Ecuador Spring Break 2023 - Ava Decker's Story
March 24, 2023
Ava Decker at Hacienda of Hope in Ecuador
My team of 12 Lipscomb students and 2 leaders left for Tabacundo, Ecuador on March 10, 2023. We were traveling to the Hacienda of Hope, which is a home for kids who have been placed there by the Ecuadorian CPS. We woke up early and traveled by car, plane, and bus all day until we arrived at the Hacienda of Hope on that Friday night. The next morning, our hosts took us to the marketplace in Otavalo – one of the biggest open markets in the world. This was really cool to experience, and we were all very grateful that our hosts could take the time out of their day to show us around. We spent most of the day there, and when we got back we all split into groups to meet the kids and host parents of the hacienda. The kids are split into 4 different houses, and so 3-4 of us went to each house. At first, the kids were a little shy and the language barrier was a struggle for most of us because the kids all spoke mainly Spanish, but they soon warmed up to us and we all talked about our favorite things to do, favorite foods and hobbies, and much more. The older kids knew more English and were able to help translate for us, and after dinner we met everyone at a devotional led by the leaders of the hacienda.
Sunday morning we went to church with them. They have church at the school, which is on the hacienda property, so we all walked up to church. Even though the service and most of the singing was in Spanish, it was a really special experience to be worshiping the Lord with all of the kids. We ate lunch in the different casas (houses), including Casa Esther which was the teen mom house, and then after that we set up an easter egg hunt for the kids – I have never seen bigger smiles than when they all ran to look for their eggs!! We had some free time to hang out with all of the kids afterwards, and we played 9-square, volleyball, basketball, jumped on the trampoline, and they taught us some hand-clapping games. That night, some of the house parents made an amazing dinner of traditional Ecuadorian food for us.
For the next three days (Monday-Wednesday), we worked on our project: repainting two big wooden playgrounds that had not been painted for many years and adding bible verses to the playground. We painted all morning and then would walk up to the school to eat lunch with the kids. We would then go back to painting for a few more hours, and then once the kids were out of school we would do the activities we had planned with them. My team split into 2 groups to work with the older kids and younger kids. My group was with the younger kids, and we did activities like face painting, watercolors, minute-to-win-it games, play-doh, and bracelet-making. The older kids did different games, relay races, sports, and bracelet-making as well. The kids loved this time with us-we got to really get to know them, and they loved all of the activities that we had planned out. After the activities, we would get cleaned up and then go to the casas for dinner.
On the last night that we were at the hacienda, we had all of the kids, house parents, and workers over to where we were staying for a pizza party and a glow stick dance party. Pizza is a fan favorite of the kids. We danced for hours with all of the kids and adults, and they taught us how to salsa and we taught them how to line dance. We were having so much fun, and their smiles from just the simple joy of dancing were amazing.
This was an amazing experience, and my whole team felt that we learned a lot about hospitality and serving from the people at the hacienda. It was amazing to see how God has worked in the lives of all these kids; they all know how loved they are at the hacienda, and it was amazing to see everything that the hacienda does for these kids. My whole team and I were very blessed to be able to visit and serve at the hacienda, and it was an experience that none of us will ever forget.
Not a Trip
Category: Student Life