there's always a weapon ready, pull one off, one quick smack, and that's another one dispatched.

Then there's the river of rainwater that has been flowing through my kitchen from under the door. Someone cleverly designed the bit of concrete that's outside the back door to slope towards the house, so that really only leaves one place for the water to go. The other night there was a mighty thunderstorm, knocked out the power and torrents of rain came down. So I was out the back door, ankle deep, in the pitch dark with a flashlight clasped between my knees, trying to find somewhere else for all that water to go. Then there's the matter of laundry - it's so humid that it won't dry, by the time it does it has that nasty smell. Everything is damp, green slime is already growing in places, I think maybe even on me!! And it's suddenly much hotter, feels that way anyway with the humidity. And the mosquitoes are out in hordes..... It's all made me feel a tad cranky!

But I have absolutely no business complaining, because then I go to visit Bastion. And all the difficulties that I'm dealing with in my comparative luxury, are there in those homes too, only magnified and multiplied. It only took 2 rainfalls to turn the streets into mud, so the water that flows into those homes is muddy, and it comes in the many holes in their roofs, and between the slats of the bamboo walls. They can't get washing dry either, and they don't have an nice empty upstairs room to hang it in. School is almost finished, so that means little kids all underfoot inside tiny houses. Every errand becomes a huge challenge of negotiating your way through all that mud, trying to find the least mucky route. And that stuff is slippery! It's so easy to fall, and you don't really want to go down in that. Really you don't!

So I have nothing but respect for the people who live in Bastion and the many other squatter areas just like it. They don't lie down and give up, like I've been tempted to do, they just get on with it, and do what they have to do to keep on surviving, and I've even seen them smile, yes even laugh about

it. If they can, so can I!!

...and Happy New Year!!

.....and I thought Christmas in Ecuador was different - then along comes New Year's eve!! Now that was different! I had some inkling of what was to come, I was warned, but I was not quite prepared for the reality of the event. The custom here, all over Ecuador apparently, is to build or buy "viejo's" or old men, which are figures made of papier mache or old clothes stuffed with paper. Around Bastion, all the ones I saw were made. For a week or so before the end of the year, everywhere I went I saw these figures under construction. They are anywhere from little, 2 feet high or so, up to HUGE - where a ladder is required to build it. They represent the old year, and are burned at midnight. Firecrackers are added to the contents, to add to the interest.

if you need a head for your viejo, here's where you can buy one Janna, William & I at Marlene's, where we had our first dinner

So on the 31st, everybody is out and about, visiting and talking, and waiting for midnight. I went over to Bastion and did some visiting, had one full meal of chicken and rice at one home, then went on to another home, where I was given another full meal...of chicken and rice! I was there at that home at midnight, when it all broke loose. We went outside, and the scene was incredible - all the viejo's are put in piles all along the street and set on fire. The fireworks inside explode, everybody tosses in more explosives to make yet more noise. The house I was at was at the top of the hill in block 6, and we were on a balcony upstairs, so could see for miles, over Bastion and much of Guayaquil too. And it is going on everywhere!! Fires, fireworks, explosions...it has to be experienced to be fully grasped! And it went on for a very long time. I got home at 2am and there were still very big bangs around here. Feliz Ano, everybody!!!!

Merry Christmas...

Christmas has come and gone, I was away from home for it for the very first time ever in my life, and I survived it. It has indeed been strange, it never really felt like Christmas to me, but other than some homesickness in the week before, which is to be expected, it passed happily. I didn't miss a lot of what Christmas involves in Canada, but I surely did miss my family - especially my little grandaughter! But I am so very thankful for Skype, which allowed me to be in touch, and even to open stockings together with some of the family on Christmas morning! But I was busy, out and about, visiting and eating, and experiencing Christmas in another culture.

There were kids' events - one at camp, where there was a program put together by many of the young ones from Bastion for the children of the community around camp, a full house at camp, lots of local kids and parents

a christmas craft - sand dollar ornaments - sand dollars are prolific on that beach

and then the party for all our kids of "Esperanza de Bastion" on the last day of school. Papa Noel made an appearance at both of those events, and a lot of kids had a lot of fun, and Christmas was made a little more special for them than it might have otherwise been.

The big day for Ecuadorians is Christmas eve, that's when families get together, have their gifts, and a special dinner. I was invited to spend that time with the Lucas family in Block 10, along with other "orphaned" Canadians. It's a huge party all over Bastion, firecrackers going off everywhere, music coming out of speakers the size of a car, street parties. "Silent Night" it is not!! Everybody goes outside to countdown to midnight, then it's hugs and "feliz navidad" all 'round, then you go in and have your dinner. Bedtime was somewhere around 2am!

