Our first few days were quite a shock. The conditions we lived in were very nice and we were taken care of very well. However, everything outside our living quarters was not so pleasant. We were given a tour of the center and learned alot about their very different education system. Instead of getting the kids ready for college like at McQuaid, the children are taught how to survive on the street as low class businessmen. From the ages of 3 or 4 they are given a basic education then once they get older they begin training to become skilled laborers in mechanics and automechanics, carpentry, cosmetics, and food preparation. At first I thought this system was incredibly flawed. I though why not educate these kids to be like us. Why not give them the same sort of education we are getting? By the end of the trip though, I realized that the kids do not have the same options for college that we have much less money to pay for it. Their education would be much better served learning to be skilled workers and that will give them much better chances of succeeding after they graduate.
An experience I considered a great challenge was during my second visit to the "Gota de Leche" center. I was shadowing a volunteer who had to leave shortly after introducing me to her 3 special education students. I was supposed to help them with their multiplication and division skills and also develop some of their English skills. They were very difficult to control and were very easily distracted. And with my limited Spanish, it was difficult to talk to them. However, we all ended up getting along by the end of our 1 hour session and during the last ten minutes i let them listen to my ipod which they loved. This was a challenge I was able to overcome and was very proud of myself afterwards.
A highlight of the trip was definitely the "Minga" or manual labor session we had on sunday. Our entire group went out into the hills surrounding Quito and helped a family build a house. We split up into three teams. One team was helping to build supports for the eventual walls and corners of the houses. Another team mixed cement and laid it down in holes dug for the base of walls. My team was digging dirt up and moving it into a corner to level out into the floor of a house. Even though some of us were savagely bitten by nats, we all felt very happy that we were able to make so much progress on a house that the family could not have done without us. Filled with the delicious lunch they served us, we were able to look out at the work we did and see a physical change we had made to help someone. This was a very rewarding experience.
Overall, the trip was very successful and I am glad I chose it as my Capstone. Just as Padre Juan said, we walked away with an experience of all of Quito. We saw the malls of the wealthy, schools of the children, and houses of the poor. We were able to lend a hand to those in need and able to play with the kids. I would definitely recommend it to a Junior for their capstone and hope to do something similar in the future.
Levi Bowen
"What's a minga?"
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