Let me introduce you to Rosa!

I would like to introduce you all to Rosa. She is a really marvellous woman. The place we are staying in (I am not going to advertise it) has eight apartments and nine additional rooms. Rosa is responsible for cleaning them all every day. She arrives at seven each morning and rarely leaves before six, with only one day off a week. Her bus journey to work takes over an hour each way. Money is tight. She earns less than a dollar an hour.

Rosa's life is not easy. She is supporting two adult children through university without any additional help. She left behind her family and friends in her home town of Cuenca five years ago in order to come to Quito for the sake of her children. In this way at least, she is typical of many Ecuadorian parents who have not had many opportunites in life and are now willing to sacrifice everything in order to give their children an education.

She works such long hours that it has been difficult to find friends in the capital. She gets up at five in the morning to prepare breakfast, gets home after seven and is usually in bed by nine.

Despite her long hours and the physical nature of her job Rosa is always smiling and only admits to tiredness when asked directly. She is a very intelligent women who has studied philosophy and has an interest in history and geography. She is also an excellent cook. Yet she spends most of her day on her hands and knees washing floors and cleaning other peoples' toilets.

She dreams about travelling and about starting her own business, but she adds that she daren't have too many ambitions or else she will go mad. With only two weeks holiday a year and no way of saving money, both foreign holidays and business ventures remain distant dreams.

I cannot express how much respect I have for this lady. She has brought a ray of sunshine into our lives and taught us a thing or two about gratitude. I have asked her to tell me the secret of her happiness. Her reply is this:

"I am happy because God has been good to me. I have my health and I have a job. I am often tired and money is tight but I don't need material things. This job allows me to see my children progress in life. I live for them."

It must be frustrating for her to work in these conditions for such little pay, expecially given her intelligence and interest in the world, but despite this fact she never complains.

When we visited her home Rosa prepared us a magnificent meal and thanked us for "making the sacrifice of travelling across town to her home."

Rosa is able to see the positive in everything. She does not have much, but she is grateful for what she has got and would share her last dollar with someone who needed it. Above all I hope that the next time someone in our family is having a "bad day" back in Finland we are able to think back to Rosa and put things in perspective. With more people like Rosa around the world would be a better place.

I have no idea whether anyone is actually reading this blog..but I showed Rosa this posting and she was very excited at the thought that her picture and story would be visible to people in other countries. If you have read this I hope her positive attitude will inspire you just a little!

Machismo, research and dirty socks

Many people have shown an interest in the research I am doing in Ecuador, but I often hear the same question..where do you start?

The answer is simply to talk to as many people as possible. Almost everyone I have met has a story to tell and the more questions I ask the more I find out about the realities of life here. One contact often leads me to another and so the network expands.

I have found that in general the Ecuadorians have been very willing to talk about what they see as the issues within the country. With many people I have had the impression that they have appreciated the opportunity simply to be heard and to have their views taken into account.

In terms of speaking to women, they have been much more ready to speak when there is not a man present. I have been finding out what it means to be a woman in Ecuador. On more than one occasion women have started answering this question and talking about the problems - until they notice that a man is lingering in the background, at which point their response often changes to "todo está bien." (everything's fine).

For this reason I try as much as possible to interview women alone, and they invariably have a huge amount to say. It is clear that the strong presence of "machismo" in the country permeates every level of society and has a knock-on effect in terms of opportunity, education and issues of confidence and self-esteem.

I find contacts everywhere...in the hotel, in the shops, in the markets and in the "lavandería" where we take our clothes to be washed. Just as an aside, clothes here are weighed before they are washed and you then pay 80c for each pound in weight ($1.76 per kilo). Marisol, who works in the lavandería has been very happy to talk about her life and now greets me with three questions.

"How are you? How are the babies? How is the research going?"

You know that you have really gained someone's trust when they invite you into their home, and we are fortunate to have had several such invitations, which has given us a much deeper insight into Ecuadorian culture. The Ecuadorians have much that they are keen to tell the world, and I am looking forward, with the help of people like Marisol, to playing a small part in telling their story.

Pencils, paints and drawing books to the children's hospital!

This morning we had the pleasure of delivering the drawing and painting materials we bought to the chemotherapy ward of Baca Ortiz Children's hospital where Ceci (above in photo with Lucie and Saskia) will make sure they are put to good use.