On Christmas day, we 3 Guayaquil Canadians, Janna, Luke and I headed off to Playas to stay with the Horst family, and I am now able to say that I was on the beach on Christmas Day (it's been a goal)!! And much of Boxing day too. And I have to say, if you can't be with your family at Christmas time, then digging your toes into the sand at the Pacific ocean is the next best thing!!! We had a great Christmas dinner and a group of Canadians living in Ecuador had a happy time together.

Last week I had a flying trip back to Onzole, to the jungle communities there. Well, it was flying in that we were only there a very short day and a half. But we definitely did not fly there! Janna and I got on a bus at 9pm on Wednesday, and didn't get off it until 13 1/2 hours later! Let me tell you, that's a really long time to be sitting on one of those buses, squirming and turning and trying to find a place to put yourself so you can sleep!! There were endless delays, including 2 more police checks - the men all had to get off, police got on, and looked through bags and checked all our documents. I'm told that buses on this route are checked more because of how close the Colombian border is at the end of the trip. And then we were stopped for a very long time, could have been 2 hours, someone said that there had been an accident on the road.

By the time we got off that bus, I was ready to never see one again, EVER! But then there is the canoe trip, which to me makes up for all the preceding miseries. The river was very low this time, only a few inches in places, so it took 3 hours to get in to our villages, with the men having to pull the motor out and paddle and pole in the shallowest spots. But I am still enthralled by being on that river, so I didn't mind it taking longer. I did feel sorry for the men though, having to work so hard to get us upriver, they had left Santo Domingo at 5:30 that morning.

The purpose of the trip this time was to be there for the kids' Christmas program at the school in Santo Domingo. That little school very nearly didn't reopen after the last school year, the funding that had been coming from outside was pulled, and nothing was coming from the government, and when we were there last February it really looked as though school would not be happening for the children of that village. But there was some juggling and talking and someone in Canada took up the cause, and some funds have been raised, and school has gone ahead for this year.

The program was on Friday morning, and such a program it was!! All 140 students, and many of their parents, and a few visiting missionaries. The room was decorated, a stage was set up, practices were held, and it all went without a hitch. Included in the proceedings were a full length nativity play, Joseph, Mary, angels, shepherds, innkeepers, wise men - the lot! And during the play each class had a turn to sing a song. Which they did with great enthusiasm and volume. Now if they could just learn to carry a tune...! There was also a drama of the prodigal son, and one about the 10 virgins. There was a complicated little ceremony involving the "Christmas Princess", which was a very solemn affair. And through it all, these so very cute kids to watch - SO cute!

Then it was outside where they all lined up to receive their gifts. Many of the kids are sponsored by Compassion, who provides gifts for their kids, a very practical gift of a set of sheets. But every child received something.

Finally there was a special lunch for all the teachers back at the mission house, and a talk for them from Lloyd Rogers about being an example, and how much of an example teachers can be.

And that was it. A very long way to go, for a very short time, but worth it. I had a chance to go with my friend Nixon to visit the man who had injured his hand so badly in October with the machete. I went wondering what I would find, remembering the fiasco involved in getting it sutured. But it has healed fairly well, it didn't get infected, and looks not bad. But he has limited use of the hand, which is a problem, his work involves using a machete, which he is unable to grip, so he has not worked, or been able to provide for his family, since October. I'm not sure how they are managing. I gave him some exercises to do, and hope that in time it will improve and allow him to work again.

If you can stand to see more photos, here is a link - http://picasaweb.google.ca/heathermoore21/OnzoleDecember2008?authkey=py_sADDXJGU#

And now Christmas is coming. At least so I hear. I'm having a little trouble coming to grips with Christmas this year. It's 31 degrees out there, I wrote cards with 2 fans blowing on me, there's not a snowflake to be seen, and no Ikea Christmas trees! I read of everybody at home busily doing what you do there to get ready for the big day, and I see definite signs of Christmas coming here too. There are lights on houses, decorated trees inside the houses, and the stores and malls are packed. In the mall Santa has his house set up, and there is also the biggest nativity scene you ever saw. So Christmas must be coming. But to me it just seems completely unreal. I guess it's just the completely unfamiliar surroundings, and the lack of all my usual signals. I'm not really minding, it's just strange! But there's still more than a week to go, we'll see how it goes! One thing I am finding though - there isn't the "political correctness" that Canada obsesses about. Here, Christmas is called Christmas. There are nativity scenes everywhere, and many seem to remember just what it is that we are celebrating - Jesus' arrival on earth. And that's kind of nice.

where did November go?

