My Nonprofit Reviews

I went to Cuenca, Ecuador with OSSO about 20 years ago. I love that the organization is still going strong and still helping those sweet children after all this time! I served with a group of volunteers that went there over Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's Day. I remember being worried that I'd have a hard time not being with my family for those holidays, but I was wrong! I LOVED being with those sweet orphans and helping them, especially on those holidays! I worked in Tadeo Torres (when it was still run by the nuns) mostly with the babies and it made my heart grow so much! We fed them, changed diapers and helped to do physical therapy with them every day so that they wouldn't be behind in fine and gross motor skills. I was in the group of the first volunteers that were asked to help with the physical therapy while the physical therapist was away for Christmas. She was usually only able to work with one or two babies each day. Back then we weren't allowed to pick up the babies whenever we wanted to hold them or give them snuggles. The nuns believed that it made the babies cry more because they would want more attention. Because of this, most of the babies were behind in motor skills. When the volunteers started helping with the physical therapy we were able to help all of the babies every single day! It was a truly beautiful thing to see those babies, who used to just lay quietly in their cribs or on the mattress they set out on the floor, suddenly become vibrant. They were suddenly crawling all over us and each other! They were smiling and playing with each other and the toddlers were learning how to feed themselves. It was so amazing to see the before and after difference we made in their lives! Those babies and their innocent, precious smiles have stayed with me and I still wonder where they are now and pray for them. I also had the opportunity to help with handicapped orphans, teach children in a small village up in the mountains and visit the older girls in Hogar Miguel Leon and help them with their Christmas program. The hugs and smiles from those girls on Christmas Day were the best! It was seriously one of my very favorite Christmases.

The town of Cuenca is charming and beautiful. I loved just walking around with other volunteers, shopping and going to get ice cream. The nuns at the orphanage that we worked with where kind. The place we lived in was clean and safe. I enjoyed working with and getting to know the other volunteers and ended up making some lifelong friends. In our free time we took Spanish lessons and went on some really fun group field trips, such as hiking in the Andes (gorgeous!), getting to stand on the equator, as well as go on a side trip in the Amazon jungle where I got to see and experience many wonderful things! We saw caiman swim along our boat on the Amazon River, a monkey swung from its tail on my arm, a wild toucan sat on my shoulder, and we had guided tours through the jungle to name a few.

I am still in touch with the adoptive parents of one of the orphans. As volunteers we met them at the orphanage when they came to meet their little girl. We were able to give them a small photo album with pictures and stories about her as she grew in the orphanage before she was adopted. They absolutely loved it and asked for our emails so we could keep in touch. (We were able to make little photo albums like that for many of the kids' adoptive families and we LOVED making them!) I have had the awesome opportunity to stay friends with them on Facebook and see her grow up through their pictures. I even got to go visit her and her family in person a couple years ago when I was visiting relatives nearby. It was crazy and amazing to see her smiling in person, grown up and graduated from high school, living in the Untied States!

When I came home from Ecuador I ended up working with an adoption agency to help them set things up to be able to do adoptions in Ecuador because those kids were so dear to my heart. Because of that I was able to travel back to Ecuador for a few days with them and I got to go back and visit my babies for a day! My time with OSSO in Ecuador is cherished and it changed my heart for the better. I am so grateful for OSSO and the opportunity they gave me to safely go to another country to help those precious children in need.

~ Brooke