It’s another typical night at the Manna house in Ecuador. The air outside is cool and damp, having just rained. The group, both content and tired from a full day’s work, is eager to unwind. As I type this, mouth-watering smells of homemade jambalaya are wafting from the kitchen (it’s Luke and Marks’ cooking night). Since the beginning of the New Year and the start of a new structure to our classes, we’ve been incredibly busy. Our programs are better than ever and we’re building more and more friendships in the community, but at the end of fulfilling (and exhausting) days, it’s nice to just relax.
Programs are going great. We continue to have two hours of homework help every day, which are now followed by an hour of enrichment courses. Mondays and Fridays are for art: crafts, music, and drama. Tuesdays and Thursdays are literacy (currently the kids are reading Harry Potter in Spanish and writing in journals they made in crafts). Wednesdays we teach English class. Saturdays, we’ve started a three-hour sports camp during the morning, followed by a three-hour adult English class. Zak continues to work with a local cooperative to enhance microfinance operations in the community. This Friday we are taking a group of our students (the ones with nearly perfect attendance at our program) on a field trip to Quito to see the Guayasamín Art Museum, a breathtaking art collection of a famous Ecuadorian painter. Next week, a group of medical students from Iowa will be teaching a dental hygiene class to the kids. We are also in the process of planning health and nutrition classes for the children in our programs and their families.
Again, things in Ecuador are busy and exciting. Ferris Bueller said, “Life goes by pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. “ So as we take a moment to breathe and reflect- and before we go eat some delicious jambalaya- we’d again like to thank everyone for your continued encouragement.
Until next month,
Abbie
Making turtles during arts and crafts.
Working on some homework during our apoyo escolar program.
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