Cycling with Sally

This experience has by far been the most unique with The Salvation Army to date.  Arriving into Guamote (a small mountain village) we searched far and wide for the red shield.  There wasn't a specific address, just the road name and that it was near the hospital.  After an hour of searching aimlessly, we decided to ask one more person and that turned out to be the right decision.  The owner of a corner store had a phone and after a few quick words with Captain Luis, we soon found ourselves in the company of him and his two sons, Darwin (12 years old) and Johel (2 years old).  After a quick lick and a dab we were bouncing up the dirt road in Luis's pickup towards another Salvation Army site in Cochaloma, which is even smaller than Guamote.  We would have never of found this place in a million years and it's the most remote site we've ever come across.  Even more amazing is that two days prior a wedding was held in the church that had more that 600 attendants.  It's hard to imagine looking out on the land that there is that many people living near here!  Luis primarily wanted to show us this area but we were able to lend a hand doing a bit of a clean up. 

As it happened this day, the 14th July was also Roland's birthday.  And besides starting the day by sitting on an egg, his birthday was to only be outdone by the curiousity of Johel and a shampoo bottle.  While we were singing happy birthday and presenting Roland with a cake topped with a spiderman candle; Johel was occupied in the bathroom applying copious amounts of shampoo and toothpaste to his dry hair and marvelling at his handsomeness in the mirror.  Far more exciting than eating cake!

After sharing a feast together of typical Ecuadoriano food (soup, chicken, rice, salad and not to forget the cake!) we bundled up and piled into the back of the truck late at night and found our destination to be at the top of a country hill.  There was a huge tent filled with local indigenous groups from different churches in the area.  It was an Indigenous Christian Festival.  It involved the women of each congregation performing a song and reciting scripture.  Naturally, we think The Salvation Army performance was by far the best as we are sure you'll agree after watching the video.

Luis, his wife Martha and kids are indigenous and speak Quichua and Spanish.  They have strong roots in this community.  After seeking out a church they decided to become Salvationists with The Salvation Army when they were visiting Quito some time back.  Luis and Martha then went to Chile for training to become Captains.  They then came back to their home village and set up the church in Guamote.  His parent's run the Salvation Army in Cochaloma.  They don't get paid for their service, but strongly believe in what they are doing and consequently work on their farm to make a living.  Currently, they have eight different projects on the go in these communities.  Some of them are supported by foreign countries, such as Canada and Switzerland.  For example, clean water supply and irrigation; breeding of cattle, sheep and guinea pigs (typical cuisine); and building greenhouses to more efficiently grow certain crops.

This was a special day for us on many levels and feel very priviledged to have been so warmly welcomed into this family's home.