Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Day, November 22nd, marked exactly our fourth month here in Ecuador…WOW time has flown!

While our physical surroundings appear nothing like Thanksgiving back in Boston (90 degree weather here!) we are surrounded by tangible gratitude every day. In these four months we have a lot to be grateful for: a (relatively) healthy few months, the support of our communities both here in Ecuador and back at home, and most especially for the relationships and lessons learned from simply living here with our neighbors. Henri Nouwen describes this lived gratitude best in his book appropriately titled Gracias which speaks volumes to the experience I have had thus far in Ecuador:

“Gratitude is one of the most visible characteristics of the poor I have come to know. I am always surrounded by words of thanks. ‘Thanks for your visit, your blessing, your sermon, your prayer, your gifts, your presence with us.’ Even the smallest and most necessary goods are a reason for gratitude. This all-pervading gratitude is the basis for celebration. Not only are the poor grateful for life, but they also celebrate life constantly. A visit, a reunion, a simple meeting are always like little celebrations. Every time a new gift is recognized, there are songs, or toasts, words of congratulations or something to eat and drink. And every gift is shared. ‘Have a drink, take some fruit, eat some bread’ is the response to every visit I make, and this is what I see people do for each other. All of life is a gift, a gift to be celebrated, a gift to be shared. Thus the poor are a Eucharistic people, people who know to say thanks to God, to life, to each other. They may not come to Mass, they may not participate in many church celebrations. But in their hearts they are deeply religious, because for them all of life is a long fiesta with God”

Although thousands of miles from home, we still celebrated Thanksgiving here in Ecuador. First on the 22nd we got together with the other Rostro de Cristo volunteers, their retreat group in-country, and various other Gringos and friends for dinner at Nuevo Mundo, a school that two Durán volunteers teach at. Our Rostro de Cristo founder, Father Jim, was in country for the week so we celebrated mass together and then shared a delicious turkey dinner!

Then on the 24th (also fellow volunteer Ana’s birthday) we cooked our own Thanksgiving meal and invited over Greg´s Ecuadorian family and our guards to share in the celebration. It was quite a process (and pretty hilarious) as we all joined our little cooking knowledge to roast a 15 pound turkey. Everybody contributed something to the dinner table – I made my Mom’s stuffing and a chocolate cake for the birthday girl!

Turkey Prep

The spread

Everybody before dinner

With la cumpleañera Ana and the chocolate cake I made

Gratitude has taken new form and new meaning here in Ecuador as I feel I am constantly being humbled in my daily activities and learning to live and love in gratitude. It was nice to have the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving and reflect on how I can embrace and embody the example of gratitude my neighbors live.

Love and miss you all. Hope you enjoyed the holiday,
Colleen

Pictures of the updates I´ve forgotten to mention

Hi friends,
It has been a busy and exciting past month. I thought I would share in this blog some photos of the moments and updates that haven’t made it into any of my blog posts yet.

We got a new Rottweiler puppy (just 4 months old) to keep our guard dog, Clubber, company. We named her Nala after my favorite Disney movie, The Lion King.

We built and began composting in October. We hope it’s a sustainable project that will continue for years to come in Sinai.

We celebrated many birthdays this month. First Grego turned 22nd in October. We had a nice dinner together in our house that night and then his amazingly hospitable family threw him a large party that weekend in their home in Guayaquil that we all attended. We then celebrated our guard (and my running partner!)´s birthday later that month with a delicious dinner and chocolate cake that Ana and I helped prepare.

There are two Mormon missionaries living in Mt Sinai, one from California. We had dinner with them one night – its great having one more person in Sinai that I can catch up with in English!

Work at Hogar continues to go well. I am working on my own small projects and accompanying the community groups. A few weeks ago we celebrated the one year anniversary of COCOGE – the larger overarching community group in Mt Sinai (PHOTO ABOVE).

Our office supported a medical brigade in Sinai – a truck providing free vaccinations, psychological visits, and general medicine visits. I had a great day literally just sitting and chatting with our neighbors as they waited for their appointments.

We went to Ayangue Beach (a small cove about 3 hours from Mt Sinai) for our first volunteer weekend retreat after about 3 months in country. It was led by a Rostro Alum and it was a great time to relax, reflect, and just enjoy the beautiful beach of Ecuador.

Love and miss you all,
Colleen

The lens through which we view the world

“Grant me, O Lord, to see everything now with your eyes…Give me the clarity of understanding that gave Ignatius” – Prayer of Pedro Arrupe, SJ

Seeing the world with new eyes is something I’ve been reflecting on recently. How much my attitude, my culture, my biases, and my weaknesses may influence the way that I not only see the world, but participate in it.

