A day full of chaos!

Ginia and Jos were back in PT this am. Her job is snuggle and stimulate the babies and special needs kids. Go Jos!

Many kids like my little buddy are frequently abandoned in third world countries and Ecuador is no exception.. Without volunteers these kids are cared for but they do not get the special one-on-one attention that they need to improve their quality of life. It has been a blessing to spend time with these kids.

This is a picure of a buliding along the airstrip in Shell. One of the missionaries told me that this airport is the 3rd busiest in Ecuador! It is a military airstrip but is used much by missionaries as an entrance to the Amazon basin.

We attended chapel at the Nate Saint School for Missionaries this rainy Monday morning. They currently have about 20 students grades k-8. The school is on the missionary compound with several houses and the recently refurbished residence of Nate Saint. We will be going to view his house sometime soon. They have it set up as a museum inside. These houses are for sale so if you are looking to retire in the jungle of Ecuador this is your chance!

I almost forgot the chaos part!!!!

Five teenage girls were added to the roster today so Emery and I spent much of the day rearranging to make accomodations for the girls. We had to move 2 boys out of the loft, 2 rooms full of boys from the second floor to the first floor, 14 girls from the first floor to the second floor, move in beds for the girls in the loft, fix a couple bunk beds, and make the loft a more private area for the girls. Was a looong day and a lot of work. Ginia and Jos helped in the afternoon, as well as Hernan, and Mark. We started about 9:00am and we left at 7:30 pm with the kids needing to put away all of their stuff. I cannot imagine growing up in a place sharing a room with 13 other people and all of my belongings fitting into a garbage bag. They don't even have the stability of staying in a room for any period of time as room assignments may change due to they dynamics of the children placed at the orphanage.

Another missionary:

Rebecca- She is 25, from Kentucky and has a degree in Special Education. Oddly enough she did the last part of shool in Quito for Special Education but the place that they send these students does not have any Special Education kids! She googled special-needs orphanages in Ecuador and Casa de Fe popped up. She had originally planned to stay for a couple months but committed to a year, which is up the end of next month. She has a huge burden for special needs kids and it definately shows in the way she interacts with the kids. She spends time at Casa de Fe working with the children (she is the "physical therapist" by default) and also spends time at the special needs school in Puyo, about 15 minutes away. This school is special in that only about 1% of special needs kids in Ecuador get any kind of attention. She believes she is being led to try to foster a relationship between the college where she graduated and the school in Puyo. She has a great desire to serve the Lord and admits that there was much that God needed to do in her life, and He had to get her away from the US to do it.

By the way, Casa de Fe could really use a Physical Therapist, a Social Worker (national), a nurse, and a psychologist.