Hi Swoyam

Thanks for your email.

Yes, all the volunteer project is going well, here in Ecuador.
I am enjoying my time in the hospital and Doctors and nurses are very supporting.

My host Family is very nice and very helpful, and I am very centrally located which is always convenient.
The ground staff has also been very supportivewhen I had any doubt about anything.

No conerns so far, happy with the project. Pity is going to finish soon.

Many thanks
Kind Regards
Anna

I’ve just finished my second day at the orphanage and so far it’s going really well. I’m yet to fit into a routine there but the children are amazing. Today I took my donation of toys for the children which they seemed to really like. I took a number of toy cars for the boys and also skipping ropes for the girls. I am currently there with another volunteer which is perfect. I don’t think you need more than 2 volunteers there from IFRE as there are other people volunteering there from other organizations as well. Currently I am finding it a little difficult to understand the children as they speak so fast and my vocabulary is a little limited though I am hoping to tackle this by taking extra classes at the language school.

The language school is being so flexible allowing me to take lessons 3 afternoons a week. I think this will really add to my experience by allowing me to study more Spanish though I will still have time to explore and enjoy Quito the other afternoons. I am looking forward to having my first Spanish lesson tomorrow.

The Contreras Family are absolutely wonderful. The parents are so kind and welcoming, I already feel like part of the family. They are also helping me with my vocabulary over dinner which is proving to be very entertaining for us all. On Sunday I am even going to church with one of their daughters. I don’t think I could have been placed in a better family.

Thank you for organizing everything at such short notice. I really appreciate it.

Siân

We are all fine and having a marvelous time

Thank you so much for checking up on us. We are all fine and having a marvelous time. Thank you for arranging Patricio and Liz to meet us at the airport and deliver us to our host families on Friday nite. We also had 2 great days of orientation to the hospitals and the Santa Elena area. We are certainly forced to speak Spanish as no one here speaks English. Initially the doctors were somewhat leary of us but it rapidly changed as they became curious of our culture and are no eager for us to teach them English as they correct our Spanish. It is a mutually beneficial cultural experience.

We took some students to Mahalilla Park yesterday for a 10 mile trek through the rainforest. It was awesome. I have taken numerous photos but do not know how to upload to the computer. I will ask the students to do it and we will get photos to you soon. Liz has taken so many photos. She can share hers as well. There is one issue that I do want to report to Mauricio/ and Patricio . I cannot believe we have less than a week to go. Time is flying by. Thank you so much for this opportunity. The students are learning, doing and seeing so much!

Professor Janet Holva DeSpio
Group Leader