Back in September while running after school programs in Mount Sinai with the three Jesuit novitiates one of the kids approached me with a homework assignment: writing a rap. I told her first to pick a theme – it could be anything – something she knows well, enjoys doing, or can write a lot about. She chose el barrio (the neighborhood). I was curious what she would write – fully expecting her to point out those things foreign to me like the dirt roads and stray dogs. The positive light she shed on her situation honestly surprised and inspired me:

El Barrio

En el barrio hay persona tranquila
Se encuentra bonito animal
Hay casas hermosas
También hay flores bonitos, arboles de fruta

[In the neighborhood there are cool people
You find nice animals
There are beautiful houses
Also there are pretty flowers, fruit trees]

She doesn’t describe her neighbors as poor or hungry, instead tranquilo. She doesn’t describe the animals as stray or dirty, instead bonito. She doesn’t describe the homes as small or made of flimsy cane, instead hermosas. Of all our surroundings she does not identify the dirt and dust that covers everything or the random bits of trash that litter the streets, instead the flores y arobles de fruta. What would it be like to view the whole world through these lenses she uses?

Love and miss you all,
Colleen

The Little Things in Life...

“Do ordinary things with extraordinary love” – Mother Theresa

At home I am constantly staying “it’s the little things in life.” Senior year of college I could have referred to a great cup of coffee from Shrewsberry Street or company in the library to chat and eat peanut butter m&ms with while embarking on an all-nighter to complete that paper that was put off. This year, again, I feel like I am constantly saying “oh the little things,” but in reference to the most simple aspects of life and my day. I have always believed that life, lessons, and God are all found in the most simple moments and mundane tasks of our day. This has proved very true in Ecuador.

I saw the quotation by Mother Theresa, “Do ordinary things with extraordinary love,” and wrote it on the top of my agenda page for that week. In constantly rereading it I realized that this is one of those intangible gifts my neighbors have taught me by example – how to do even the most mundane tasks with extraordinary love. It was evident in everything this past week.

Celebrating with banana bread

A few weekends ago we celebrated Rosa´s 91st birthday. To show our love and share in the celebration we baked yet another banana bread, or “pan de gringo” as many Ecuadorians now refer to it. Mike brought along his guitar and we stumbled through the Spanish version of Feliz Cumpleaños before singing it in English. It was a simple afternoon spent singing and eating banana bread outside of Rosa´s little tienda. I was greatly humbled when upon leaving Rosa expressed her deep gratitude and told her grandchildren that while we come from a great distance away, she considers us family. She really hit home the point for me that small gestures, like our Happy Birthday song in broken Spanish or a mere willingness to sit and be present, really does mean something.

With the Youth Group after the Base Communities event

Last week was an active week at Hogar de Cristo. First, Ana´s women´s group along with all the base communities that the pastoral office at Hogar de Cristo collaborates with united at Hogar for an event. As the party occurred right outside of my office, and I couldn´t work when our church´s youth group played wonderful music for the event, I joined in. There was a tangible energy among this group of faith-inspired women praying, singing, and dancing together.

Community group anniversary party for Hogar de Cristo

This past Saturday my office at Hogar de Cristo celebrated the two year anniversary of one of our community groups in Mount Sinai. It was an all day event! The morning and afternoon was spent playing games, which all the women enthusiastically invited Mike and me to participate in, like a sack race, an egg race, soccer games, and a judge for the miss sports “pageant”. At night we returned with all of the Rostro volunteers for the dance. An Ecuadorian neighbor I met earlier in the day tried teaching me all the dances – cumbia, salsa, reggaeton – and we definitely provided many laughs in our stumbling attempt to dance latina. Again…poco a poco!

A little bit before ripping my pants and knee open!

