2/1

Happy February! Not sure where January went but its apparently over...so this is why it went by so fast.  First, I arrived in Ecuador on a Friday night, I was sick most of the day just thinking about going through customs. Im sure that most of you know that Correa (the President of Ecuador) is very against anyone bringing anything into Ecuador from the US. Since I travel a lot, Quito airport is small, and all of the people that work in customs are the same....they know me. This IS NOT to my advantage. I traveled this time with 2 duffle bags, one weighing 90 lbs and the other 50.  This is nothing compared to what I used to travel with and of course the lady asked me to please step over to the other side with my stuff so that they could look at everything. When they say “look at everything” that means take every single thing out of your bag and put it on a table. If its my size that I can keep it, if its not then they will take it. Lucky I had thought about this prior so i rolled all of the donations and things that I bought for people in the bottom of the duffle bags and put my stuff unfolded and a mess on top. When the guy opened the duffle bag he pulled out two big handfuls, all mine...then he put his hand down toward the bottom of the bag and pulled one more big handful and guess what?? It was ALL mine! No idea how that happened but then all he had to say was that I have ALOT of clothes, and my response was “ill be here for awhile”.  Haha! How amazing!! 

Then I was surprised with a birthday party on Saturday! Complete with roses, food, presents! How nice it is to have a second family here! Then the Liga game (Quito soccer team), crazy...tons of people but “we” won!!

Sunday night I arrived back in Pimampiro to a house full of dirt...not pleasant but the reality of living in a small dusty town.  Monday and Tuesday were spent unpacking and repacking and cleaning and organizing because on Wednesday at 4am I left Pimampiro with two kids headed to Operation Smile Evaluations in Quito!

Operation Smile...my newfound love. Operation Smile is an organization that does mostly cleft lip and palette repairs and other minor surgeries such as removing an extra toe or separating fingers. I am now part of their “Ecuadorian Team” which means that I will work (as long as I am not in the states working) with them the 4 times a year that they are in Ecuador. The director of South America was here this past week and asked if I would be willing to travel to other Latin American countries since they are always in need of bilingual nurses. So, we will see where that takes me!

This past week in Quito we operated on 99 kids!! Most of these kids were revisions of previous cleft lip surgeries, quite a few first time palette repair, and a good number with extra toes or fingers. One little girls who was about 2 really made me sad, her mother worked in a greenhouse where they grow bananas and she was born with very few fingers or toes. One foot was totally “normal” while the rest were nothing more than nubs with maybe a finger or two. She was also born with cleft lip and palette and a few other more minor abnormalities. This is to show what chemicals do to bodies, how awful for something so preventable this poor child was born with so many things wrong. So many other stories that I could tell you; the 3 year old who was burned all on the left side of his face and the skin was super tight, the 18 year old who had very little upper lip after having so many cleft lip surgeries so now his lips are sewn shut for the next few weeks, or the many kids who had their palettes closed and have a suture through their tongue taped to the side of their faces. So many children, so many surgeries, so thankful do be a part of such an amazing team and effort! 

Im back in Pimampiro now...time to get English classes and this nutrition project on the road. Thank you all for all of your support! I couldnt be here without each and every one of you!!

One more week...

One more week in Ecuador and then I will be back in the states...bittersweet as always. But...the good thing is that I know that I will be back very soon. Time passes super quickly here, I know that I say that in most every blog entry but it’s true...I cant believe how fast my life has past. In March it will be 2 years since the first time I came to Pimampiro! 

Doesn’t feel like Christmas here, everyone here says it is because they are poor or because of the climate. But...regardless hardly anyone has lights or trees or is in “The Christmas Spirit” whatever that really means. Im sure it is not because of the climate, cause living in Miami it feels like Christmas at Christmas even though its not cold. But here....Im not sure what it is. Every day is the same for them, regardless of time of year or holiday. Kind of sad, being so used to Christmas being all around me and this close to Christmas everyone is happy and talking about Christmas and being “jolly”. Last year I left before now so I just figured it wasn’t close enough....but apparently this is the way that it is always. 

In my house there is no tree or lights, but there are a million gifts!! There are cookies and candy and clothes and gift bags....one room full of donations!! Thanks to all of you the kids here will have an awesome Christmas! This Friday I am going to first have Christmas with the kids in the daycare...we are inviting the moms and I am going to make cookies and rent a Santa outfit! The kids will be so excited to see Santa and be able to take pictures with him! I will give the kids at the daycare their Christmas bags which are filled with dolls or hotwheels, beanie babies, candy and clothes!! Then on Sunday we will do Christmas with donations from another organization for all of the kids who are not in the daycare, we have donated toys and everyone will get a bag of candy and cookies! Santa will be there this day too! 

But...I am thinking about the orphans in Lima! There are so many of them and they truly have nothing...I really wish I could go there. I want to go and take presents and clothes and candy to make their Christmas awesome too.  Unfortunately the time and the funds to do that are limited...but none the less I am thinking about them. I am going to try my best to go there when I get back, at least for a few days to see them and to take them some gifts. My heart is for the kids, but especially for the orphans and kids that are maltreated. One day I hope to have an orphanage...I don’t know where or when but that is something on my bucket list that I have not yet accomplished! 

Thank you all again so very much for all of your love and support! I will be stateside very soon!

written 11/30

I cannot believe that it is already the end of November, where did this year go? I have been in Ecuador almost 3 months...and it’s almost Christmas! My time here...and this year has passed me by so quickly. 

Starting this week I am starting a nutrition project! A company will be putting a solar energy plant in Paragachi (where I work) and they want to increase the health and nutrition of the residents. I will be working along side of this company to do the research and to show them the results of increased nutrition in the diet. 

