Spring Break 2017– Ecuador

Buenos Dias amigos! Comin' at y'all live from Quito, Ecuador on this beautiful morning! We've got a long day of travel back to the states ahead of us, kickin it off now at this lovely 3 a.m. hour! As we're driving through the streets that we've called home for the past week, I've had the chance to reflect on some of the experiences we've had, the friends we've made from near & far, and the impact that this trip has had on those we came to serve & each of us as well.

This past week, 10 of the most compassionate, adventurous, & authentic people I have ever met dedicated their spring break to selfless service. We journeyed all the way to Quito, Ecuador to support UBECI, an organization that works tirelessly to offer the underprivileged children of Ecuador a better chance at life. In order to survive, most of these kids spend their childhoods working to sell goods in the markets and helping to raise their siblings. Survival becomes the only priority for many of these families, forcing them to sacrifice health, education, & the experience of childhood entirely. They don't have the chance to run & play with their friends, they don't get to go to school, & too many don't even get to sleep in a bed at night. We met kids who didn't know their colors or what their nose was called. We met 4 year olds who had experienced more hardship than most of us ever will. We reached out to kids who were scared, offering them a safe place & a warm, loving hand. We sang, danced, and laughed with kids who were so ecstatic to see us arrive, yearning for our undying love & attention. We met far too many driven, talented, brilliant little kiddos who have endless potential that will never be explored, limited by nothing more than circumstance. We made connections & fell absolutely in love with these precious niños. We spent this week supporting these kids however we could; helping them learn how to wash their hands & face, teaching school lessons, giving them a break from work to play & experience a little taste of their childhood, offering encouragement, and being the role models that they might not have otherwise. Ultimately, we were their sanctuary. In our short time here, we gave these kids an opportunity at a better life. We made them smile, they looked up to us & learned from us, we got to be a light in a world that oftentimes seems so dark. And they did all that & so much more for us.

So what exactly did we do here day to day? We struggled to speak broken spanish, ate far too much rice & ice cream, never quite adjusted to the altitude, and spent the week with frozen toes from our rain-soaked tennis shoes (which I'm convinced will never be dry again). We all worked out muscles we didn't know existed from spending hours lifting up & hugging on the sweetest kids, learned how to say the parts of the face in Spanish, & sang the catchiest children's songs as loudly (and badly) as we could. We got to see the look of pure joy on a kids face when you hugged him. We got into countless tickle wars, lost every soccer game, & sometimes we'd become human chairs when the little ones got tuckered out. We laughed with the kids when we tried (and failed) to speak Spanish, we had relay races, competed in sing-offs, & had kids read their favorite stories to us, teaching us a few phrases along the way. We drew pictures with fantastic little artists, played instruments, and learned vowels with future scholars. We saw so much passion and talent. We danced in the rain, learned that a small smile can change someones whole day, experienced authentic, humble joy, and witnessed an unbelievable amount of selflessness. We were taught how to be grateful, and we instantly fell in love with so many of these kids. We had highs & lows. We laughed & we cried. And we would each do it all over again in a heartbeat.

You know that a trip like this was successful, when you reach the end & don't want to leave. These kiddos made us fall in love & made saying goodbye so hard. We went on a mission to Ecuador to hopefully make a difference in their lives, but in the end they made the greatest impact on us & have forever found a place in each of our hearts. Gracias niños magnifico, tu eres muy importante.