We had also bought small small smiley face stickers and Lucie was taken round the in-patients ward to give them out to all the children. Lucie commented afterwards how such a tiny gesture raised smiles from all of the children despite what they are going through.

Thank you again to all of you who made this first donation possible.

Having changed the money we collected to dollars and rounded it up a little I still have $1900 to distribute. I am confident it will allow us to achieve many good things before we leave at the end of July. I will keep you informed!

Lucie, an iPad and a school in Canoa

As I have said before, opportunities arise in all sorts of ways. The opportunity to visit a school project on the Ecuadorian coast arose because of my children's fascination with iPads. Lucie and Cameron had gone down early to breakfast one day last week and as I understand it, having spotted an iPad, started arguing with each other about it could do. The unsuspecting owner of the iPad was a fellow resident of the hotel, Alan Gibson, who until this point had been quietly minding his business over breakfast.

Having spotted Lucie's fascination with his iPad, he kindly offered to show her how it worked, and the two of them got into a conversation about why we are here and the research I am doing. She spoke with such enthusiasm that Alan suggested that we meet, as he was sure he would be able to help. As it turns out, he was right.

Alan Gibson and Scott Beard are Americans who run a farm in West Virginia. Alan is also in advertising and Scott is a concert pianist. (I have had the pleasure of hearing him play...if anyone is planning a recital in Helsinki then I have his number.)

They were here in Ecuador to visit and raise funds for a school project in the small fishing village of Canoa in the region of Manabí. The school was started three years ago by a man called James Dean Byrd. Despite the poverty of the region, James could see that the natural beauty of the area, in addition to the surfing possibilities, were attracting more and more tourists every year and that in order for the children to have a chance of work in the future they would need to learn English. As a result of this he took the decision to start a bilingual school, "Los Algarrobos".

With very limited funding, the school was constructed from scratch using local materials and workmanship. It has been a magnificent success. The school now has 58 pupils and goes up to grade four. There are plans to expand as and when funds allow, but just so you get the idea, the building of a new classroom can be achieved for just $6000.

The school is accredited, but recieves no funding other than that from donations, so it is forced to charge fees in order to survive. For $25 per month the pupils receive a uniform, materials, tuition, two meals a day and health surveillance. In addition to a basic education in both Spanish and English the children are also taught about hygiene and how to protect their local environment. They are always keen to wash their hands before mealtimes as it remains a novelty...most of them have no running water at home.

When Alan and Scott visited the school, the children put on a puppet show, in which all the "puppets" were made from items the children had found on the beach and recycled.

As you can imagine, $25 is a lot of money to a family who has almost nothing, and because of this most of the children can only attend if they are sponsored by either individuals or companies.
This very modest amount is giving these children a real head start in life and the chance to find work in their local region in the future.

Our family has been invited by the Director to spend a week at the school, and we are planning our trip for mid July when the school exams will be over.

I have asked the Director to provide me with a list of children who would like to attend the school but still lack the necessary funding. If you feel you would be able to commit yourself to $25 per month for one of these children then please let me know. You would quite literally be changing someone's life.

For more info see www.jamesdeanbyrdfoundation.org

Decapitated Piñata and crying babies

Yesterday we had no electricity. This morning we had no water. Our mobiles refuse to pick up a network so we have no telephone contact....but the sun is shining so all is well in Quito.

Our Piñata experience did not go exactly as planned. The head fell off before we had even started so Frédéric started hitting its body with a broom handle - at which point Luca ran inside shouting and Niko screamed with terror at seeing his father hit a headless child with a broom.

Never mind. We collected up all the sweets and toys that had been inside and tomorrow will deliver them to the hospital along with all the drawing and painting materials we have bought. (see the entry on the Sol y Vida Foundation).

We managed to buy a lot of things for just over $100 and we are looking forward to taking them to the children's cancer ward tomorrow. Lucie and Saskia are going to be doing some volunteer work with the children there on Tuesday and Thursday mornings which will no doubt be a life enriching experience.

We have only been here for a week but our experience in Ecuador has already had a profound effect on the whole family. The Ecuadorian people have an incredible capacity to find happiness despite the most challenging of circumstances. I will do my best to discover their secret so that I can share it with you before we leave!

Frédéric's Birthday!

