Mt Sinai volunteers, old and new, at our last dinner together

This is our first week alone as Rostro volunteers, all the amazing ¨veteran¨volunteers left on Saturday. Last week we wrapped up orientation by discerning worksite placements for each volunteer after visiting them all, doing massive clean ups of the volunteer houses and had a fun day at the beach. For me and for many others it was our first time swimming in the Pacific Ocean - add in the peanut butter sandwiches we had for lunch and it was a perfect day!

I am excited to share that I will be working at a Jesuit organization called Hogar de Cristo in the office Proyecto Mejoramiento del Habitat y Desarrollo de las familias de Monte Sinai (basically community organizing). The organization approaches development and sustainability from many angles - some other offices include health, pastoral ministry, education, microfinance, and social agriculture. I´m hoping to have the opportunity to attend some of the workshops hosted by the microfinance office and collaborate on a few projects. It should be a great learning experience. I´m hoping to be able to explore all the different offices because I love the mission of the organization. We just learned yesterday that the vision of Hogar is ¨Estamos contribuyendo a la restitution de los derechos de las personas en mayor situacion de pobreza, vulnerabilidad o exclusion, incidiendo en transformaciones estructurales hacia una sociedad mas justa, equitativa, e incluyente en el Ecuador¨ (We are contributing to the restitution of the rights of people in situations of poverty, vulnerability or exclusion, influencing structural transformations towards a more just, equal, and inclusive society in Ecuador).

The first week at Hogar is going well - yesterday we had an all day orientation to the organization filled with many introductions and presentations. The woman leading the day said one things when speaking on the importance of the Jesuit identity of the organization that really resonated with me. She said that when she first began working, one of the Jesuit priests asked how she arrived here. She listed previous worksites and contacts at Hogar who helped her. The priest corrected her saying ´you are here with the accompaniment of God -this is exactly where God needs  you to be¨. She really had me questionin how often in the past few months as I´ve been questioned why I am choosing to volunteer for a year with Rostro de Cristo I have asked or responded to the questions ¨God why have you brought me here, what do you want of me? and then offered up my gifts in service.

Now that we are starting to settle in after our first two weeks of transition a few thoughts from orientation have continually resurfaced. First, back in Boston when we asked Rostro and JVC alums who came to present or hang out for advice, most had one similar answer - a smile, sometimes a chuckle, and ´you have no idea what lays ahead´. The alums were right - everything here is different than we envisioned and it´s interesting to think now, as we begin building relationships, how these neighbors will shape our year in Ecuador and our lives in general. While terrifying, yes, not knowing what is ahead, what a gift to be able to enter into this year with an open heart and and open heart with the most valuable thing we have to offer is simply our love.

Secondly, I was told ´you will feel alive everyday.´ These first weeks I have felt, I mean truly experienced, every single moment with all 5 senses. Feeling even those intangible concepts, like love, in tangible ways.

Lastly, an Ecuadorian phrase that we´ve heard repeatedly and are all trying to embrace is ´poco a poco´. (little by little) While we may daily express how nice it would be to wake up fluent in Spanish tomorrow, we can find life in the struggle in between. I am trying to slow down and embrace and appreciate each individual step of the journey.

While we are all doing well and enjoying our new placements and neighborhoods, I try to remain conscious of not romanticizing the poverty. The conditions many of our neighbor live in is grave and unjust. The land we live on isn´t even legalized by the government. Most of this first week at Hogar has been spent reading about the demographics and needs of the community and at some point in the future I hope to put together a summary to share with you all. So while it is easy in this honeymoon phase to almost envy the love, hospitality, etc of the poor, I am trying not to romanticize the situation tha they do not want to be living in. I cannot come into community organizing with any solutions either, just a willingness to accompnay and empower others to foster change. I think it will be a difficult, humbling, yet growth-inspiring process.

Love and miss you all!
Colleen