Blogs from Cuenca, South, Ecuador, South America - page 8

Here is more information on our Feria Libre Ministry in the potato section. The majority of the vendors in this section come from an area outside Cuenca that does most of the potato growth in Ecuador. One of the women in the pictures is Susan Stiles. She and her husband have been in Ecuador for thirty years. The used to have a mission in the area (the name of which I don't remember) that most of the potato farmers come from. So when they moved to Cuenca and they saw many of the people they already knew at the Feria Libre, they started the children's ministry there in the potato section. Those of us from Calvary Chapel have only been involved for about six months. Others in the pictures are the Thompson family - Nancy is ... read more

After going to the monument we went to the local community of Victoria del Portete (Victory at Portete). It is a very small community that is about to start expanding. Most of the communities in Ecuador have small schools with a limited number of teachers, so a lot of the time the teacher has two or even three grades of students in the same room. The federal government has decided to build larger schools in one community and combine the schooling for a number of communities by busing the children to the new schools with all of the teachers from the various communities being at the one school. The schools will be grades one through 12. Victoria del Portete is one of the communities to get a new school. We were told that the federal government ... read more

Phase three of our tour today was a ride to our guide, Fernando's home. He and his family provided a wonderful organic lunch for us (popcorn, rice, cubed beef and gravy, salad, tea and dessert). He then gave us a tour of his garden, naming all of the different plants that they had. Then he took us through his new building that was used for production of dried fruits and vegetables, jerky and cheese. We had samples and a chance to purchase some of his products. The pork jerky was very good. The jellies and jams that we bought went well with croissants for breakfast the next day.... read more

We really love the rivers here in Cuenca. I may have mentioned it before, but in case I didn't the formal name of the city is Santa Ana de Los Cuatro Ríos de Cuenca (Santa Ana of the Four Rivers of Cuenca). The dominant features of the city's geography are also the source of its name in Spanish: the four rivers of Cuenca (meaning a basin made by a confluence of rivers). These rivers are the Tomebamba (named after the Inca culture), Yanuncay, Tarqui and Machangara, in order of importance. The first three of these rivers originate in the Páramo of Parque Nacional Cajas (Cajas National Park) to the west of the city. These four rivers are part of the Amazon river wat... read more

One of the ministries that some of the people from our church participate in is called the Feria Libre (Free Fair) Market Potato Aisle Ministry. I know it's a long name, but it just describes where the ministry is held. The Feria Libre is what most in the US would think of as a very large Flea Market. But it's not just what people have taken out of their garage to get rid of. These are people that actually make a living by selling whatever it is they have. And they have just about anything you can think of - clothing, food, animals, etc. The busiest day is on Wednesday when even the parking lot is set up with booths for vendors. Daily they have booths set up inside a large building which include actual stores ... read more