My favorite part of the day was soccer! When I got to the party in the morning all the men had a tournament going. I knew all the women from the community group and also some who participate in the group of microcredit that I am accompanying. I asked if we could get a game of women going, and with the help of another woman we organized it. Boy, did I not know what I was getting myself into! Just like most everything else here in Ecuador, I was doing something very familiar in an unfamiliar way. We played 5 vs. 5 in the dirt street scattered with rocks. I was playing in my nice khaki capris (not knowing that I would be playing soccer that afternoon) and 5 year old sneakers. Well, as will probably not come as a surprise to any of you, I got into the game, was a little competitive, and fell going for the ball – ripping my capris open and tearing open my knee pretty badly. At first, I was embarrassed. But the energy of the women and the crowd lifted me, and of course I continued playing. The president of the community group ran out onto the field during play to trade shoes with me and everybody watching began chanting “Coli, Coli” every time we were close to scoring. So while we scored no goals, I ended up playing with shoes 2 sizes too big for me, and I was left bloody and bruised, community was still built. These things didn´t matter to the women, just my willingness to play alongside of them. While the physical aspects of the game in no way resembled the game of soccer I grew up playing, the energy, passion, and community built from sharing in the game was clearly still present. I´ve ran into almost all of these women around Mt Sinai since and every one, like any good mother, asks about my knee and reminds me of all the precautions I need to take to treat it.

My office takes pictures of everything...small meeting on Microcredit

On top of all these fun events, we have continued to get more and more comfortable with our routine here in Sinai. I continue to meet with the women of the microcredit group and will begin preparing a workshop soon. We continue to share time at the afterschool program Ave María, which always provides great dinner discussions catching up on what happened that day for the two volunteers who went – both successes and troubles!

It has always been the little parts of my day – a meal shared with a neighbor, ripping my pants open playing soccer, or singing a unique rendition of Happy Birthday – that is my “high” of the day. Finding a way to do and to accept the ordinary things with love is a gift.

Love and miss you all,
Colleen

Week´s recap in pictures

Hi friends!

Airport run!

I thought I would give a small recap of our past week or so with pictures. First, on September 15^th our new In-Country Director arrived in Ecuador. The next few weeks will be filled with orientations and the transition between two directors. We got together with the Duran volunteers to greet her at the airport and provide a warm Rostro welcome. We spent the night with our Arbolito friends, which is always a treat. Chris and I got up early on Saturday morning to make his recipe for banana pancakes for all the vols. The pancakes were a nice reminder of home and eating them at all hours of the day and night on Williams 3 last year!

With the Jesuit novitiates at work

Mike and I have continued to work with the three Jesuit novitiates in our office this month. Unfortunately Thursday is their last day – we have had a lot of fun working with them and getting to know them. Like I mentioned in my last post, we are holding after school tutoring programs in different neighborhoods every day as this month’s project. It has been really great to be out and about in Mount Sinai every single day working and making new friends. In the coming weeks Mike and I will have to work out how or if we will continue with the program. On top of working, the Jesuits have brought a lot of life to the office. Our spare time in the office we passed doing everything from chatting about our distinct cultures, their Jesuit formation process or Wilo giving me salsa dance lessons (which is still definitely a work in progress!).

Any unoccupied time I’ve had in the office I’ve spent reading Poor Economics – A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo. I was really captivated by a presentation given by Duflo at Holy Cross last year and brought the book along with me to Ecuador. It covers varies topics like health, hunger, microcredit, incentives, businesses, aid programs, and more. For me it has been extremely interesting to read while living in Mount Sinai. I witness the statistics given in 3-D form everyday in my daily life and hear similar testimonies as given in the book during casual conversations with neighbors. I’m learning a lot!

One last update from my Hogar de Cristo work – last week I met with the leader and a few women who collaborate with the Hogar de Cristo microcredit office. I’ll be meeting with a larger group of women this week to learn more about the process and how I may be able to accompany them or provide workshops on finance topics that would be helpful.

Dinner with Arbolito

This past weekend we again spent with the Arbolito community. First, Friday was our all Rostro de Cristo day of reflection. After a day of reflection, journaling, and logistics, Megan (our current In-Country Director) kindly made us all a lasagna dinner! We shared a great meal and then spent the rest of the night playing 2 vs. 2 soccer on our little patio. The next day we all woke up early to construct two Hogar de Cristo cane houses together with the 3 Jesuit novitiates out in the campo.

House Build 1

House Build 2 - Completed Home

House Build 3

House Build 4 - With the family

Mount Sinai is filled with these cane homes. They are lifted up on stilts because during the rainy season the flooding, especially for homes near the canal, is treacherous. The homes cost $1000 and the family can pay piece by piece – putting down a $50 down payment and then paying $25 a month for 3 years. Because of the level of poverty in Mount Sinai many homes are donated or given at a reduced rate of about $14 a month. They are simple – the chilly winds pierce through the cane at night and it is just one large room with one divider – but they are extremely popular.