It's Frédéric's birthday today.. He is out at his Spanish lesson and we are at home filling up the Piñata we have bought him for later this afternooon. A Piñata is a large hollow character made out of paper and card (we chose one from Toy Story because Frédéric loves the film). The idea is to fill it up with sweets and small plastic toys. Then you hang it from the ceiling and take turns to beat it with a stick until it breaks and all the contents fall onto the floor.

A Piñata is a very common way to celebrate a birthday in South America, although in all honesty they are usually meant for those under twelve. When Lucie and I were buying it someone stopped her in the shop and asked how old the birthday boy was. The man was a little perplexed when she told him he was 34!

We have made him an album full of family photographs and bought him a new bag from the market in Quito. He also has a new Spanish-French dictionary to help with his Spanish which is improving every day.

His cake is from the bakery just round the corner which is typical of those in Quito which all seem to have an amazing display of freshly baked cakes, bread and biscuits. Fresh croissants only cost 29 cents each - making my French husband very happy!

I will take some photos of Frédéric with his Piñata later today.

Images of Quito

Child Labour

Child labour is an unfortunate reality in Ecuador. From a very young age many children are sent out seven days a week to sell sweets, flowers or souvenirs to tourists.

Children also work in the markets selling both food and other products and will frequently offer to shine your shoes. Some of these children are sent out to work by their parents. Others are pretty much fending for themselves.

In theory child labour is prohibited by law before the age of fourteen in Ecuador, but in practice the police turn a blind eye to what is going on right in front of them.

Some of these children are able to go to school in the morning (often from 7am to 1pm for example) but many do not go at all. Either way they are pretty much exhausted for much of the time. Child labour is a practice which is very much engrained in Ecuadorian culture, even more so outside the capital.

Something to think about the next time we hear someone complaining about their homework...

England v Germany in Quito

Most of the cafés in the centre of Quito have screens for customers to watch the World Cup. Ecuador didn't qualify for the finals but there is still a huge interest in the matches. The general rule here is that Ecuadorians will support any South American team... with the exception of Argentina. I have asked about this apparent distaste for the Argentinian team. "Argentinians think they are better than us... son arrogantes...." is the response.

The match between England and Germany was shown live here at 9 in the morning Ecuadorian time. Frédéric and I are not huge football fans but we could not resist experiencing the atmosphere of the match in one of the local cafés. Frédéric was served an English breakfast (eggs and bacon with kidney beans and lettuce...?) and Luca had a pile of pancakes with jam.

Even though we were in a South American capital we did not escape the shouts of "Eng-er-land" which started off as loudly and aggressively as in any London pub, but got progressively weaker as the match went on. The German supporters were much more discrete. In fact we didn't know who they were until they all jumped all simultaneously when Germany scored the first goal.

Unfortunately the cheering and shouting from the supporters of both sides got so loud at some points that Niko was frightened and kept hiding his face. We had to go back "home" to watch the second half on our tiny tv where the atmosphere wasn't quite the same. Still, I have no doubt that Germans Annika, Sandra and Corinna (in Quito for two months to learn Spanish, and above in photo) were amongst those in Quito who were more than happy with the result...

Taxis in Quito

Wherever you look in Quito you cannot fail to see several of the yellow taxis which are a very common form of transport here. You never have to wait long to find one. By contrast, I can't help wondering if there is enough work to go around for all the many hundreds of taxi drivers working here.

Quito is quite a "narrow" city in that it is only about 3-4km wide, but it is very long (about 30km), and the traffic is often heavy, which is why many people who work in the centre of town have a long journey to work every morning.

In general I have found the taxi drivers to be very knowledgeable people who in many cases would be studying for a profession if it wasn't for their economic situation. Without exception they have been friendly and informative and if you were to assume that all taxi drivers must be dishonest then you would be totally wrong. In fact we had more trouble establishing a fair price when we were looking for a taxi to the airport in Stockholm.

Official taxis are yellow and equipped with meters, although these are rarely used. The system is to agree a price with the driver to your destination before you get in. As a rule there is little difference in prices quoted from one driver to another. Once a price is agreed drivers do not attempt to negotiate further or give you a higher price once you arrive, as is the case in some countries.

