Church Retreat
31/08/26 17:25
"Can we use your place to receive our youth after their retreat and hold our church service?" "Sure! Anytime!" We're flexible. They only confirmed the event the day before, so we didn't know exactly what to expect, but that's part of the fun. First on the agenda was to shuck the corn and light the charcoal. Then the service. ("Could you play your accodion since all the musicians are on the retreat?") Then we had to wait for a few of the adults to pick up the youth at their retreat. Meanwhile they started cooking the chicken and sausages. When they arrived we had to wait for each youth to share their weekend experiences before digging in to the food. After the meal I brought out a few of my puzzles while others threw darts or tried to throw a disk into a frog's mouth (an Ecuadorian game). We enjoyed the fellowship and hope to see folks use our house more often.
Oh, oh ...
19/08/26 17:53
Faby's been having headaches for years. Recently her lower dentures are giving out. We got her new dentures, but she couldn't adapt to them. Then I found another dentist here in El Tingo; young, and a specialist in oral rehabilitation. His first step was: "Take a panoramic x-ray." In our next appointment he spelled out all the problems she has with her teeth: cavities and infections all over. He marveled that she's not in pain and her face isn't swollen. Everyone is different. Faby has no pain in her teeth, but it MAY be causing headaches. The doctor suggested sedation and a one shot surgery to correct everything. Wow! I have to convince Faby, but her memory doesn't hold out long enough. He did a prophylaxis, and we'll wait and see and go from there. I'm praying for wisdom.
What to do?
12/08/26 09:59
Either break the rules or close down the Health Center. The Health Center in El Tingo didn't have any running water. How do you run a Health Center without water? What happened? Turns out the folks in the City Hall in Quito didn't pay the water bill, so the water company cut off the water supply, which, technically, isn't legal. If the government is responsible for providing public health care, how can they cut off their own water? Bureaucracy. So, at the local level, what do you do? The head doctor calls me and asks, "Can you reconnect the water line?" Since I have the plumbing tools, I answered, "Sure!" Then the water company inspector comes along and says, "You're stealing water." What a dilemma! The water company says you have to pay a fine, and the head doctor argues that it's illegal to cut off the water supply at a Health Center. All because someone in Quito didn't get around to paying the water bill. We'll see what happens. Welcome to Ecuador!
Street Kids
05/08/26 09:57
Faby is a natural for evangelism. Here in our park, we talk with many of the alcoholics. But our health limits us. Faby spends a lot of time resting. So while I accompany her, I've taken on reading some books about street kids:
"When Invisible Children Sing" by Dr. Chi Huang. He was a medical student at Harvard and traveled to La Paz, Bolivia to work in an orphanage. But at nights he would hit the streets and work with street kids into the wee hours of the morning.
"Nobody Don't Love Nobody" by Stacy Bess. She landed her first job as a teacher in Salt Lake City in a shelter for the homeless and taught all six elementary grades at once in very limited conditions.
"Breaking Night" by Liz Murray. While the first two books described working with street children, this author details her life as one of those kids, growing up in Bronx, New York. Her parents were drugs addicts and could barely, if at all, care for her.
These books give me a better understanding of the life of street kids. I don't know if we'll ever be able to work with such, but the few alcoholics in our park have some similarities. My application is to listen to their stories to better understand their situation. In most cases, the recovery period is a long process.