With the (huge!) help of a Hogar employee, 8 of us constructed the Hogar home in exactly 5 hours! We dug the holes to put the poles in, then laid the flooring, then put up the pre-constructed walls, and then finished with a tin roof. When we climbed down after hammering in the last nails the family had already begun to make this house a home. Streamers hung, a table was set up, the little kids were blowing up balloons, and the parents and uncles set up benches. It was a really great day and a unique opportunity to build a relationship with a family whose house we built.

Night with the novitiates

That night Mike, Ana, and I went back with our three Jesuit novitiate friends to spend the afternoon with them. Since we met them they have insisted that we come swim in their pool and spend time with them outside of Hogar. We swam, shared a delicious meal, participated in mass, and then met a few of the other Jesuit residents. On our way home they took a few pit stops to see sights of Guayaquil along the boardwalk.

Yapangacho

The rest of the week has been spent in neighborhood time – literally just hanging out, tutoring, and cooking with our neighbors. One of the greatest ways the women of the community have ministered to us and opened up their lives to us is through their cooking. Most every neighbor asks us how the cooking is going on and if we have moved on from cooking just rice and lentils yet. When all we do is laugh they swoop in like any loving mother would and offer to cook with us. Our most recent cooking lesson was on Yapangacho (sp?): potato pancakes with a peanut butter sauce, fried eggs, salad, rice, and hot dogs. We are slowly but surely learning to cook Ecuadorian.

I’ll end this post with a funny (well now) story about my attempts to slowly let go. I wrote in a previous post about my current focus on embracing this feeling of lack of control in nearly every aspect of life. This week a group of women were in my office working with another employee on an upcoming workshop. Upon finishing they asked me for my help. The women were taking a course on haircutting at Hogar de Cristo and needed heads to practice on. With some hesitation I agreed – how could I say no when 6 women were standing with smiling, pleading faces. We get to the salon across the Hogar property and I learn that these women actually do not know how to cut hair yet. One woman was put in the middle as the example and the “professor” taught how to cut hair as all the women furiously took notes. As you can imagine, a little bit of anxiety rose in me. I never realized the control and importance I placed on my own physical appearance. What came to mind as I sat there for the first few minutes of silence as she began cutting my hair was our reflection during all RdC on simplicity. Simplicity can also be interpreted as letting go – of all those things that prevent us from being fully present to or building honest relationships with ourselves, our neighbors, and our God. So in that moment, I decided to let go of what may happen to my hair and I engaged in conversation with the woman, learning all about her life and her hopes for starting her own salon one day to support her family. It was a difficult and honestly stressful morning, but I did learn something from the experience. And all ended well – the “professor” went around at the end and fixed everybody’s hair. Another interesting day at the office…

Love and miss you all,

Colleen

La herencia de los vulnerables

Hi friends!

Abrazos from Ecuador! This blog post will end up being all over the place, but I hope to share a few activities and prevalent themes of our last few weeks work.

First, Mount Sinai made the news! Two all-star Hogar de Cristo volunteers from Spain and Chile presented their two-year collaborative project entitled “La herencia de los vulnerables” (The inheritance of the vulnerables). They first presented this to the presidents of the eight community groups in Mount Sinai one night in the neighborhood. Then Ecuavisa, a national and international television program, came to Mount Sinai to film interviews of the community leaders’ opinions and needs and take footage of the dire state of some sectors. The main topics covered were the legalization of land, quality of life, informal work, education, and the natural risks during the rainy season. This concluded with a book launching this past week at La Universidad Catolica de Guayaquil where the volunteers published their findings and presented it to a few government officials. Not only was it amazing to accompany the community and Hogar de Cristo throughout this exciting time, but the nerd in me LOVED all the presentations – I learned a lot!

A few people throughout the week told us what a big deal this publicity was. The only times Mount Sinai makes the news is for a murder or crime that occurs – and therefore the only perception most other Ecuadorians have of Mt Sinai is as a dangerous place to never visit. Never has there been a news crew here to film the actual state of poverty. To actually recognize the humanity of the people living here. It was an inspiring and humbling experience to see both the excitement and nerves the people of Mount Sinai had before going on camera (Mike and I gave out many hugs and high fives before and after). It had me questioning how often anybody actually asks them themselves what their needs are or their daily life is like.

El Universo, a newspaper, also published an article. (http://www.eluniverso.com/2012/09/04/1/1445/monte-sinai-vive-condiciones-vulnerabilidad.html). For you non-Spanish speakers, try popping it into Google translate to at least get the gist of it.

