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Health & Fitness

Glad to Be Back!

We just returned from our healthcare mission to Ecuador with Causes For Change International. It was quite an adventurous volunteer experience!

It's almost midnight, so I'll made this short...

We just returned home from Ecuador last night at about midnight, and both my husband Joel and our son Andrew are exhausted and mildly sick. Our trip was adventurous from start to finish, and it was just as intense as I thought it would be...perhaps more so.

I was able to meet 8-year-old Pablito, the boy with no lower portion of his body, whose bright, inquisitive mind was demonstrated in his willingness to learn from us. Thanks to donations, Pablito received a small tricycle, which allows him to pedal with his hands, and be able to get around -- without having to "walk" using his hands on the ground. During our time together, Pablito joined our kid's group relay game, and passed a beanie baby toy over his head or to his side. He also learned how to play "Hot Cross Buns" on recorder with our group. I'll upload some of my photos tomorrow, so you can see for yourself.  

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SO many children had disabilities! We learned this was due to toxins in a plant that many women are working at. The toxins affect pregnant women, and cause all types of abnormalities. The impoverished towns that we visited had no trees, grass or plants...just dusty roads and pavement. We are all living in a paradise on the North Shore -- no doubt about it.  

There is so much to tell. Joel did amazing work as the only dentist for almost the entire trip, with hundreds of children and seniors waiting for hours in the broiling 90+ degree heat. Andrew also did an incredible job of teaching hundreds of children how to brush their teeth (in Spanish!), as well as teach the teachers. Can you imagine teachers taking notes on how to brush teeth -- so they can learn enough to show their students? Or, imagine the excitement that children felt when they were able to color with markers on paper -- especially when they have never done so before?  

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Will share more later. Thanks again for all your support! It was so appreciated.

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