Seatbelts are used sparingly, carseats for children and babies are not used at all and when our family of seven suggested to one driver that we should travel in two taxis he just laughed and told us all to pile in. We did. He said he would take us to a market which was "about an hour away". By the time we arrived just over two hours later the six of us in the back were so stiff it took a few minutes before we were able to were able to properly feel our limbs.

Being a passenger in any kind of vehicle in Ecuador is not to be recommended for the faint-hearted. Without exception everyone drives too fast. Traffic lights are meaningless, stop signs are apparently invisible and drivers beep continually just because they can. Overtaking on a bend and then swerving to avoid the oncoming traffic is part of the experience. In terms of pedestrians, drivers do not stop for anyone, no matter how many bags or babies you might be carrying, so if you are crossing the streets on foot you must be prepared to wait.

Having said all of that you can gurantee that whichever driver you choose he will know Quito like the back of his hand. The only navigation system that is used is the one in his head, and it invariably works well. Going across town will cost around $2. $10 will take you around 25km. Drivers know what is going on and if you want to find something they know where to find it. They also have an opinion on everything going on in Ecuador and are not afraid to share them - a huge help to me in terms of my research.

Most drivers work seven days a week and a minimum of eleven hours a day. You can work out how many hours that is in a week.

From our few days in Quito so far I have come to greatly respect the drivers we have met. Their work is relentless and they are all fighting for the limited amount of passengers that exist. In the majority of cases they would be doing other work if they only had the opportunity. Despite their difficulties they all smile, and are happy to chat. They are also predictable in one other way. Each time it becomes apparent that Frédéric is French, each driver will respond in exactly the same way. He will smile, shake his head, and say one single word......"Mundial......"

PS...(in case you didn't know, Mundial is Spanish for the World Cup...)

Luca finds some lipstick

This has nothing to do with Ecuador in particular. It's just a moment in the life of a big family. Luca likes to look his best whichever country he is in.

(Photo by Cameron)

The Cost of Living

For now I am only able to comment on the cost of some basic commodities in Quito. These prices may well not reflect those elsewhere. A basic (small) apartment in Quito itself costs $110-$120 per month. Going by bus to almost anywhere in Ecuador from Quito is $8 each way.

We have shopped at a supermarket called Supermaxi which was full of local people as opposed to tourists. Here are the prices of some of the things we bought.

spaghetti 67c
margarine $1.24
pot of baby food 72c
2l Coca Cola $1.28
sugar 79c
Ragu pasta sauce $4.53

You can see from these prices that the cost of food is not as cheap as you might expect. Without exception, every person I speak to as part of my research says the same thing...that since Ecuador took the dollar as its currency the price of food has almost doubled in price. I was given the specific example of the price of a pineapple, which went from 45c to $1 overnight. Not a single person has failed to mention the high cost of living here in comparison to the wages earned. Because of the high prices in supermarkets many people buy the majority of their food from outdoor markets where fruit and vegetables are much cheaper. The picture above was taken in Calderón. One dollar here will buy you twenty mandarins.

What has surprised me the most in terms of costs is the price of chocolate. For three Snickers bars the price was just under $4, which is considerably more than they would cost in Finland! (we didn't buy them). Even a plain bar of chocolate was more than $2. Milk is also surprisingly expensive at $1.37 per litre.

In contrast to this, the cost of eating out is much lower than the prices we are used to in Europe. In fact the first time I asked where I could find a supermarket the locals asked why I wanted to cook food when it would be just as cheap to eat out. You can get lunch or dinner in a very nice Italian restaurant here for $6-$8 including a soft drink. Eating a sandwich or light meal in a cafe will cost around $2-$3.

We have spent very little time in the shops as that is not why we are here, but from the little I have seen so far handbags cost around $7-12 and T shirts $7-10. These are the prices in the middle of Quito. In the market of Otavalo a handmade doll was $2 and a woollen cargidan for a child $8.

You can see that for a foreigner from Europe or the US Ecuador remains relatively inexpensive but certainly not as cheap as I had imagined prior to coming. Much more significant is the costs faced by the local people given the very small incomes they have to live on. I am quickly finding out that even for those with regular jobs life in Ecuador is anything but easy.

The Sol y Vida Foundation

In the last ten days I have had the pleasure of seeing both Niko's first two teeth poking through and his progress from little frog jumps to what is now a real crawl. As any parent will know, these are the kind of memories which make life magical.

