Blogs from Cuenca, South, Ecuador, South America - page 7

Well, this was the day we have been waiting so long for. We were able to take some prayer blankets to the children in the hospital that have cancer. First of all a huge THANK YOU!!!!! to our wonderful friends in Tennessee that have so blessed us with items to take to these children and adults in the hospital. To Lights Chapel Baptist Church, Greenbrier, TN for all the prayer blankets, clothes and games they have made and collected for us. To Kim Pitt, White House, TN for all the knitted and crocheted scarfs, hats, crosses and bookmarks. We spread most of these items out in our footlockers that we brought back to Ecuador, except for the final locker that we packed which was all prayer blankets. Let me back up just a bit to explain ... read more

The last stop this day was the most beautiful and the most interesting. It was the Orquideas del Ecuador. We were told by the horticulturalist that was giving the tour that there are over 4,000 species of orchids in Ecuador, and they were working on 2,400 of them here. He first showed us some of the seeds they were germinating. They have as much as 1,000 seeds in a small bottle. Then we went down to the large building that had even more bottles of seedlings. There was a young lady taking some of the seedlings out of the bottles and transplanting them into soil. This greenhouse had thousands of orchids growing. We could take pictures through the window, but could not go into that part of the greenhouse. Then as we went to another area ... read more

Next we went to a pottery factory (house) in Gualaceo. Here they make beautiful pottery, all by hand. Even the wheel for throwing the pottery is foot powered, no electricity. The rocks are ground into a powder, then water is added. One man just beats and squeezes the mixture until he has the consistency that they want. Then it is given to the two men that do the throwing and actually make the various items. After they are done, a young man draws the designs by hand, just using a nail. Then they are put in the oven. This is not a gas fired kiln as in the States. It is an oven that is wood fired, and there is no top to it. Once the items to be fired are placed in the oven, they ... read more

When we left the park, we drove higher into the mountains to a small town which I did not get the name of. In the pictures you can see the clouds lowering. We thought we would get some rain, but it actually started warming up. We stopped at a very small home and in the front of the house sat a woman making a hat. She starts working about 6 am and ends about 8 pm. By that time she should have a hat made. Her husband was working bringing more straw to her. The straw has to be wet in order for her to weave it. There was another woman sitting on the curb outside the fence surrounding the front of the house also weaving a hat. Once the hats are completed she sells them ... read more

Well, this was a day the Lord truly blessed. Our Ecuadorian grand daughter, Mandy, was dedicated to the Lord at Calvary Chapel Cuenca today. She is the first child to be dedicated in the English service. We were very blessed to have Braulio's mother, Maria, and his brother, Boris, join us for the dedication. Afterwards we all went to Joy and Simon's home for a potluck luncheon. Not a lot to say, but a lot of pictures.... read more