Lean On Me

Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's
Always tomorrow

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

My host mother works at a primary school way out in the country outside of Guaranda. She works almost exclusively con indigenous kids that can’t get all the way to Guaranda to go to school. On Monday night my host mother came home from work in tears.  Then she told us a story that changed the way I look at this world and the way that my last two weeks in Ecuador will play out. She had been working with her kids likes she does everyday and a lady came to her classroom door. She was very skinny with four little kids. She told my mother that her husband had left the family to go work on the coast 15 days ago and had left the family with no way to eat or make money to buy food. She and the kids had lived almost exclusively off of water with added herbs she found for 15 days. If she didn’t get any food for her kids, ages 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, and 6 years they were all going to die. She asked my mother if she would be willing to take one of her kids because she didn’t want them to die and this was her last option. Well my mother was not about to let a woman go and give away her kids to strangers, she wanted to help, but her resources were limited as well. She gave the lady everything she brought with her for lunch, but it wasn’t much. She promised the lady that if she came back the next day she would have more food for her. As she was telling me this story my heart was aching out of sadness and I was thinking, “I can help, I have the resources!” I sprung into action. One my good friends form the USA was leaving so I asked her if she had extra food she would not need, she did and I made out with a lot of food, including a ton of canned beans. With some added food from our house like rice, oil, and flour we had a pretty good collection of food that we could give her. But I wanted to do more than give her food, yes that would help for the next couple of days, but in the long run she would be back in the same situation. What could I give her that would not run out and would help her family in more ways than one, animals. If I got my friends and family in the US to chip in some money we could get her some guinea pigs and chickens, these would not only be food but she could sell them more money and they reproduce so you don’t need to buy very many to make a difference. I immediately went to my main means of communication with the US: Facebook. With in 12 hours I had a ton of responses and had raised over $300! This was wonderful and very overwhelming, when I went into this project I was looking at needing $50 maximum and I had just raised 6 times that. I was floored by everybody’s generosity and excitement at being able to help out a family that they didn’t know.

The next day I got up bright and early to head to work with my mom. My sister and I bundled up in many layers as we hopped into the back of a pickup truck to take us more than an hour up into the Andy mountains. We got there and about 15 minuets later the lady arrived with her kids. My mother and the other teacher decided to give her two older kids a space in the school for free and the two littlest ones came with us. We got them bread and hot coffee for breakfast and told them we had food and a proposal for them. We told her about the animals and she was overjoyed. She had always wanted chickens, but could not afford them. This was going to change her life. We then volunteered to help bring her food to her house for her because she had her hands full with two kids. She gladly accepted our offer and we walked for the better part of an hour before we arrived at her house. We got to know her a lot better, her name is Maria, she never had the chance to go to school because she had to work, so she cannot read or write more than her name, she is 24 years old and had 5 kids but had to give one away because she couldn’t support the family. She checked with us many times to make sure that we were sure we would be waiting for her tomorrow if she came down to Guaranda, because the bus was going to cost her two dollars both ways and if we were not going to be there she couldn’t waste the few dollars she had. We assured her over and over that we would be there. When we arrived at her house my breath was taken away. It was a one room house about 15 square feet. It had a table with a very thin mat on it that the whole family slept on, other than that there was a two-burner stove that looked like it dated back to the 1950’s. The whole house was made out of dirt and grass and didn’t have lights, a toilet, or even a sink. She was so grateful for everything and we said good-bye and we would see her tomorrow.

The next morning Vicky and I got up extra early (at least for two teens who are on summer break) and headed down to the bus station to meet her. When we met up she was so relieved that we were there. She told us that she had washed her baby and herself especially in preparation for the big trip to the city. She was very talkative and very excited. We headed down to the market that was practically busy because it was Wednesday to get the chicks and guinea pigs. I had no idea what to look for when buying animals so I let her take the lead on it. She picked out 10 little chicks that were healthy and thriving as well as 5 guinea pigs. We then headed to a near buy store and got chick food, soap, and a yogurt for her little one-year-old because she had not eaten breakfast. The whole walk to our house and the bus station she talked about how happy her kids were and how happy she was because these animals were going to change her life. I told her the one last condition of the animals, when she had a lot and could spare a few she was to give a few to a new family who needed help as well. The she was to tell them to do the same thing and the chain of giving would have started. She agreed and said thank you and was on her way. I will see her one more time on Friday to help her get her official Ecuadorian ID because she had one but her husband burned it because he didn’t want her going to court against him because he abused the family and neglected to give them food. I hope that she will be well and that these animals gave her hope and life. If you are interested in donating money to a cause very much like this project the “Heifer Project” was the inspiration behind all this. 

Livin' life on the loose

Buying the chicks... I let her take the lead on this one. She is the woman in the upper right hand corner. 

 Now to go get the guinea pigs. Is this one nice and fat and health. Another time she make the decision.

The Señora with her chicks, guinea pigs, and her bag of necessities to help her now, a little oil, food, and soap. Her 1 year old daughter is on her back.