Baby day...

Journal by: Jessica Nysenbaum

While Susan and Kristina went back to Center #1, Steve and I went to Center #2. Center #2 was even more chaotic than usual as Gracia, the tia for the 2 year olds was out for the 2^nd day in a row. Yesterday a new tia took care of the 2 year olds but today she was nowhere to be found. I’m worried she may have been scared off and never will be seen again.

While the other tia’s took off with their kids, the 2 year olds were left wandering so I herded them into their room. I was alone with them for about half an hour and just when I was at my wits end Andrea arrived and took the kids to a room for other tia's to watch. I'm sure it made for an interesting day, watching 4 year olds and 2 year olds together. I spent my morning in the baby room. A new baby, Leonardo, only 9 months old had his first day and was crying constantly. I played with the babies, changed diapers, and tried to distract the inconsolable Leonardo. Tia Patti was busy meeting with a woman from another children’s organization. The woman told me that she does home visits with the children once a month. She teaches them proper nutrition, explains when it is that children need to see a doctor, and checks on their development. She was teaching Patti how to do tests in her class to gauge the babies’ development.

After a fairly unpopular lunch of tripe, Steve made some more masapan purchases. Susan explained to Cecelia that her son Andrew would like to get in touch with her son who also lives in Tena. On our way back to Center #2 snack shops were eyed, but we did hold out. Steve returned to painting while I helped with Josseina’s kids while she filled out assessment forms. We also fit in a little English lesson and I taught her Rock a Bye Baby.

Meeting up with Susan and Kristina on the bus, we heard that Susan ended up teaching English to an assorted mix of tia’s children while Kristina worked with the tias. All together we headed to Old Town to visit a historic house museum. It struck me that Maria Auguste, the house’s owner, was like a one woman FUNDAC. She fed 150 kids a day in her house. The group was most impressed with her ornate bathroom. This was especially impressive as in her time everyone else used outhouses. After the museum we had a drink at an incredibly charming restaurant Kristina discovered. It had gorgeous views of Old Town and wider Quito leaving most of us pondering when we could return.