This month in Ecuador has come and gone so fast. It feels like we just took the 30 hour bus ride across the border from Colombia into Ecuador, and yet next week we depart this beautiful country for our next big adventure in Thailand!
Before we leave Ecuador, I wanted to write a blog to give you a glimpse at the ministry my team has been doing over the past 4 weeks – it’s quite a special organization.
The ministry my team was assigned to this month is called COVI. The ministry is located at the center of an enormous recreational park in the center of Quito. Each morning my team and I walk to the bus station and take an hour-long bus ride to the park. From there, we walk into the heart of the park where you will find a yellow and bright purple building where we’ve made a home over the past month. Each morning at COVI begins with a “Buenos Dias!” and lots of hugs before we begin our daily tasks.
COVI was started several years ago by the sweetest abuela you will ever meet, Tamarita, who still runs the ministry to this day with another lovely woman and excellent cook, Maria. COVI is a safe place for children to go during their free time, either before or after school. All of the children come from troubled homes, some even come straight from the streets. At COVI, they are given homework help, hot meals, and lots of love – all for free. Our ministry job at COVI is very simple: to help out wherever needed and to constantly love on all the children.
Each day provides a different opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the kids and also the volunteers at COVI. On Mondays, volunteers come to COVI to do the children’s (and our) hair and nails, each day volunteers come in to teach and tutor, and on Fridays there is a Zumba/dance class that anyone can join in on for a little fun. As a team, like to sweep, weed, and clean up the area, help Maria cook in the kitchen, teach the children English, serve meals to all the children who come through, chase kids around until our legs can’t hold us anymore, tend to and replant a vegetable garden, and simply be a warm, loving body to kids who have never had something as simple as that.
At COVI, there are so many opportunities to complete what many think are little, simple tasks. Yet, these little tasks constantly bless our ministry hosts and relationships with the children and volunteers are what are built through these small acts of kindness. Although we as a World Race team are leaving next week, we leave behind a firm-founded ministry that is changing the lives of children for the better. My month at COVI consisted of numb fingers from dishwashing in arctic waters, countless weeds pulled and leaves swept, and priceless hugs and kisses from kids filled only with love and hot, tasty meals.
COVI truly is a great place where I got to spend a lot of time this past month, so check out some pictures to see what I’m talking about.
This is the administration building and part of their large vegetable garden.
This is a picture of the rest of the vegetable garden. We spent a lot of time weeding this whole thing.
This is a picture of the classroom where kids play games, get homework help, use computers, and where we also teach English.
This is the inside of the classroom/computer room.
Here is a picture of the classroom/computer room as well as the area where the kids like to play. The kids will spend hours running across the tire trail.
This is an art building and the other garden we are replanting. We spent days tearing up the old garden and are currently almost done planting the new garden with brand new vegetables and flowers.
This is a picture of Maria and the kitchen. In this picture Maria is cooking a traditional warm drink, Colada Morada, which is only made in late October/early November to celebrate “Dia de Los Muertos,” or “Day of the Dead.”
This is the open room connected to the kitchen where dance classes are held, but more importantly, all the kids eat their meals.
Finally, these are three of my favorite kids pretending to be Spiderman: Gabriel (5), Maria Isabella (5), and Dario (6).
It’s safe to say part of my heart is about to be left in Ecuador with these kids at COVI.
