November in Ecuador doesn’t bring cool weather. The leaves on the trees aren’t changing and there is no Thanksgiving holiday commotion. In fact, the Andean sun shines bright and intense each morning, followed by heavy showers every afternoon. Día de los Difuntos (Day of the Dead) is past, when families honor their deceased loved ones, and the week-long fiesta of Quito’s founding (which happens to be this week) has filled the streets with parades, music and celebration.
As we approach December, rounding MPI’s third month in South America, life -although busy- has settled somewhat and we have developed a steady and solid routine with our programs. The younger kids (“little ones,” as we call them) have worked their way through the alphabet, each day practicing writing and recognizing a different letter (today we’re focusing on “R”). The older children are working hard to earn MPI dollars, awarded for good behavior and noteworthy effort, which they save in the Manna bank and exchange for pencils, pens, erasers, or if they save for enough time, a soccer ball, backpack, etc. We have now enrolled over 40 children in our after-school program and started an evening adult English class that meets twice a week. Plans are in the making to re-vamp our programs, which will soon include more focused literacy, art, math and English time. Thanks to a recent donation, we have begun a collection of children’s books in Spanish. The younger children absolutely love reading time and their fast favorites include Caperucita Roja (Little Red Riding Hood), Ricitos de Oro (Goldylocks) and Cenicienta (Cinderella).
We are also excited to welcome Luke Lockwood, our ninth and final member, to Ecuador. Luke arrived just in time to attend a bullfight with the group, an important tradition of the Festival de Quito. Although a little queasy at first, we soon became enthralled in the art and skill of bullfighting. The bright colors, the showmanship of the matadors, the crowd filled with people in white hats yelling, “¡Olé!” and the overall excitement of the event were absolutely breathtaking. Plus, we looked pretty awesome in the free straw cowboy hats they passed out before the event (see attached picture).
On behalf of MPI Ecuador, have a wonderful holiday season, and thank you again to all of you for your continued support.
Abbie Foust
Annie and I with our little ones.
Parade during Fiestas de Quito.
All nine of the MPI Ecuador group, feeling really hardcore after a long meeting.
Me, reading with the little kids with some of our newly donated books.
