Day 4 - Otavalo: Bread and Roses

First and foremost, this bread was amazing. It was super buttery and warm, and we had it with some with a type of cheese called queso de hoja. Era sabroso. (It was delicious!)

We started the day with a tour of a rose farm. I couldn’t believe all the different kinds of roses. It was unbelievable. The operation is extremely efficient and our tour guide, the owner of the farm, was so nice . He informed us that bad relations between Ecuador and the US in recent years has strangled his business. The tariffs on imports in the US from Ecuador have increased and now the people are forced to deal with the repercussions. Even with the increased cost, I know when the time comes I’ll be getting my roses from Ecuador.

tour guide and rose farmer (left)

We kept travelling north from the rose farm to Otavalo. On our way, we stopped in a small town called Pijal. We learned loads about traditional Ecuadorian herbal medicine from our tour guide there . She also shared with us a huge meal and the story of her cousin that was taken to Australia because her lack of education left her vulnerable. Unable to read, she struggled to escape the control of the woman that had taken her there from Quito. Finally, in a manner only capable by God to our guide, a woman freed her and took her to the United States and has taught her how to read. Now she is a very happy and visits Ecuador from time to time. Our guide looks at her cousin’s story as a source of inspiration and treated us to a dinner in her house to demonstrate her ambition to employ the people in Pijal . She makes complex embroideries and enjoys her work very much.

Finally, we ended the day in Otavalo, a small city in Northern Ecuador. It’s really nice here, especially our hostel. Tomorrow we’ll be heading to Santa Ana to start the work on our park project there as well as a project to supply computers to the entire village there that another group is doing. We hope to speak to the kids in the school about celebration the grand opening of the new park next week and invite parents to help us build the playground that we bought from Technoswiss. I hope it all goes according to plan!

Nick Bratcher