A Family Christmas

There is a pig sleeping in our garden tonight.  Yes - a pig!  Despite the fact I am currently reading Charlotte´s Web to my girls, the pig is destined for slaughter in the morning.  Once the pig is diced up, there are 60lbs of tilapia fish to be caught and gutted.

All this is in preparation for about 60 members of my Ecuadorean mother-in-law´s family (plus a few waifs and strays who do not have family nearby) descending upon us to celebrate Christmas together.  The celebrations start with breakfast, followed by the official opening of the family games.   As the retiring Patron of last years games, I will have the honour of presenting the sash and bouquet to the incoming Queen.

The silly games, swimming competition, ever-so-serious football match and volleyball will then commence.  The winning team will be awarded medals to commemerate their success.
The ill-fated pig will be fried and served up for lunch in typical Ecuadorean fashion with boiled maize, banana and onion salad.  In the afternoon the children will have their races.  Tamara was elected Princess of Christmas last year, so she has the duty of giving out Christmas gifts to her cousins this year.  This prestigious event will be followed by the election of this year´s Christmas Princess.
In the evening the  fish will be served, while the family relaxes under the marquee, and entertainment will be provided by different members of the family.  (Tamara has been practising Jingle Bells frantically on the piano...)  

The family will then put up their tents and sleep out in our field, (Great Granny will be allowed to use the sofa bed!), before a final breakfast together on Sunday morning.  (If anyone has room for another meal by then...)

My mother-in-law and her siblings.

 I am amazed each year at the amount of effort, planning and preparation that goes into these family traditions and celebrations.  However, everyone pitches in with great enthusiasm, because being together as a family is important.  And this family sticks together and supports each other through the joys and blessings of children born and successes in life, but also in the heart-breaks of loss and brokeness.  At Christmas, each and every member of the family makes the effort to come together and celebrate extravagantly. laying aside the cares and worries of life and focusing on the blessings of love, joy and peace.  It is time to remember the coming of the Prince of Peace, through whom we can become part of God´s family and know everlasting love, joy and peace.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS  

The Story of Maria´s House

The building of a house for a family is always a great blessing.  Let me try to describe for you the difference it makes…

Maria and her three teenagers lived in a one-room shack with a mud floor three months ago.  Bits of wood were cobbled together with pieces of plastic sheeting and some rusty metal roofing to give them shelter.  They had lived in this ramshackle abode for years, sleeping together on two mattresses on the floor, cooking and living in that one same room.  Water ran across the floor in the rainy season.    

The shack had no toilet, shower or wash basin.  The family used plastic bags to collect their faeces and put it out in the rubbish.  Sickness was common.  Maria herself suffered a road traffic accident some years before, which meant an extensive operation on her spine.  For this reason she is unable to do physical work, and without an education, is unable to do more sedentary work.  Her husband abandoned them several years ago and has not been heard from since. 

The price of food in Ecuador is currently equivalent to that in the UK.  Clothes, detergents, and toiletries are more expensive in Ecuador.  For families like Maria´s, who receive £35 from the government in benefits per month, and can maybe earn £5 a day washing clothes for other families if they are lucky, it is a struggle to simply put food on the table each day.  Saving up to build a toilet, let alone a house is an impossible dream. 

When we told Maria we were going to build her a new house, she had the old one dismantled within an hour!  She was so excited.  Tears filled her eyes as she witnessed work begin.  Every day her sons helped to mix the cement and lay the blocks, while she cooked lunch for the builders.  She had one cockerel she was fattening up for a thank-you meal once the house was ready.  The rest of the time the meals were rice, lentils and cooking bananas. 

The new house, with its´ block walls, cement floor, kitchen bench and sink, toilet and shower with running water, and two bedrooms, might look somewhat plain to you or I, but to Maria it is a palace.  Someone stole the cockerel the morning it was due to go in the pot – so Maria found chickens from someone else to cook us a thank you meal.  The builder gave her his sofa bed, so she can sleep apart from her sons, and also some old curtains for the windows.  Maria may not have any furniture, but at least she now has a safe, waterproof, clean, hygienic home.  

I would like to thank those special people who run marathons, do concerts and simply donate their savings so that families in Ecuador can have a house of their own.  What a life-changing gift to give to others! 

We are currently working on the 9^th and 10^th houses to be built by Project Ecuador… perhaps you will give thanks with me for this fantastic blessing.     

Unexpected Blessings

When I sat writing my first book, in hours snatched here and there from caring for my toddler and baby, I never imagined some of the surprising events that would result.  One that continues to unfold is the generosity of a Scottish old age pensioner. 

Laura

Jean (as we shall call her) read about Guinea Pig For Breakfast in the Church of Scotland magazine, and promptly obtained a copy.  Inspired by the stories she read, she got in touch asking to be the sponsor of a child in Ecuador.  We happily sent her details of a five year old girl, Laura, who has seven siblings and lives with her mother and grandmother in a house lent to them by a family member.  The only income for the family is the few dollars a day the mother earns washing clothes by hand for other families. 