I mention this because this morning I met several parents who will also come to have very strong memories of their children from this particular week. The story started through a chance encounter with a lady called Ligia Pérez. She is the director of a local language school called La Lengua where Frédéric and I have both enrolled. http://www.la-lengua.com/

Frédéric is taking an intensive Spanish course and I am looking for reassurance that I haven't forgotten everything I ever knew. (Thankfully I haven't.) As well as running the language school, Ligia is a psychologist by profession who spends three mornings a week working with a local Foundation called Sol y Vida which works with children from poor families who are suffering from cancer. http://www.solyvida.info/

In short, the situation in Ecuador is this. Basic medical attention is available through public hospitals free of charge. However until last year as soon as a child was diagnosed with cancer the state no longer funded treatment. This has changed slightly, in that recent reforms have meant that cancer treatment is now funded for a limited period, but the reality is still that many children need treatment for which the families are expected to pay. Many of them simply can't - and this is where Sol y Vida steps in. Children from the poorest families are referred to the Foundation, which provides the money necessary in order to pay for the treatment. There are currently 60 children being funded in this way, each needing on average $1000 of treatment per year. 5-6 new referrals are received every month. Where no further treatment can be given the Foundation tries to pay for a last wish or dream to be fulfilled. The Foundation was set up a few years ago by parents of children attending the German School in Quito. The money needed to run it, (around $80,000 per year) is mostly raised through fundraising in Europe. No child is ever turned away.

And so it was that Ligia invited me, along with Lucie and Saskia, to spend a morning watching her work. The first little girl we met, Lesli, was three years old. One eye had already been removed and efforts were being made to save the second. Her parents had travelled eight hours on the bus to come to Quito for follow up treatment and were clearly exhausted. The Foundation negotiated with the hospital the price of the further treatment and the false eye that Lesli needed, agreeing to pay most of the cost, with the family paying the small contribution they were able to afford.

We then met another family. The little girl had had a malignant tumour removed from her arm six months ago and was now having follow up treatment. Her older sister's operation to remove a tumour from her neck took place just two days ago. She had waited five years. The whole family was now full of smiles despite their troubles and the obvious discomfort following the operation. Their nine hour trip back home is tomorrow.

I went for a moment to the waiting room where I met Biedad, a lady of a similar age to me who was obviously sad and frightened. I asked if she was alright and she started crying. She wanted to talk. It transpired that she had just been told her 15 year old daughter was going to die. Her daughter has a brain tumour which is now apparently inoperable. Her mother had travelled for eight hours to Quito to get a second opinion, only to find out that the oncologist was off duty today. Ligia gave Biedad as much support as she could, promising to speak to the doctor on her behalf. Biedad agreed to come back to Quito with her daughter on Monday when the doctor is back to see if anything more can be done.

There cannot be many things in life harder than facing the death of your own child. Except facing the death of your own child when you can't afford the treatment that could potentially save their life. These are the cases that Sol y Vida deal with. They do a brillliant job. We were given a guided tour of the children's hospital called Hospital Baca Ortiz and were greeted with warmth and smiles wherever we went. No-one asked for anything, despite the fact that we were surrounded by great need in every sense. The staff seemed to be making the best of the limited resources they had. We saw a little room which has been provided for the children in the chemotherapy ward where they can play with toys and draw and paint while they are waiting for treatment.

It was in this room that I overheard a conversation which has prompted the first donation from our Helsinki money. The hospital has run out of coloured pencils, crayons and paper for the children to draw with. It was clear how much this little room was helping to distract children in very distressing cicumstances, and their needs are so modest that this is something we can easily help with. I have made enquiries about the cheapest place to buy colouring books and pencils and we will deliver $100 worth to the hospital where they will be put into immediate use.

Seeing the bravery of these children, some of whom are dying, along with the huge efforts of their parents to do everything possible to save them, was a truely humbling experience. We all cried more than a few tears. Sadly our little contribution won't save lives, but I hope it will bring a few more smiles to the hospital and support the work of the people who really are able to save lives. For more info on the Foundation follow the link above. And thanks to everyone once again.

