Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving Week! I hope you all enjoy your breaks this week...Unfortunately, Ecuador doesn't celebrate the coming of the Pilgrims to the USA, so I will be working as usual Thursday and Friday. We are all really looking forward to Thanksgiving Day anyway...Pat, one of the founders of Nuevo Mundo and an American, has graciously invited us over to her house to share a traditional Turkey Day meal complete with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. I am also REALLY hoping for pumpkin pie with a huge glob of whipped cream. It will be so nice to still get to have that meal all together since we won't be able to be with our families. It's also an exciting week because the founder of Rostro de Cristo, Father Ronan, is coming in town tonight. He'll be here to share Thanksgiving Dinner with us!

A FEW SHORT UPDATES
I have just started tutoring a little boy in the neighborhood, Pepito. His sister Joselyn is a 5th grader at Nuevo Mundo, and he is trying to get in for next year. It's actually quite a process...there is an interview process of the students and family. Then, some of the interviewed students are invited to take the exam, and the best get in. I'll be working with him every Wednesday afternoon until the test in the middle of December. I am excited about that!

Let's see...what else is new...oh! The Villanova Retreat Group that I mentioned in a previous post sent us down a care package (gracias!) complete with an AWESOME CD of the top 20 songs in the US right now. I am addicted to the Rihanna song "Live Your Life"...It is probably like 3 months old in the US right now but it's new for us, and we've been rocking out to that a lot. It's kind of funny how out of the loop we are on everything. We did go out to see the new Bond movie for a special treat last weekend (which was actually kind of disappointing!) Anywho...ok, now some longer stories, some funny, some hard...

Let's see...what else is new...oh! The Villanova Retreat Group that I mentioned in a previous post sent us down a care package (gracias!) complete with an AWESOME CD of the top 20 songs in the US right now. I am addicted to the Rihanna song "Live Your Life"...It is probably like 3 months old in the US right now but it's new for us, and we've been rocking out to that a lot. It's kind of funny how out of the loop we are on everything. We did go out to see the new Bond movie for a special treat last weekend (which was actually kind of disappointing!) Anywho...ok, now some longer stories, some funny, some hard...

FIRST COMMUNION, AND FEELING LIKE A FAMILY
Last Saturday was a wonderful day. 2 of Kika's daughters, Kimberly and Katy, and one of our other little buddies from the neighborhood, Bryan, made their First Communion at Nuevo Mundo. Gina and I went to the ceremony, and it was so beautiful. Afterward, we had made plans to spend the day with Kika and the girls to celebrate. We took pictures with them after church and met some of their family that had come in town for the occasion. Then, we piled in the back of their uncle's pick up truck to make our way back to Arbolito...me, Gina, Kimberly, Katy, Kenya, Kursty, their cousin Sofia, and their Dad Erwin. Erwin is SUCH a character, it's hilarious. He's a large man with a big round tummy, a bushy moustache, and probably one of the top five mullets I have seen in my life. The "party in the back" is especially good. Anyway, we were all sitting in the bed of the truck, laughing, taking goofy pictures as we zoomed along through the crazy traffic that has become normal to me. I felt so warmed inside...this is Ecuador to me. I felt so honored that this family let Gina and I be a part of their day. We got back to the house, and it was indeed time to party. Kika is a little wild, and so was her party. She immediately cranked up the tunes, and started dancing "sexy" throughout the house (this was not a normal First Communion party). Erwin was grumpy, because apparently Kika invited way more people that he wanted her to, oops, but we had a ball! Colie, Carolyn, and Amy came too. We all ate huge plates of rice and chicken (meanwhile, we could barely hear each other talk because of the music), and then it was time to dance. They moved the speakers out to the front of the house, and put on song after song of reggaeton, salsa, merengue, you name it...There were neighbors everywhere, family everywhere, and us gringas. At one point of the afternoon, Kika was teaching us how to dance out in the dirt "front yard" while women from the neighborhood laughed at us. The little girls were SCREAMING into a microphone from the karoake machine they have inside the house: "Tracy! Gina! To the floor! Dance, gringas!!" It was so funny and so bizarre and so heart warming all at the same time (like many things seem to be in Ecuador)...I know these people don't have a lot, but they know how to enjoy life, that's for sure!

VIGIL FOR THE DAY OF AN END TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
This past Friday, Gina and I went to an overnight vigil with the singing group from church, Nueva Generacion. Rosa, the lead singer, is also a part of a women's group in the Archdiocese of Guayaquil, and they were putting on the vigil to celebrate the Day of "No Violence" Against Women -- an awesome cause. Domestic violence here is an overwhelmingly grave problem. We didn't really know what to expect, but we thought it would nice to support the cause, learn more about it, sing! (I love that I still get to sing here), and get to hang out with our friends from the group all night since we don't get to do that very much. We got to the Guayaquil cathedral at 8pm on Friday and made our way to the front of the gorgeous chapel where Nueva Generacion was setting up their instruments. I looked at the schedule that Rosa had, and was very impressed by how well organized it seemed to be (this does not happen in Ecuador). At first, it didn't seem like many people were going to come, but of course, everyone showed up a little late (ya mismo). There were over 100 women from many different parishes in the large archdiocese of Quayaquil (some had traveled an hour or 2).