 Laura and her mother were delighted to learn that Laura had a sponsor and to receive financial help so that Laura could attend school.  Jean did not stop there.  Soon we had a message informing us that she had made provision in her will to continue supporting Laura until she finishes school and that she was planning a visit to meet Laura and her family. 

Already over 70 years old, Jean was not deterred by the long journey.  A single, retired primary school teacher, she was free to travel and was determined to do so.  Despite dire warnings from the Ecuadorean Embassy staff in London of the treacherous road to Santo Domingo, Jean booked her flight, bus rides and hotels and refused to be collected from the airport in Quito.  She was truly a brave adventurer, who was determined to be independent and not to give us extra work, despite her lack of Spanish. 

We were delighted to take Jean to meet Laura and her family.  The warm welcome from the family and the shy smiles of Laura and her younger sister touched Jean´s heart.  She even coped well with being presented with a live chicken as a thank you gift.  She was moved to want to provide the family with a house of their own. 

The only problem was that the family did not have any land to build on.  Jean´s savings went on a plot of land, and now we are building a house for the family.  The rural piece of land will allow them to keep some chickens and pigs and to grow a few bananas to supplement their meager income. 

What a blessing Jean is being to Laura and her family!  We look forward to her next visit, when she comes to see the new house, and to making friends with other readers of my books.

Fat and White.

"Hello, aren´t you looking fat?  You are very white as well," my mother-in-law greeted me, upon my return from a trip to the UK.  "And little Liz is so skinny.  She looks like a snake or a stick of spaghetti."

"Thank you," I smiled through gritted teeth, trying in vain not to take offense.

"Has Black arrived yet?" asked my husband (referring to his dark skinned cousin).  "We are waiting to take him to the farm with us."

"Here I am!" answered dark-skinned Paul, not batting an eyelash.  "Are you ready now Skinny?"

There is a popular television soap in Ecuador called, "There is no paradise without boobs."  It is set in a town in Colombia where the vast majority of women have plastic surgery to augment their assets, as big is considered beautiful.

The same holds true in Ecuador itself.  Conversations such as the one above are perfectly normal and not at all offensive.  If someone is fat they are called “fatty”.  If they are thin they are nicknamed “Skinny” or “snake”.  If someone is dark-skinned they are called “Black” and if they are pale, “White”.  People just tell it how they see it and mostly it is simply the truth.  Being thin is not seen as a good thing - a thin person is thought  to be malnourished and poor.  Being fat, on the other hand, is seen as indicating health and prosperity.  Women want to have curves.  I have yet to meet anyone suffering from anorexia or bulimia in Santo Domingo.  Women are much more likely to have plastic surgery to get bigger boobs or behinds. 

I think there is something healthy in the frankness and lack of racism inherent in people´s remarks, but my own inhibitions and political correctness are so ingrained I cannot bring myself to call anyone by their nickname, even if they are a good friend.  Perhaps I will be able to hear the words, "You are looking fat," one day and feel complimented, but I fear my own culture is so indelibly inscribed in my emotions that such a day may still be a long time coming.   

 

Taking nothing for granted – reflections from a missionary in Ecuador

Taking nothing for granted – reflections from a missionary in Ecuador 

Guest blog on Christian Medical Fellowship blog

An Ecuadorean Childhood...

Things I love about my children´s childhood in rural Ecuador…

1.       They spend hours playing with the village children in the dirt, inventing games with no toys whatsoever (and certainly no phones or tablets).  Imagination is alive and kicking.

2.      If a child falls over, whoever happens to be nearest picks them up, be they male or female, adult or child.

3.       The whole community takes responsibility for bringing up the children.  If a child is rude or badly behaved any adult will tell them so.  Similarly if any child is upset or hurt someone will immediately be taking care of them.  If a child is hungry someone will pass them something to eat. 

4.       People live in extended families still.  Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins see each other regularly and help each other out at great personal cost. 

5.       The children have space to run around in, help look after the chickens and guinea pigs that will become their meals, learn to swim in the nearest river, to climb in the nearest tree, and to slide down the nearest pile of earth. 

6 events that have made me feel humble... and thankful...

1.       Throwing my old knickers in the bin, and then seeing them hung out to dry on the neighbour´s washing line.  
2.  Being asked how many aeroplanes my 6 year old has flown in by someone who will never travel further than the local town their entire life.
3. Being invited into a cane shack and fed chicken soup while the family looked on.  I think I ate their supper.
4. Having to wait until after dark to be able to go to the toilet, unseen, in the bushes, in a village where no one has a toilet. 
5. Asking a 20 year old Mum to sign her name… she, shamefaced, told me she could only give a finger print as she never went to school.
6. Dressing the grotesque, stinking breast tumour of a 38 year old woman… she is the same age as me but does not have much longer to live.