Why we are here

Opportunities often present themselves in the most unexpected ways....which is pretty much the case with our trip to Ecuador this summer. The European Agency I work for in Helsinki offers the chance for parents of young children to take parental leave in order to profit from time together with the family. As maternity leave in the European Institutions only lasts for twenty weeks, parental leave offers a really valuable chance to spend time together as a family, and that had always been our plan for this summer, especially given that our two little ones are still so young. At the same time Åbo Akademi, where I am finishing off a Masters in International Human Rights Law (I highly recommend the course for anyone who might be interested) sent round a mail earlier in the year asking if any students were interested in volunteering to undertake some human rights research in Ecuador. The project was in conjunction with Plan International (a charity working to promote the rights of children globally). Åbo is full of many talented students and had the project been anywhere else I probably wouldn't have had a chance of being picked... but the fact was that this project required the ability to speak Spanish, which happened to be the subject of my first degree. I hoped in 1992 when I started my degree that the Spanish would come in useful one day. I was lucky - here I am.

Whilst preparing for the trip it occurred to me that given the many social problems in Ecuador it would be a great shame not to use the occasion to try and collect some money prior to coming. I knew that any collection probably wouldn't amount to much, but I have always thought that helping a little is certainly better than not helping at all. The problem of course was that never having visited Ecuador I had no identified humanitarian project prior to leaving Finland. This made the collection more difficult because I could not be specific with people as to exactly where the money would be going. For that reason I took the decision simply to send a mail to those work colleagues who knew me personally, and who (I hope) knew that I would make sure the money went to the right place.

I made the first small announcement at one of our unit meetings two weeks before we were due to leave. The meeting was attended by about 15 people. I said nothing about how much I was trying to collect (obviously I wanted as much as possible) but secretly I hoped that I would be able to raise around 500 euros. I figured this had to be enough to achieve something, however modest. But surprising things started to happen. The first was five minutes after this meeting when there was a knock at the door of my office. I went to the door, and without saying anything one of my colleagues took my hand and put something in it. I looked down to see myself holding one hundred euros. I looked up again in surprise. This was a big contribution and much more than I had expected from one person. My colleague must have seen the bewilderment on my face. "I trust you," he said. "I know you'll find the right project to give it to." I am not ashamed to say that I burst into tears.

In fact this was simply the first example of much generosity, and I became humbled by the willingness of others to help, even when there was no project identified in advance. Money kept rolling in over the next few days. One colleague pushed a hundred euros over the table at lunch and another stopped my in the hall and gave me a further hundred and fifty. Most days I would come back from lunch to find another contribution left on my desk. The result was that I left my last day at work with a total of 1654 euros and 44 dollars - more than treble what I had orignally hoped for. The donations were hugely generous, and my only way of saying thank you was to promise each person who had donated that each cent would be used for those who genuinely needed it. There was one common theme expressed by almost everyone, which was that they were happy to give money in this situation because they could be sure that it would not be swallowed up in administration or advertising.

So...at a stroke our summer in Quito became comprised of three distinct elements. Spending time with the family, doing research in human rights and identifying how best to spend the money that I had been entrusted with. Of course at the same time I hope that my older children at least will learn something about life in a place where people do not have the advantages and comfort we risk taking for granted in Finland.

A heartfelt thank you to each one of you who took part in the collection. I am happy to tell you I have found a home for the first $100 - which I think you will agree is a very deserving cause. For the details, please read my next entry which I will post later today. Sunny greetings from Quito.

Settling in

At breakfast we were served two different fruit juices, neither of which I recognised. I was told that the orange one was made from "naranjilla". I looked this up in my dictionary and found the English translation. Naranjilla. Apparently my exposure to exotic fruits has been somewhat lacking as I have never heard of one of these. The second juice was a thick white substance which had a taste that is hard to describe. It was very sweet and may have had a hint of coconut to it, although that may just have been my imagination because I was drinking something white. When I enquired about it I was told that it was juice from a guadanaba. This time the dictionary was no help at all. When I eventually discovered one in the supermarket it was large, green, prickly and more than a little intimidating. Not something I would ever have dreamed of picking up in the past, but perhaps now that will change. Along with the juices we were served croissants and home made jam.... I didn't dare ask what they were made from but perhaps I will be slightly better educated by the time we leave.

