Here´s an e mail I recently wrote about an incredible opportunity for the foundation. I´m excited about the possibility of expanding.. Read on.. :)

I have some exciting news that I wanted to share with you. Today Pastor Dario shared an opportunity that seems to have popped up in front of us. Behind our church there is a methodist church that has been running a school. They run it out of a small rented building (so small they have gym class in the street). There are 60 students right now. However, they are being forced to close the school because the owners of the building they rent are selling the building. However... the director approached pastor dario to ask him if he would please mind taking over the school and running it on our church property. (In fact, the teachers have been going to the school asking him to please take the offer as well. They would love to continue teaching.) We would LOVE to do this. They´re selling all of the school materials (including desks, file cabinets, school books, uniforms, etc.) all of the things one would need to run the school. They´d like to sell it all to us for $3,500. However, if we can pay $1000 next week they´re willing to give us a year to pay the other part. They really just don´t want to see the school fall through.
Also, it would cost a minimum of about $5000 to build some walls behind the church to make classrooms. Since the kids are on vacation right now we can construct the classrooms quickly and begin classes in April when all of the kids go back to school. It would be SO wonderful to run a program like this. We´d have a better eye on the kids, more contact with the parents, the kids would be taught christian values in classes, and the kids wouldn´t have to deal with corrupt teachers selling materials, etc.
The other neat thing is, the 60 kids that attended this past year paid $18 a month to attend. With this money they were able to pay the staff to run the school. In other words, a school would give the foundation a way to be able to sustain itself. There are very few christian schools in Guayaquil, and I know people would be interested in getting their kids in the school. Families who can afford to pay would pay, but the needier families would be given scholarships so their kids can study for free. I think we would probably want to look into hiring a social worker to be able to sort out the families who are in need from those would can pay.
The only thing is, there´s not much time. We´d have to pay $1000 next week to get the materials. Do you think there´s any way we can make this happen? What are your thoughts? Does it sound like a good idea? Do you have any questions?

"Winter" Vacation!

Hi again!

What a FUN week we had with the kids! This week marked the beginning of a 2 month vacation for all of the kids. Sort of like "summer" vacation. But we get to enjoy it during winter. Because the kids don't have homework, we've changed summer program to Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The kids come at 10:30 in the morning and we have different activities planned each day. This week on Wednesday we played games to celebrate the kick off of vacation. We started off playing a few traditional ecuadorian games, but in a few minutes the boys were distracted by a soccer ball and beeeeeegged for a game of soccer (which NONE of the girls were excited about.) :)Instead, I grabbed a few t-shirts and decided to teach the kids capture the flag. We divided into teams and got going! It was rather entertaining to watch as at the beginning of the first three games as each team took turns running to the other side, while screaming and laughing as they were chased down and ended up and jail. Quickly one team learned to stay on their side and while they tagged almost all of the other teams men, they became too focused on "jail" that one of the two members of the other team ran across and grabbed their flag before they noticed. They had a great time learning a new game. In fact, I said "Okay, one more game and then it's time for lunch!" And several kids responded "No! Seven more games!!"

On Friday we bought two mini pools so the kids could take a dip. The kids LOOOOVED it! One pool was for the girls, and one for the boys. Glad we thought of that.. The boys were splashing and wrestling and jumping and throwing balls around and trying to annoy the girls by spraying them with the hose, while the girls spent their time giggling and seeing who could hold their breath the longest under water. We all had a good time and they can't wait for the next time we dig out the pool. :)

For those of you who pray for us and/or support us financially, I want to thank you for your help. Like I said, this week is vacation. Most of these kids live in small houses with very little to entertain them- maybe a tv or a radio. It would be easy for them to hang out in the streets to find fun, a place that's not only dangerous, but has a very negative influence on the kids. With Foundation Restoration we can provide the kids with a safe place. Not only can they have safe fun, and a good healthy lunch, but they're surrounded by positive influences, as well as people who pray for, and care about them. We definately wouldn't be able to do any of this without you! Thank you!!

Winter Arrives

Hi Everyone! I chuckled this morning as I opened my e mail and read the advertisement from old navy that showed spring clothes, rain jackets, and boots. I know that at least in Maine they're still battling through dead winter, and won't need those for a few more months. However, I sure wouldn't mind a pair of rain boots this morning. Here in Ecuador "winter" means heat, humidity, and rain. It's been raining since yesterday. In fact, I woke up to find my kitchen being flooded because the construction workers forgot to leave a hole in the terrace so that the rain could drain out. Thankfully our landlord is a good friend of mine and got a hole made as quickly as he could. Our building was just remodeled in July and August, but rain is coming in all over the place! The restaurant downstairs has a bunch of buckets set up catching water, and I can hear the water pouring into the hallway outside of our door (although that's not too big a deal as it just falls down the stairs and out the screen door, although I suppose someone could slip and hurt themself.)

But with all of the fun we're having here in my house today, I can't imagine it compares to what many other Ecuadorians are dealing with today. In October my friend Johanna confessed her fears as the rainy season approached. She and her husband have 3 children, including a 11 month old. They also have her husband's grandmother staying in their house who is blind and spends most of her time in her bed- which is stationed in their kitchen. I think of Johanna today because there's a big piece of the roof on her two room house missing. That means everyone gets wet every time it rains. Guayaquil rain isn't like rain the Maine, where I'm from. This rain is dirty. After walking a half hour in the city on a nice day you feel a film on your face that collects from the smog and pollution. At the end of the day you can be sure to blow your nose and find black stuff that's collected there during the day. I'm pretty sure Johanna's household didn't get much sleep last night. Actually, I'm sure many more than just Johanna's household didn't get much sleep.

As far as the foundation goes. We're finally settling back into a regular routine. From Christmas until January 6th we had a pretty sporatic schedule as the kids were on vacation, and celebrated Christmas and the new year. We had a wonderful Christmas party thanks to a special offering that was given from my home church. The kids played games, sang songs, won prizes, ate dinner together, as well as cake and ice cream, and every single child went home with a gift. In fact, that gift part was a miracle. We only bought enough toys for the kids registered in the foundation to get a gift. However, several other children showed up including siblings, cousins, and kids that aren't even associated to the foundation. Just as we were finishing up the games a woman stopped by with two trash bags full of toys, saying that she wanted us to distribute the toys to kids in need. Thank you Lord God! Not a single child left without a toy.

Thanks for reading this! My new years resolution is to blog at LEAST once a week, and hopefully more. There are always interesting stories to be told here, so stay tuned!