One of my other jobs here is as the Rostro de Cristo accountant. While I have never even taken an accounting class, I’m excited to learn. This past week I had my first closing of all August cash and expenses. I’ve clearly already adjusted to “Ecuatime” because I began going through the receipts around 7pm Thursday night when they were due 7am on Friday morning – as you all know, I am not typically the procrastinating type. I was bummed that I had to miss out on part of the volunteer dinner with the Santa Clara group in country and was dreading what looked like a couple hours of work after a long day of working. Literally as I pulled the first receipt out of the envelope, the power went out (happens often and at random times). All I could do in that moment was laugh and say “God does have a sense of humor.” So I accounted by candle light and entered the info into a little notebook. This was just another moment of needing to take a step back, recognize that most everything is out of our control in this year, and all I can really do is accept that and adjust. Ecuador continues to humble me – everyday things I’ve always taken for granted like consistent electricity or access to a computer is no longer a given. This small moment reminded me of a quotation from the book I just finished Gracias! By Henry Nouwen, an account of his 6 month stay as a Maryknoll missioner in Peru (highly recommend the book as well):

“All the functions of life, which previously hardly required attention, are complicated and time consuming operations here: washing, cooking, writing, cleaning, and so on. The winds cover everything with this layers of dust, water has to be hauled up in buckets from below and boiled to be drinkable, there is seldom a moment of privacy with kids walking in and out all the time, and thousands of loud sounds make silence a far away dream…Living here not only makes me aware that I have never been poor, but also that my whole way of being, thinking, feeling, and acting is molded by a culture radically different from the one that I live in now. I am surrounded by so many safety systems that I would not be allowed to become truly poor…I am not poor as my neighbors are. I will never be and will not ever be allowed to be by those who sent me here. I have to accept my own history and live out my vocation, without denying that history.”

Additionally, in accordance with reading the book Gracias!, I have been thinking a lot about gratitude and humility in these past weeks. I come from a place of privilege in a number of ways (health, economic stability, education, etc etc) and I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can humbly enter into this community and accompany through my work at Hogar de Cristo with gratitude. Last week during our spirituality night we reflected on a bible passage that for me really connected on this theme: “When he looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, ‘I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood’” (Luke 21:1-4)

This passage is so clearly evident in our everyday life here. People are constantly giving to us from a place of poverty. Even though they may be making it by day to day in terms of money, they will ALWAYS feed us a plate of food if we are visiting, and usually give us the largest plate. From their place of poverty, they not only offer us their endless hospitality and love, but what little they have to eat as well. Upon hearing this passage, I began reflecting on how I, as a volunteer, can give from my own places of poverty within myself as well. Not just participating in the community in the ways that come most easy, like joining into a soccer game with kids or cooking with the mothers, but giving in even those manners that are difficult or uncomfortable for me.

To wrap this up I’ll just list a few other things we’ve been up to: There are three Ecuadorian Jesuit novitiates working in our office at Hogar de Cristo for this month. Mike and I have had fun getting to know them and we have been working with them to run after school extra help in the neighborhoods (it’s nice to speak English for a bit as we help with English homework!). I’ve also been accompanying another volunteer who is giving a three-part workshop series on intra-family violence to groups of women in the community. Our first US retreat group from Santa Clara University was here for a week staying in Duran – we had a great day in Sinai with them introducing them to neighbors and our parish life. I’ve become the resident baker – we have been baking banana breads for birthdays and celebrations. Ecuadorians have never had it, but love it and call it “pan de gringo”. I’m also slowly learning how to cook like an Ecuadorian – our neighbors love to share recipes and cooking tips – we are all going to a neighbor’s home tomorrow for lunch to cook and eat Yapingacho (spelling? haha). There’s so so much more to share, but all’s good in Ecuador.

Love and miss you all!
Colleen

Photo Blog

Hi Friends,

All is well in Ecuador. Things have slowly picked up as we get into our routines and continue to meet new neighbors and friends. As a result, I haven´t had time to sit down and write a blog post, and thought instead I would share a few photos from our first month here in Ecuador....

The decision...

Orientation - the whole RdC/JVC crew

First dinner in our new home

First time swimming in the Pacific Ocean! (Day at Las Playas with all volunteers)

Visiting Grego´s family in Nobol

St. Narcisa de Jesus

Dinner with Padre John

Mt Sinai at night

Iguana Park

Maleconn lighthouse (Guayaquil)

Guayaquil at night - view from lighthouse

ALL PHOTO CREDIT TO MIKE - City of Guayaquil

 

Mt Sinai

Mt Sinai

Mt Sinai