Visiting Angela in Guayaquil (Sara)

This is an account of my visit with my Compassion child, Angela, on May 27th. Pictures and stories from the beach trip will be coming soon.

I became the correspondent sponsor of Angela in March, so by the time I arrived we had only been able to exchange one letter (letters take 2-3 months to arrive). Yet of all my kids, she was the most open and talkative from the beginning.

She lives with her parents and older brother in a city four hours away called Portoviejo. So she and her mom and project director spent the night at a hotel in Guayaquil so that we could have our day together.

Angela and I with her mom and project director

This visit was a little different because we could not go to her house and project. Instead we just spent time getting to know each other. The first thing we did was to go to one of the touristy areas in Guayaquil called the Malecon. It is a boardwalk that stretches along the Guayas River and has a lot of different restaurants and attractions. We headed straight for the large playground area.

After playing at the Malecon we took a taxi to the local mall and had lunch in the food court.

As we ate I learned more about her community. Her project has 374 children, and like Iris’ project this one also has the Child Survival Program (CSP).

The children attend project activities Monday-Wednesday and Angela attends in the afternoon session so that she can attend public school in the morning.

We had ice cream for dessert

While we were at the food court I got to give her the gifts. We also played hand games, and had a tickle fight...

Then we went to the play area and she rode some rides.

A rollercoaster simulator

Angela: "If that things moves, I don’t want to go on it.” We finally convinced her to try it, and she liked it.

After playing on some of the rides, we found a spot to sit and play with the gifts that I had given her.

Not too long after that we had to say goodbye. They had a 5 hour trip back home on the bus, and Omar and I had a 4-hour bus ride to get to Riobamba, the city where I would visit my last child.

~Sara

If you are interested in sponsoring a child like Angela through Compassion International click here to see children who are waiting for a loving sponsor. www.compassion.com