Betty has been a missionary sister for 27 years. She spent her first few years serving in parishes before joining the Mission Home. She has dedicated her life to taking care of children for the past 25 years. Most recently, Betty has been in charge of a group of little girls, ages 2 to 12.

She is known for her gentle care and astute wisdom. Recently one of the littlest girls under her care did not want to go to school or complete any of her school work. From years of experience working with traumatized youth, Betty recognized the behavior as a result of broken family ties and fragmented identity. She made a schedule with the little girl to spend specific time with her brother every day. Betty herself spent time every morning with her to talk about what she was excited for that day and to review her homework before going to school. In this purposeful but soft manner she has been able to reconnect the little girl to learning. 

Small but mighty! Betty with one of the little girls that has been at the Mission Home since she was 18 months old.

In addition to her labor of love caring for a group of little girls, Betty is also in charge of the Mission Home kitchen. She wakes at 4am each day to open and start preparing breakfast for the 100+ children, missionary sisters and volunteers that eat at the home. She then returns to her group of little girls before the school day begins to prepare them for the day. By 8am she is back in the kitchen preparing lunch. She spends the afternoon back and forth between the kitchen and her little girls, making sure that once they have returned from school they complete all their schoolwork, have time to play, and are showered before bed. After all her little ones are asleep, she ends the day back in the kitchen ensuring that everything is clean and ready for the next day, often not going to sleep until 11pm or 12 midnight. She is assiduous in every meal she prepares, and has brought the quality of the food to that of restaurant standard. Over the past few years, there have been times when money was short due to delayed government payments. Betty always managed to find creative and nutritious ways to feed the home, at one point making bread every single morning to ensure breakfast for the next day. On top of that, the bread she baked was often crafted into adorable child-friendly shapes and concoctions…snail shaped cinnamon rolls, flower shaped rolls with jelly centers, to name a few. 

Betty’s perseverance and love is epitomized in her dedication to her Catholic faith. She is committed to cultivating her spiritual well being and often speaks about how her life and work would be impossible without the support and calling from the Lord. Her schedule may seem daunting to just about anyone else, but to Betty it is her life mission and her absolute joy. She inspires us to care for every child and person in a more loving way, and to take on all of life’s daily tasks and responsibilities with patience, love, and commitment. We are so grateful for her life! 

In addition to all the care she shows to her group of little girls, Betty somehow finds time to love Regan as well!

We are one month into the new school year in Ecuador. Here is what has been happening at the Mission:

We have over 250 students in our scholarship program at the Mission School this year. These families cannot afford the $25/month tuition to send their children to school. For the first time ever, we were also able to provide school supplies and books to ALL of our students in our scholarship program. We purchased, packed, and delivered the school supplies and books over the last several weeks. You can read more about the school supply distribution process in our last blog post.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, students returned to virtual learning this school year. Those that have internet access connect to classes throughout the day and complete their homework and testing using an online portal. Students without internet access are given weekly packets to guide their learning. The vice principal at the Mission School shared that many more students are able to connect to their virtual classes this year compared to last.

A few of our scholarship recipients in their home ‘classroom’. These siblings share the laptop to connect to their virtual classes at different times throughout the day.

The children at the Mission Home are in a far better situation than most, both with access to the internet, as well as access to the tutors we hired. The children are divided by age and grade level into groups of 5-12 students and spend all morning with their tutors. They connect to their virtual classes and receive supplemental lessons, as well as homework help and test preparation.

Our 10 university students are doing well! They continue to receive classes virtually but have all advanced on schedule so are that much closer to receiving their degrees. We also have 12 students in a preparation course for university. The course is helping them get ready for an entrance exam that they will take in August. If they receive scores high enough they will be able to enter a government sponsored university in the fall.

We hope the children return to in-person instruction at the Mission School soon! Vaccinations are under way and most of the teaching staff at the school has had the chance to be vaccinated already. Despite the many challenges of virtual learning, we are proud of our students, as well as the staff at the Mission School, for their perseverance and commitment to education. And most of all, we are grateful to all of you for supporting them!

As every parent and teacher knows, going back to school requires a lot of supplies! Historically, we have provided all of the necessary school supplies and school books to the children at the Mission Home, as well as to some of the most resource limited students in our scholarship program. We have always wanted to expand the program to include all of our students on scholarship, and this year we are happy to share that we were able to do so!

We spent the last two weeks preparing the supplies, and it sure was a process! It started with a 20 hour trip to Guayaquil, the large city that is 3 hours away from the Mission School. We were able to buy bulk quantities of school supplies at reduced prices. We then spent a morning dividing the school supplies into individual bags for each recipient. 

The last step was getting the supplies and the school books to the students. It would have been simpler to have the students pick up their supplies and books from the Mission School. Unfortunately, many of our students cannot afford the cost of transportation when they do not otherwise have to be at the school because of virtual learning. As a result, we had the privilege of delivering supplies and books to some of our most remote students. 

It was quite a process preparing our 250 scholarship students for the beginning of the school year. But they now have the books and supplies necessary for another year of learning! As we made the deliveries, many of the families shared their deep gratitude for helping their children start the school year off well. We pass this gratitude to all of you!