After some introductions, Nueva Generacion opened the night with some GREAT music. Everyone was cheering, saying that they weren't going to sleep...we were here to praise the Lord!...Fast forward a few hours, and it became clear that the event wasn't as organized as I thought, and people were losing steam to stay awake. A video they wanted to play didn't work, each event was taking longer than it should, and they just kept asking us to play animated songs to wake people up. Hilarious! At one point, around 2 am, I turned around, and, I kid you not, I saw probably 80% of the approximately 100 little old ladies that were there just PASSED out, snoring with their heads on their shoulders. It was sooo cute, and sooo funny. despite the little mishaps, I am definitely so glad I went. It is inspiring to know that these women are working together to so passionately make a difference.

TOUGH STUFF
I love talking about all of the amusing things that happen to me here every day, but the reality is that I see a LOT of hard stuff too. So much so, in fact, that I am afraid of getting desensitized to it. Today while waiting for the school bus to Nuevo Mundo, I just stopped for a minute and looked around at the dirt, rock-filled road, the tiny houses, all packed in together, the humble little church, and I realized again just how poor my neigborhood is. My head is occupied with these thoughts today because I had a hard morning. Melissa and I went to visit an HIV patient that we haven't seen in awhile. He lives a little bit further away, and he usually has school in the morning so we can't come by.
We heard he wasn't doing so well, so we decided to make the trip anyway. This patient is SIX years old, a truly adorable little child with a sweet smile and disposition and amazing laugh. He lives in a poor, somewhat dangerous neighborhood with his grandma and grandpa. His mother died from AIDS (which she contracted to him through the pregnancy), and his Dad left them and started a new family. He does not want anything to do with the child because he is embarassed by his disease. His grandpa is bed-ridden with Parkinson's disease and diabetes. His grandma is not in the best health herself. Their house is cement, which is actually positive since many people live in cane houses, but it is dirty, tiny ,dingy. Our patient's uncle also lives in the house, and he has been unemployed for sometime. He just got a job this week, picking corn in fields an hour or so away. The patient's Grandma works one day a week cleaning to make some money (approximately $13)...the only money coming into that house.
Today when we stopped by, our patient surprisingly was home from school -- he has some sort of virus like chicken pox that has caused little scabs to appear on his face, all around his mouth. He was embarassed to see us. They went to the clinic last week and got medicine, but it ran out, and they don't have money for more. This is even harder, because of the way HIV attacks the body's immune system. It is harder for any kind of infection to be fought off.
We asked about the state of his HIV, and it is not good. Last month when they went to check his levels of CD4 (white blood cells - the good cells that fight infection and the very cells that HIV destroys), they were very low. It appears that the disease is progressing in him. The rate of progression is different in every person, depending on lots of different factors, including previous state of health. It is very important that a person with HIV have a good diet, exercise, and take their antiretrovirals (medicine for the treatment of HIV) regularly. We asked the grandmother about our patient's diet...She said that he eats "what there is to give." There's not money for fruits or veggies, she says. When he goes to school, they give him a small plate of rice and something else, like beans, but not every day. Today while we were there, he was crying for bread, and she finally gave him a small piece of bread (which costs about 5 to 10 cents here) with a small piece of cheese on it. Who knows what he is eating on a daily basis, but it is not enough to sustain any child, especially one who is dealing with such a debilitating illness.
I feel impotent in this situation...We know he needs to eat better, but there is just no way. Redima, the HIV network we are a part of, gives them some foods and nutrients and the medicine, but it is not enough. Also, the grandma sometimes ends up sharing the food with other members of the family even though it is just for the child. I can't blame her...I have no idea what I would do. That's the sad thing....I am heart-broken by this, but I also feel somewhat numb because I have NO idea what it would be like to actually live in this situation. I can sit in his house, and look at him, and think (sorry this is blunt, but true)...this child has HIV, and will die in the next few years. Then, I get on the bus, and head back to Arbolito, where I live in a "casa grande" with running water, electricity, a comfy bed, and 3 great meals a day. I have a plane ticket back to the US in August where an amazing home, family, and friends are waiting for me. It is also sad to think that this patient is just one of many, many cases here in Ecuador, and all over the world. December 1st is World HIV Awareness Day, and I would just ask that especially on this day you would keep my little patient (and all those dealing with HIV/AIDS) in your prayers.