We woke up at 8:00am today for deconstructing poverty day and headed to Roma Santa for breakfast. For breakfast we had a delicious meal of pancakes, chicken nuggets, and fruits. We also had yogurt and our choice of tea.

 

After breakfast we walked to Parque Maldonado where we were greeted by kids from Manitos Trabajadoras running to give us a hug. The kids were shy at first but after talking and playing with them they opened up to us and became very affectionate. All of us got to become very close with the kids and when it was time to say goodbye many of us became very emotional. Meeting these beautiful kids became one of the best moments of our lives for all of us.

The program organizer of Manitos Trabajadoras, Javier, was very grateful towards us. After our meet up with the park he gave a long emotional speech where he thanked us for being so open and kind to the children and also elevating their moods. He inspired us to make change in people’s lives and to keep making the world a better place. After Javier’s speech John (one of the children we spent time with) also gave a short speech and sang us a song.  We presented the organization with a thank you gift from Global Glimpse and donations we brought from America.

Today we were greeted with an overpowering feeling of compassion. Meeting the kids and learning more about them really touched our hearts. Back in the hotel we had a reflection on our experience and compared poverty in Ecuador to poverty in the US. Everyone seemed to have different opinions on approaching poverty and different experiences with it as well. Doing this reflection made us appreciate what we have and the circumstances we are in.

For dinner we had amazing hamburgers with french fries and tea. Afterwards we were able to request songs to our DJ aka Nelson. We could not help getting up from our seats and soon we were all on the dance floor jamming to our favorite songs. Today was definitely  a day to remember.

Shout out to my family and best friends for the amazing people that you all are- Tamara

Saludos a mi familia! Los extrano mucho y espero que me extranen a mi tambien! Los quiero mucho!- Gianella

-Tamara and Gianella