Friday, 23 July, 2010

Thought of the Day:

“The highest reward for a person’s work is not what they get for it, but what they become because of it.” ~John Ruskin

It’s hard to believe that it is the end of our first week already. It’s been five days since 21 eager volunteers headed off to Calderon not sure of what to expect.

Now we know the daily routine with the children, the construction project is almost finished, we are speaking Spanish more confidently and the tias are even beginning to speak a few words of English.

Because two families in our group will be leaving on Saturday, there was a celebration in Daycare Center #1 to thank those volunteers. The Calderon children performed songs and traditional dances and presented each volunteer with a thank you card and marzipan figurine.

Darcy, along with all of the Global Volunteer children – Sarah, Breanna, Isaac, Leo, Eli, Theo & Henry – presented a large poster card from the volunteers and led the children in “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “The Wheels on the Bus.” Many of the Calderon children joined in the hand motions.

After lunch at Mi Quinta, some of the volunteers stopped at Cecelia’s Marzipan Tienda to see a demonstration and make a few purchases before heading back to the day care centers. Several of us have decided to stop in a shop or two each day after lunch to help Calderon’s economy! So many handicrafts to choose from, but Calderon is best known for its marzipan.

When we arrived back at the daycare centers, the children were still napping and the tias and cooks were waiting for their English lessons. This is the first Global Volunteer Ecuador team to offer English instruction and the tias have told us how much they appreciate our lessons.

Before heading home to Quito, the volunteers from Center 1 stopped by to inspect the construction project. The transformation form dirt piles and trash is truly amazing! Soon the children will be able to play on their newly paved playground.

As we gathered for dinner, Josh passed out photos of our Global Volunteer Ecuador team to everyone. And at Colleen’s suggestion, we ended our meal with birthday cakes – chocolate and Tres Leches – form the Dulcinea down the street for Mary and Ann.

We said our final good-byes to Darcy and Josh and their children Eli, Theo and Henry, and to Delia and Aaron and their children Isaac and Leo.

Addendum:

Saturday and Sunday many of the volunteers took the opportunity to explore Quito and the surrounding areas. Our guide Martin shared this story:

The difference between the rich man and the poor man….

The rich man has 2 dogs.
The poor man has 10 dogs.

The rich man has a swimming pool.
The poor man has a river.

The rich man has a car and city pollution
The poor man walks everywhere and has fresh air.

Entry and message submitted by Bobbie and Breanna