ARRIVED ...

After a very long flight I arrived in Quito and got picked up. The next day after running around one block desperate to find the German embassy, I had a culture shock after lots of strange people started trying to grab my bags and kept talking at me in Spanish which I just could not understand, while I tried to follow Monica to the bus that would take me to Riobamba. I bit scared and confused I arrived in Riobamba where Margarita picked me up on Monday Night. And everything was fine.
On Tuesday Margarita introduced me to the Proyecto Infractores, to staff, young people and the police. This is a project that is like a youth prison but not really like one in Scotland. It is very basic and there are no cells. It is a piece of land with some houses where the boys stay, learn at live. Police is always around and accompanies the boys around the area. The area is secured by a wall all around the centre. They also have Volleyball (yippee, finally), Football and a garden, yes and guinea pigs for eating. In the morning they have some activities, like in the afternoon. Educators who only get a bit of money and do it half voluntarily teach them handicrafts, sports and subjects you would get at school. At the moment there are 6 boys around the age of 15-16.
The secretary Anita is very nice and was very curious to get to know details about me my life, my family and of course (always the second question after “What is your name?”) about my martial status (“Esta soltera o casada?”) Perdon!!!!!! Yes, Ecuador is different, in the UK or in Germany such a question at an early stage would be incredible indiscreet.
In the afternoon I played Volleyball (bolleyball) with los muchachos and Marco another volunteer from Ecuador. Yesterday morning I played Volleyball again, the Ecuadorian way with just 3 people in a team. I think the guys respect me because my Volleyball is not that bad. In Scotland I could not do much because my football is horrible 
At the moment they are very short of money, which is different to a couple of years ago where the centre was able to run quiet well. The problem at the moment is that the government is also not very interested and gives about 75c for one boy per day for everything (food, clothes, education, accommodation, medical, social and spiritual needs etc.). This has not changed in the last five years. And also in Ecuador it is difficult to live of 75c, which is about 45 pence. In Scotland that is not even a single bus fare. One sweet in a corner shop maybe…The other problem is the economical situation in Ecuador which lead the government to prohibit Mano Amiga to produce things for sale, which helped in the past to raise funds. At the moment the centre only seems to produce little things to decorate rooms and little soft toys and bakery utensils. The workshops for shoes and furniture still seem to be there but they are not used as much. The garden is very dry and the only thing that I saw growing was sweet corn. Margarita said that it costs too much money to water the garden and produce more and different kinds of vegetable and fruit.

On Wednesday Margarita introduced me in a meeting to all members of the other part of Mano Amiga in Riobamba which is called Desarrollo Infantil. At first they seemed a bit not sure who I am and what I am going to do. So when I had to introduce myself I said that I am very much looking forward to working with them and learning from them. And as a response they said, they as well, which was a good sign for me.
Yesterday and today I went to two different Barrios together with this Project for early education which is heavily financed by the government. They work in 18 Barrios in the province of Chimborazo. In the last two days I visited 2, El Bosque and San Luis. El Bosque is on a sandy road off a main road and lies in a little valley which was a former forest. It is a very poor area and houses are more huts, which are build out of different materials and very basic. It seemed that a lot of indigenas live there but also descendents of Spaniards. The hut in which we had the fiesta del niño was very basic and the roof began about 8cm above my head. And I am not tall!
The children there are amazing. They had little things which turn really fast after they put a string around it and threw it on the floor in a very specific manner. I was and am still so impressed. My mouth was wide open and the young boys were so proud that their eyes were shining and full of joy, probably like mine because that was such an amazing and lovely present for me that I could be there and watch them. Their eyes were as big as mine when I told them how long I had to travel to get here and on top of that that I took a PLANE. This was a very warm and touching experience for me but although very weird and different. I will definitely go back to El Bosque and my new friends, but I have to be very careful of not creating expectations and dependencies.