November passed in a blur of activity. There were 2 major events that made the month go by in a flash. My sister Alison arrived on the 1st, for the month, and it was her first visit down here, so there was lots to show her - places to go and people to see! We travelled, went on 2 separate trips, both to the mountains. First we went south to Cuenca for a day, and then on to Vilcabamba, close to the border of Peru. It's a beautiful place, seems to have the ideal climate - warm and sunny during the day, and cold at night, so you can pull up the blankets (not something you do here in Guayaquil!) and have a good night's sleep. We stayed at a place outside of the little town a bit, partway up the mountain, and the views all around us.........oh my! We had hammocks outside our room, with views of rolling hills leading to mountains, and happy hours were spent there with books. And the dining area was a covered over area, but open, with views that I don't think you could ever get tired of. We arrived at night, went there for dinner, we could see lights off in the distance but had no idea what was out there. Until the next morning when we arrived for breakfast - we just couldn't believe it. So we spent 3 days there, did a walk, tried a bike ride on awful gearless 400 lb. bikes - not altogether successful! And had a relaxing restful time. And took one or two pictures between us!

Our other trip was to Banos, where I've been a few times now, but always enjoy, and I like taking others there too. We had a much more successful bike ride, 22 km through the mountains, one very scary section through a pitch dark tunnel, but the rest of it is fine. You get to stop off and take a cable car across the river to a waterfall, and of course we were in the Andes, so there was no shortage of splendid views along the way!

We spent 2 days there, then headed north to Otavalo, which is the area around which most of the Ecuadorian handicrafts come from. Saturdays is the big market day, and the main square in town, as well as many of the surrounding streets are taken up with hundreds of stalls with the indigenous people selling their crafts. Of course, you are expected to bargain, you never just pay the first price they ask, and I discovered a talent in my sister that I didn't know she had - she drives a hard bargain!! So we went home with a rather fuller suitcase than we had arrived with!

So we had some great times, it was good to be away from all that goes on here for a little while, but I have to say that it was nice to get off a bus for the last time. Some day I may write a book all about the joys of bus travel in Ecuador!

Then the other big event of the month was Narcisa's long awaited open heart surgery. It did indeed finally happen, that's what kept us busy between travels, and I'm delighted to report that she came through it well, and is now at home recovering and doing really well. There were so many concerns around this operation, a big one, and being done at a hospital which doesn't exactly have a marvellous reputation. But God is bigger than all that, and I had to keep reminding myself that she was safely in God's hands throughout. It was an anxious time that we spent waiting while she was in the OR, but I had a picture in my mind of God holding her in His hands while the doctors operated. And I knew she was safe there, no matter what happened.

Of course, any time spent at that hospital, making arrangements, paying for services, or even just trying to visit the patient, is always an adventure. That may be my other book - all about the joys of Luis Vernaza Hospital!! I mean, just getting inside the place is incredibly difficult. You have security guards whose primary purpose seems to be to keep you out. I think it's probably easier to get into Buckingham Palace, or the White House, than into this public hospital. Always a series of questions - "what's your business, where are you going, what to do, who's the patient, No you can't go in. Okay then let me look in your bag" - you can't take in any food or drink, or cameras, it seems. Alison had a little camera in her purse one day, and they weren't going to let her in with it - it's just not allowed. Well we weren't about to leave it with them, so we just pressed on! I mean - really!! And then you get your bag inspected again when you're leaving. And all of that is just at the gate. Don't even get me started on all the rest!

A surprise at this hospital, a lovely parklike square inside, some of the wards open onto it. (the photo is a little crooked, I was in a hurry with my apparently illegal camera!)

So Alison got a good look at a side of life most tourists don't ever get to see. The medical sytem, and Bastion too, of course. We had lots of visits with friends there, and she got to meet people who had just been names to her for so long. And we got well fed, as usual. I've decided that I don't really need a kitchen in my house, all I have to do is walk by houses around Bastion and I get invited in and fed. I could have had 2 suppers in a row on Saturday, I had to decline the second one, I simply couldn't manage it. Why do they want to feed me - is it because I look thin and malnourished? Definitely not, they are just so kind and generous and willing to share what they have. These are my friends.