Because we are staying for almost six weeks there was no pressure to rush out on the tourist trail on day one, so we decided just to sort out a couple of practical issues such as finding an adaptor and changing some money into dollars. Sadly our search turned out to be fruitless on both counts. For some reason banks will not change more than 100 euros at a time and no-one seemed able to tell us where we could find a bureau de change. We had no luck on the adaptor front either. If such a thing exists in Quito it was not anywhere obvious. This is slightly tricky as it leaves us unable to use our laptop. More drastically for Saskia she can't use her hair straighteners - a situation which could lead to a nervous breakdown if left unresolved. Still, we managed to purchase a sandwich maker for $16 which we hope will go some way towards compensating for our lack of an oven.

Everywhere we go we are the subject of intense staring and much discussion. Although the area we are staying in is full of hostels and places to stay for backpackers we find that we are frequently the only obvious foreigners around. Women in particular are fascinated by Luca and Niko and frequently touch them and comment on their blond hair. We hear the words "lindo" "hermoso" and "muñecito" (little doll) at every corner, which of course is lovely for any Mum to hear in relation to her own children. More than that though, the attention the babies are attracting means that we have lots of opportunities to talk to local people, and I can see that this will be a real advantage in terms of getting to understand Ecuadorian culture. The more the babies are with us the better!

When asked about their ages we say that they are 2 and 7 months respectively. The response on every single occasion is one of surprise. "Son grandes...." (they are big) says each person emphatically. They are not big at all by European standards...in fact Niko is even slightly small for his age, but here they seem to be perceived as enormous...but then I guess so are the rest of us compared to the locals. In fact maybe the stares are nothing to do with our colouring. Perhaps we are just interesting because we are so large. Ah well.

The rest of the family arrives

Although I was desperate for sleep I didn't manage to get more than a few minutes on our first day. Our bodyclocks were all mixed up and when Niko was asleep Luca was wide awake and vice versa. Our apartment is not huge but it has two bedrooms and two extra beds in the front room and seems to be pretty comfortable. We do not need many luxuries to be happy but I could see straightaway that two things were missing. The first was an oven. We had been told that the apartment was equipped with a "kitchenette" but in fact in practice this meant a small fridge and two cooking rings. Are they called cooking rings? I'm not sure. Lucie suggested "stove circles" but that's definitely not the right word. In any event two is not many when you are cooking for seven, and the lack of an oven is likely to be even more significant. Still. I am sure we will find a way round it. What worries me more is the fact that there is no heating at all.

I knew prior to arriving that Quito is more than 3000m above sea level and that temperatures and more springlike than hot. I had also heard that the nights are quite cold and this proves to be true. As soon as it gets dark the temperature drops dramatically and I can see this will be tough with no heating and two babies in the house. In the afternoon when all four of us are awake at the same time we venture outside in order to find a supermarket and manage to buy some basic necessities such as bottled water, pasta, bread and cereal. (Cameron insisted on Fruit Loops and I didn't have the heart to say no given the journey we had just had).

Frederic and the girls, Saskia (15) and Lucie (14) were due to arrive at midnight at the airport. I would like to have gone to meet them but I couldn't leave the children and certainly didn't want to wake them up, so at half past midnight I went downstairs to wait for their taxi to arrive. The hotel was quiet but Javier was sitting at reception and greeted me with a smile. He is a young man of 29 and I was surprised to see him still at the hotel, as he had already been there when we arrived in the morning. He told me that he was doing a 25 hour shift, with no time to sleep and only half an hour to eat. We started chatting and I discovered that although his contract says he should work 40 hours per week this is not respected and the reality is closer to double this.

We talked more about working life in Ecuador, and he told me that the basic minimum wage has been raised in the last few years to $240 per month. Once social security payments are deducted this leaves $219 dollars to live on, although as yet I have no idea what the social security covers because no-one seems to receive benefits of any kind.

I asked what Javier would like to do if he were free to do anything and he told me that he had alwasy wanted to be a doctor. In fact he had completed school and then gone on to the first year of medical school, but did not go into the second year because he simply could not afford to. I asked how much it would cost to study medicine. He thought for a while and concluded that he would need about $200 per month. $80 for rent each month in addition to weekly costs such as food $30, transport $5 and "copies" $5. I asked what he meant by copies. He grinned at this. "Copias, copias, copias." he said. Copies of what? The answer was simple. The vast majority of students in Ecuador are not able to buy the necessary books. The books Javier needed in order to study medicine often cost more than $100 dollars each which was simply impossible for the ordinary person. So instead they took the one library copy and spent hours each week copying it. As Javier explained, if each page cost 5 centavos to copy this meant that he could copy the entire book for less than $20. A crucial saving.

