Wednesday

Today was our first experience of public transportation in Quito (so far we have used the Center´s bus). Two bus rides taking almost three and one half hours brought us to the southern section of the city. There we visited the casas of several of the Center´s families. This is where the extreme poverty of Quito is found and it is home to many of the children and families of Center 1. This area is filled with a lot of single mothers who have been abandoned by the fathers of their children. While not as extreme as some of the poverty we witnessed in the Dominican Republic, it was a reality check for our guys. The families in this area of the city will walk and take the bus to get to "El Centro", leaving around 4:30 - 5:00 am in the morning; many will not return until 10:00 pm in the dark. Limited electricity and lights and the running water that does exist is not drinkable. It is an existence on the edge for many and the primary reason that the Working Boys´Center was founded.

After a return bus trip to the Center and lunch, we began some work at Center 1 - painting the stairwells and the ceiling ironwork in the boys´ bathroom. Our guys should be glad that they are heading off to college as seemingly more paint wound up on the floor and on their clothes than on the walls and ceiling.

Returning to the Center after a long day, several of us walked about a mile to the American style mall. The guys did work up an appetite and were hungry for some American food. Half went to KFC and half to McDonalds. The mall was a little overwhelming and quite a contrast from what we saw in the morning. It exemplifies the great economic divide to be found in countries in Latin America. Of course, the guys were still hungry enough to eat another dinner at the Center!

Once again, we spent the remainder of the evening together enjoying each other´s company with a little friendly competition built in.