Some of you may have been wondering where I have been for the past three weeks. Or maybe not. 🙂 In any case, please allow me to share my story.
Three weeks ago I left on a week long mission trip to Ecuador. I was one of 18 people who made the trip. We flew into Quito where we spent the night before moving the next day to Riobamba, 4 1/2 hours south. Both cities are above 9000 feet. That was our staging point for the next four days. Over the next four days, our team traveled to remote villages in the the high mountains.
In each village we set up in their school building. They were very poor villages and the facilities were rough. Broken windows, warped floors, dirt everywhere, primitive school supplies – but warm people. Our mission was to deliver shoes and socks to children in each village. We set up chairs and worked in teams of two, with an interrupter for each team.
We washed their feet and applied powder before putting on socks and a new pair of tennis shoes. After that we shared the Gospel with each child. At the end of four days, we had seen over 500 children and each received shoes and socks. Some of the adults received shoes too.
The little girls also received panties. It was hard to imagine that none of the girls have these basic things we take for granted. Likewise, for shoes and socks. Most of the children wore high rubber boots – without socks. Of those that had shoes, most had broken straps, no laces, holes in the tops and bottoms, and holes in the inside bottom. Many were too small for the child. It was obvious that these were handed down from child to child. Pity the youngest.
The parents were happy to see their children getting shoes. They mingled around and it was fascinating to see them with their children. Women were spinning yarn, feeding babies, and helping with the children. Each day we had a team from the Ecuadorian Army who accompanied us and helped with the children. It took teamwork to process the children. I took close to 500 photos.
You might ask why I made this trip. For more than 12 years I have worked on feet at runs, adventure races, and walks; taught clinics on foot care and talked to athletes about their feet; and written on all aspects of foot care. This trip provided a challenge of a different nature. These children live in villages from which most will not leave. They have little chance to improve their lives. I had the chance to touch the feet of children and make a difference in the lives of those that have very little. Did I make a difference? I believe so. But, just as important, the children touched me. I will remember their faces for a long time.
I am sharing a few of the images from the trip. I ended up as the compiler of the team’s photos – more than 2500 in all. I have been working to prepare several presentations for the team members, edit some of the images, and sort them. It is a time consuming job, but the memories of the trip are rewarding. I hope you are as touched by the images as I was.
This last image is one that really touched me. Maybe I read too much into her expression, but when I ask people what they see in her face, their answer mirrors mine. Despair. She was about 13 years old.
If you are interested, we went with an organization Happy Feet International, from Alabama. They do eight to ten of these trips a year, mainly to South and Central America. Each trip goes to new villages.
Would I do it again. Yes. Without a doubt. I will always have the opportunity to work on athletes’ feet. And I love doing that. This was different. I touched feet and touched lives. My faith is important to me and as a Christian, I needed to do this trip.
Something else I observed is worth saying too. We saw no beggars or panhandlers. People of all ages worked. Children helped with their younger siblings. They worked in the fields alongside their parents. Their parents worked – in fact even old people worked. Life for people in these villages is very simple. You work to survive. Every child told us they had cows, chickens, pigs and sheep. They go to school and they work after school. They were happy, as most children are, playing with simple toys. In retrospect, if more Americans had the opportunity to visit a third world country, they would appreciate their home and lives even more.
In my next I will return to discussing a new aspect of foot care.
