Hi friends!
I spent about 10 days in Quito, Ecuador with one of our all girl-teams called, Agape Vita. They are such a sweet team, & they are incredibly hard working. Upon our arrival in Quito, the owner of our house connected the team with a local school called Computer World. Computer World started from the ground up, when a family started tutoring students with just eight laptops. Today, it’s a bilingual private college teaching students ages k-12. Most of Agape Vita was working there everyday, from six in the morning till around three in the afternoon. They were a huge support to the teachers there, & got to spend a lot of time with students as well.
Huge amounts of Venezuelan migrants are flooding through all the countries we have been to in South America, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, etc. If you haven’t heard or read about Venezuelans failing economy, lack of food, & health care, major increase in violence, you can read this short article by the Guardian (https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/10/more-than-half-a-million-venezuelans-fled-to-ecuador-this-year-un-says), which is where I have borrowed the following statistics. Close to half a million Venezuelans have arrived in Ecuador this year alone, fleeing the economic crisis to find jobs where they can. I had so many conversations with locals explaining how it’s hard enough to find work for locals in Ecuador, let alone the thousands arriving daily from Venezuela. The mass migration becomes obvious while driving around Quito, where you can easily spot refugees taken to selling fruits, candy & cigarettes near highways, or washing car windows at red lights.
A 20-minute walk from our house revealed a small camp made up of about 50 people with make-shift tents & tarps, with 24-hour police surveillance. I spent much of my time in Quito at this camp. So many of the people I talked to had a similar story: either they came by themselves or with one or two others, were under 25 years old, had left their parents & siblings struggling to get by in hopes of being able to send money back home, their possessions taken by the government after they couldn’t make ends meet, they traveled for days, sometimes weeks on foot, no job prospects, little hope of being able to go back to Venezuela. One young couple that I spent time with, Alessandra & Robinson, had arrived at this camp four months ago, & were living there with barely any food or clothing to keep them warm & dry. Another young woman I talked to, who was just eighteen years old, had walked for twelve days while four months pregnant, had arrived just the day before. You would hardly guess that this was their situation based off of the way they smile & laugh, the way they talk so lovingly about their home. Even while they are in such a dire situation, they have such pure hearts, & a genuine love for life & family.
While we were there we did our best to provide small hygienic products like soap, toilet paper, baby wipes, as well as tee shirts, sweatshirts & other clothing items but were discouraged from bringing food to them to avoid any violence. We had a sweet time getting to know a few of the faces there, listen to their stories, & be able to laugh together over our terrible Spanish. I was so sad to say goodbye to the friends I had made over the short time we were in Quito! Please please pray for the refugees in Ecuador, for Venezuelans & their country!
We are currently in Medellín, Colombia! More updates to come!
Love,
Emily
P.S. I have met my goal of $3500! Thank you all so much for your support!!
