In the summer of 2018, we spent a month volunteering in Ecuador. Yes, I realize that seems like a lifetime ago, but it also seems like yesterday in the whirlwind life we have lived the past 18 months. In our moves and travels and new adventures, I had never dedicated the time to sharing our stories from Ecuador with you all. The experience was something that was life changing and we will never forget and those moment deserve to be shared here with you.

We split the month between two locations- Ballenita, a quiet coastal town in southwestern Ecuador and Quito, Ecuador’s bustling capital city. Forrest volunteered at a school as a physical education teacher and I worked in various programs related to environmental studies; teaching farmer’s children who didn’t attend school, and planting banana trees. Together in Quito, we worked on a program for children who were on a school break, doing activities and education while their parents were working. Forrest spoke little Spanish and mine was rusty, but improved the more I spoke. Most children spoke no English so communication was through whatever means necessary- gestures, drawing, facial expressions, and acting.

Working with these children gave us new perspective. We were aware of struggles faced in other countries, but you have never seen struggle until you have seen a 6 year old child raising his toddler sister while his parents sell fruit at the market. The time that we had with the kids was short and to them, it might not have been more than a blip in their memories. But, to us, we left everything we had on the field. We gave the children all we could while we were there and we continue to think of them most days since we have returned home.