I thought back to my own studies. If I needed a book I bought it. I always prefer studying with my own books as I am free to mark them as I choose, but even where I did not need my own copy there was alwasy one available in the library. It seemed so unjust that someone who wanted to study, and seemingly had the capacity to do so, was being denied the opportunity to do so because of a few dollars a month. It later transpired that Javier has a wife and two young children to support, so any thoughts of giving up work in order to study are nothing more than dreams. As he explained simply "Si no trabajo, no comemos." If I don't work, we don't eat. The equation is not a difficult one to understand.

Javier is clearly both a hard worker and a kind and patient man. Whenever I am searching for a word in Spanish he is happy to try and find it with me. I can't help thinking that his natural bedside manner would have been a great comfort to the sick and it is a great shame that he is confined to working as a general helper in a hotel for only $50 per week. But as I will find out I will meet many Javiers during my time in Ecuador.

Talking to Javier about his life is so interesting that I hardly notice the time passing. I realised with a shock that the time was almost two thirty. The plane from Lima carrying Frederic and the girls was delayed and it was the early hours before their taxi finally pulled up outside the hotel. They looked tired, but happy to have made it, and we all hugged each other as though we had been separated for weeks. I was over the moon to see them. Frederic paid the taxi driver and he drove off. He had been charged $20 for the same journey that had cost me only $6 earlier that morning. Still, given what I was beginning to learn about the economic reality of life in Quito, I was hardly surprised.

First Impressions

The fact that we are in South America still seems slightly surreal. We arrived just three days ago and have already seen so much that it is difficult to know where to start. The way the flights worked out meant that I ended up travelling alone with the three little ones, Cameron (9), Luca (2) and Niko (7 months). It could have been far worse but it was a long trip nevertheless. One baby would wake up just as the other fell asleep and Cameron seemed to need the toilet every few seconds. We left Sweden on Saturday evening at 8pm, flew first to Amsterdam and then changed planes to Quito. I had thought that we would fly direct from there to Quito but in fact we made stops in both Bon Air and in Guayacil (the second largest town in Ecuador), finally arriving in Quito at 8am on Sunday morning. Ecuador is seven hours behind Swedish time so for us it was 3 in the afternoon and we were all exhausted.

I had two immediate impressions of Quito. The first was that the airport was situated in the middle of the town and it almost felt as though the plane was going to arrive in someone's living room. Luckily we avoided that but there wasn't much in it. The second impression was the party atmosphere which greeted us as we came through customs. There must have been close to three hundred people waiting to greet friends and relatives, all equipped with flowers and balloons in every coulour of the rainbow. It was an amazing scene and we found ourselves witness to many emotional reunions. More than three million Ecuadorians have left the country in recent years in an attempt to find better paid work elsewhere. Many are only able to return every five years or so...so the airport is necessarily a scene of both heartache and joy, both for those who have left and for those who are left behind.

I asked the price of a taxi to the hotel and was told it was $6, which seemed reasonable, so we piled in without arguing. The driver then proceeded to drive as fast as a Formula One driver but I suspect with markedly less expertise. This was to be the first of many such experiences - if you value calm and considerate driving then I suggest you give Ecuador a miss.

It is my first experience in Ecuador and in fact my first in South America, having never been further than Mexico. I know little about the country apart from what I have read before coming and much of that material has been full of warnings.

We cannot drink anything other than bottled water and must never eat food that is sold in the streets.
However many precautions we take we will almost inevitably fall ill during our time here.
There is no point in hiring a car as it is a recipe for disaster.
Traffic lights have no meaning and everyone drives like a maniac.
As obvious tourists we are likely to be ripped off and have a strong chance of being robbed.

I have no idea how accurate any of this advice is, apart from the fact that I have already arrived at the conclusion that to attempt to drive here would not be a wise move. I consider myself to be a confident driver but from what I have seen so far this would be of little assistance and I will leave the driving to others. Whatever lies ahead of us, I am quite certain that it is going to be an adventure.