Dios de manos y pies: Speading the night in a Quichua Community

This past weekend I stayed in a Quichua Community to understand the Quichuas more. All I can say is that it was COLD! Haha But I loved the experience and was amazed how these people LIVE. I respect the Quichuas and I really saw and experience what it is like to live in Poverty. These people are considered in the poverty category and they live on only 2 dollars a day.

Tilivi the Quichua Community

The Quichuas are farmers that farm on the muddy cold soil in the Highlands of the Andes Mountains. Far from civilization and live in small groups called Communities. I met my friend in Ambato which is a big city about the size of Charlotte and we took this car filled with people up to the community!

When we got to the community it is rainy season and very cold! During the day it is about 40 degrees and at night 35 degrees and it rains 24/7. The roads are nothing but mud and we had to walk 1 mile and ½ to her house. We got to the house and we stared cooking in the fire pit, the kitchen floor was a dirt floor and the kitchen was filled with smoke from the fire pit.

To go upstairs you had to climb the ladder from the kitchen to the 2^nd floor thru a little hole. The animals stayed in the house as well to keep away from the cold. When we went to bed I slept in a sleeping bag and 5 blankets and still was cold the room didn’t have a door but used a blanket as the “door”.

I wasn’t able to sleep at all from being so cold and hearing the pigs under my room. The family woke up and we walked 2 miles to go to church and I was asked to speak and I talked about the Numbers 6 Blessing. After church the pastor took us back to Ambato and I was so happy to go back home.

I really learned a lot while being there and how much we Americans do have and how the Quichuas live and how far apart our cultures are yet we serve the same God. The Quichua people are some of the sweetest people I have ever met. And I love them so much and have so much respect for them.

I was so happy to be able to have this experience that not many people are able to have.