COVI (Casa Opcion de Vida…I’m not sure what the I stands for still…) is a place in the park where kids can go hangout while their parents are still at work; or, for the less fortunate ones, a place to go if they don’t have a home to go home to. This ministry was born about 20 years ago when someone saw the need to provide a place for the homeless kids living in and around Carolina park in Quito. Eventually, COVI also became a popular place for kids to convene after or before school while their parents couldn’t look after them. Although COVI does not provide sleeping quarters or living space for children, they do provide a snack at breakfast time, a hearty meal for lunch (which we also enjoyed every day, thanks to Señora María), help with homework and a whole lot of love and attention for everyone. It is truly an awesome ministry and a great place to go to work. Here are some fun pictures to give you an idea of what our ministry was like in Quito with COVI.
This is the COVI logo. Featuring Yvo, an awesome volunteer we quickly befriended from Venezuela. He speaks English!
This is where the kids eat lunch and do other activities.
“Because all things proceed from Him, and they exist through Him and for Him. To Jesus be the glory forever! Amen.”
This is Señora Tamara. She is the director of COVI. She has served as director for more than 15 years and still going strong!
Señora María is on the left. She is the one who cooks all the yummy food, along with all the other jobs she does. She was also our supervisor in all of our gardening work and the rest of the manual labor.
Chase and David trying to be cool.
Now for some pics during lunchtime.
Some yummy soup. (We had soup literally every day in Ecuador. If not at school, then at home, if not both. But it was really good most of the time!)
And this is the classroom where everyone learned a ton and everyone did all of their homework.
And now…RECESS!
Kids still loving the Eno. I guess it is more than just a Colombia thing.
Soccer skills. (All of these kids are better than me, by far.)
The crew (Team Brosciples) and Yvo.
Selfie.
Really cool thing the sun did at ministry one day. I don’t know what this is called.
Literally too cute.
Kids love this in every country I think.
Regular occurence.
Last day of ministry…and DOUGHNUTS!
Here’s a fun candid of the guys on the way to ministry.
Some views from near our house.
The sunrise from our bedroom window.
When David got his retainer re-glued in Quito.
Playing in the tree.
Time fails me to tell how wonderful our hosts were, Mabi and Fabi. You guys are amazing! Ya les extraño!! Thanks for taking sure good care of us. Nos vemos pronto. Si no en esta vida, pues al otro lado! I am not sure if that translates well, but you know what I mean!
P.S. I still have one last blog to post for Ecuador (a short vlog), although I am already in Peru now. We arrived about a week ago. I am still working on putting that video together, and then I will write a blog introducing what we are doing here in Peru. Thanks for reading!
-Reece