We will begin with the kids of the community by adding a “shake” every morning, this drink is full of vitamins and nutrients that these kids are lacking. For example, I was talking to a 12 years old this week and since we are working on this new nutrition project I thought I’d ask him what he had to eat on that particular day: breakfast was bread and coffee, lunch was pasta soup, and dinner was a hamburger and french fries. Do you see the lack of nutrition there? 

Our goal with this project is to see results; changes in grades in school, overall wellness , less tiredness, meeting their milestones faster, and whatever else may come with it! After we begin with the kids we will move onto their families, we will also be working on teaching nutrition and the importance of fruits and vegetables in the diet. This all works together with the other organization (Mountains of Hope) that is here and who are teaching the families how to have gardens and to grow fruits and vegetables without pesticides. Hopefully this project will come full circle and we will see big results in the health of the people here! 

Thank you all so very much for your help for Christmas! I have received 5 packages from Shelley Houshell! Thanks so much Shelley! I am still waiting for the 17 packages that my mom sent...with all of that I assume that these kids will have an awesome Christmas! We are organizing a day where we will invite the mothers to come, the kids will do a small Christmas program and then we will give them their gifts! 

Thank you all so very much for your love and support....I couldn’t do this without each and every one of you! 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Sad that I am not with my family, but happy to be here in Ecuador! I hope that everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I ate normally and had a normal day here...sad I know but I look forward to having pumpkin pie and all of the Thanksgiving foods when I get home! Ill be sure to eat more than I should to make up for lost time! I am super thankful for my family and friends and for all of the opportunities that I have been given in this life! I look forward to many more years with my family and many more years to give thanks for this amazing life that I have been given! Well...Im headed to the beach for the weekend! Need to relax a little, Ive been exhausted lately...a few more weeks here and then I will be back to see everyone in the states for a few weeks!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

THANK YOU! Written 11/8

First and foremost I want to thank all of you who have sent or are sending stuff for the kids for Christmas! These kids appreciate everything...and will love anything that you send to them! In a place where Christmas is just another day, where you might get some candy and cookies...toys and clothes are things extra special. 

Today I had the awesome opportunity to go to one of the communities, Mariano Acosta, where I worked with one of the dentists. Mariano Acosta is more than 3,000 meters (I have no idea what that means) in the mountains, if my calculations are right thats about 10,000 feet. I mean I live at about 8,000 feet but going up to that community makes me feel as though I am in the sky. The sun is strong, though it is chilly (today at least)...feels like a nice warm winter day in the states (when its sunny-if its overcast its just freezing). My reason for going was to work...that I did. I got to extract teeth, suture up the holes left behind, drill out cavities and fill them, and to learn what its like to be a dentist! Definitely not my favorite orifice to work with but another awesome experience to add to my book. Thanks a ton Dr. Rivera!

A little about my life here...some days are full and busy and some days are lonely. I know that that is to be expected, but on my “lonely” days I find myself wondering what else I could be doing. Where else could I go? What else could I be doing? Normal, Im sure but it really frustrates me! I really do love being here, and I love the people and I love what I am doing...but sometimes it is lonely. I know it is to be expected because essentially I am here alone...in the end I know that it is all worth it! I am here for a reason and I will fulfill that reason! 

Christmas is coming!!!

I brought down donations, I have shipped down donations and now I am putting together packages for Christmas for the kids and I need your help!! Anything that you would like to donate will be put to good use! I have found a way to easily ship here, directly to me...so if you are interested in helping please let me know! All of your donations are tax deductible too!!! 

Small toys, crayons, coloring books, books, anything...anything is appreciated by these kids. Please let me know asap because it takes about 2 weeks for me to receive stuff that is shipped and Im only here until December 18! 

Thank you in advance for your help and support! 

OPERATION SMILE

I had the awesome privilege of working with Operation Smile! Because of the baby that was born a few weeks ago with cleft lip, I decided to look and see when Operation Smile would be in our area, to my surprise it was the week after I was looking! Unfortunately I could not take this newborn to be operated but I did take 3 other for evaluation. Before hand I talked with the director of OS here in Ecuador and he told me what to expect and what to make sure that the kids had before we went. Because of that when he asked the kids that were with me where they were from he remembered Pimampiro and immediately knew who I was. We spent the whole day waiting to be evaluated, one of the three qualified for surgery! The other two are older and have had previous operations. 

The newborn I will take to Quito with me in January to be operated! All the kids must be at least 3 months of age and 5 kg. He will be that in January! 

At the end of the day the director found me and asked if I would like to work with them, yep as a nurse, during the time they were in Ibarra. Of course I took the opportunity and worked with them!! We did surgery on 79 kids!! Amazing how “easily” a cleft lip and/or palette can be fixed! Also they do other cosmetic surgeries, for instance a 28 year old girl who was burned by boiling water from the chest to the knees we loosened up her skin some so that she could be in less pain. A kid born with no skin around they eye, they constructed an eye lid. Kids born with their mouths much larger than they are supposed to be, so we made them smaller. So many surgeries in such a short time...and the most amazing part are the parents. When the child wakes up from anesthesia and is able to drink we take them to their parents which then go to the floor to be watched for 24 hours...the look on the parents faces is amazing! Especially the kids who had an open cleft lip and now have a full “normal” lip. How amazing!

I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to work with Operation Smile! The amazing thing about Operation Smile here in Ecuador is that there is a director here and a group of surgeons and nurses who work together, in all 4 cities every year. I will be working with them from now on, and our next mission is Quito in January! I am super excited to be able to work with them again!