Sunday

Minga! Today was our day to work side by side with the people in a group self help project known locally as a Minga. In order to get out to the country side, the young men were awoken at 6:00 am - needless to say, they were so happy to get up that early. Luck for us, rather than public bus, Vincente, one of the bus drivers at the Center joined us. We first made a stop downtown to pick up some folks from La Marin before heading out to Tacumba.

Each of the families involved in the center msust participate in mingas, somewhat like Habitat for Humanity. Today, we were out working to finish the foundation of a new home being built with a family. The McQ guys worked hard, moving rocks, mixing and pouring cement, making the steel framework that serves as posts in the wall, and leveling the ground. The additional help was much appreciated by the family even though the guys were not as used to the hard work as the Ecuadors; the women in the family certainly worked as hard as our guys. The family celebrated the work we did with a local custom - a SMALL glass of local beer, mixed with cola. They also provided a delicious lunch for us before we headed back to the Center. When we left after lunch, the family prepared to spend several more hours on the project - since this is their day off and the only chance they have to spend time on this project.

We headed back to the center, somewhat sunburned and with "picas" or insect bites on arms and legs. Upon returning to the center, it was showers and naps as everyone was wiped out from the work. There is no dinner at the Center on Sundays, so we took the short walk down to the Centro Commercial, basically an American mall in the midst of our neighborhood. The guys chowed down on McDonalds and KFC, a little taste of home.