New Project in Ecuador
Craft Aid International have established an exciting new project to provide training and employment for people with disabilities in Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas, in Ecuador. Whilst the Ecuadorian government is attempting to make people with disabilities feel more included in their society, the reality is that most adults with disabilities find it practically impossible to find employment and are consigned to a life of poverty as a result. Craft Aid International is looking forward to working with the Primera Iglesia Bautista to help them establish a project that will start to meet the needs of the many people with disabilities desperate for training and employment. A local church, Primera Iglesia Bautista, has already set up a charity that works with children and young people with disabilities, called Vida en Abundancia. The young people at this project are already producing some crafts, but the charity wants to extend the project to provide employment to people with disabilities. Last March, Craft Aid sent out skilled volunteers, Lydia and Mark Trezise to work with the charity and help establish the project. During her degree, Lydia volunteered at Neema Craft Centre in Tanzania and this ignited her passion to use jewellery as a tool for social justice. As a couple they have a strong desire to use their lives for the betterment of others and are open to going wherever God calls them. At the project Lydia takes care of design, training and manufacturing, and Mark takes care of admin, social media (and of course making a good cup of Yorkshire tea!) They welcomed the first group of trainees in January, who graduated in June this year. They're now fully trained and have been equipped with everything they need to run their own paper making workshops from home. They bring their products to the project every fortnight and are paid for the excellent work they've made, providing them with a regular income with which to support themselves and their families. We're already training our second group of trainees! (Photos to follow soon!)
Mark and Lydia will be returning to the UK next spring, after handing over to our new project leaders, Jess and Andy Lynch, who fly out to Ecuador with their three year old daughter Frankie next Febuary. The Lynch family will be serving with Craft Aid International for two years, and are being sent through CMS's mission programme. Jess will be working on design and hands-on teaching, whilst Andy will be dong the accounts, administration and driving the new project minibus ( more on this soon!) to pick up and return the trainees from the centre of Santo Domingo city each day.
To make a donation to support Andy and Jess Lynch in this valuable work, please click here :
Mark and Lydia will be returning to the UK next spring, after handing over to our new project leaders, Jess and Andy Lynch, who fly out to Ecuador with their three year old daughter Frankie next Febuary. The Lynch family will be serving with Craft Aid International for two years, and are being sent through CMS's mission programme. Jess will be working on design and hands-on teaching, whilst Andy will be dong the accounts, administration and driving the new project minibus ( more on this soon!) to pick up and return the trainees from the centre of Santo Domingo city each day.
To make a donation to support Andy and Jess Lynch in this valuable work, please click here :
You can find out more about Mark and Lydia, Jess and Andy on our Meet the Team page. Watch this space for more information about the project coming soon...
To support Mark and Lydia in their valuable work, please click here.
To support Mark and Lydia in their valuable work, please click here.
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Ecuador Newsletter - August 2017
At the moment we are living with another English missionary in Santo Domingo called Katie. This is because the house that we will be living in long term is not yet finished so one of the main jobs we've been doing is to help with preparing the house. We have hand sanded all the internal walls (tiring) and have just started to paint them (off-white, if you're interested). Once the painting is finished we just need to fit internal doors, lay a lino floor, put netting up on the windows to keep the flying neighbours out, buy a fridge and cooker and basically all other furniture and then that's about it! Hopefully this will not take too much longer but in Ecuador things do not move all that quickly...
We spent a couple of weeks sorting out our visas and as we speak the paperwork has all been submitted and we are waiting on a email to say all is well and we can go and get our Visas put in our passports. Legal stuff takes a while here, mainly because everything needs signing by many people and then photocopying which the offices don't do themselves so you have to take it to a street side photocopier at 5 cents a pop!
Lydia has been getting on with the real work of designing products that we will make and has been having fun with a few different ideas. Card making will be one of the first things we do, adding traditional Ecuadorian fabric and cutting out shapes using the sizzix machine. She's also been working hard on lino printing designs and made some beautiful ones already.
We spent a couple of weeks sorting out our visas and as we speak the paperwork has all been submitted and we are waiting on a email to say all is well and we can go and get our Visas put in our passports. Legal stuff takes a while here, mainly because everything needs signing by many people and then photocopying which the offices don't do themselves so you have to take it to a street side photocopier at 5 cents a pop!
Lydia has been getting on with the real work of designing products that we will make and has been having fun with a few different ideas. Card making will be one of the first things we do, adding traditional Ecuadorian fabric and cutting out shapes using the sizzix machine. She's also been working hard on lino printing designs and made some beautiful ones already.
At the end of June we went back to Quito to say goodbye to Amy, who we'd been living with in Quito. She's gone home to the states for 7 months and it was very sad to say goodbye because even after only 2 months of knowing each other we'd all grown close. We are really appreciating those friendships you make when people have moved away from their "home" country and it does make for close bonds. We are also building friendships with Ecuadorians and our language skills are definitely on the up!
We've done a bit more travelling and visiting different places. The equator runs through Ecuador (hence the name of the country) just north of Quito and we went and visited the"Mitad del Mundo" which was interesting. One of the displays informs that the difference in hemisphere does make a difference in which way large cyclones move (ocean patterns etc) but makes no difference to the way water goes down a plug, that one's a myth folks!
We have also visited a lake in a volcanic crater called Quilotoa which was a spectacular view and a great days hike. Being at such high altitude (3,900m) the hike back up to the crater rim from the lake is a very slow one, pausing for breath every 10th step or so!
We've done a bit more travelling and visiting different places. The equator runs through Ecuador (hence the name of the country) just north of Quito and we went and visited the"Mitad del Mundo" which was interesting. One of the displays informs that the difference in hemisphere does make a difference in which way large cyclones move (ocean patterns etc) but makes no difference to the way water goes down a plug, that one's a myth folks!
We have also visited a lake in a volcanic crater called Quilotoa which was a spectacular view and a great days hike. Being at such high altitude (3,900m) the hike back up to the crater rim from the lake is a very slow one, pausing for breath every 10th step or so!
The main news is, as promised in the last newsletter and mentioned above, we have moved down to Santo Domingo which will be our home for the next year or so. For those who don't know about this jewel in the crown of Ecuador here are a few quotes from the Lonely Planet Guide about Santo Domingo.
"[A] very uninspiring town...few attractions to encourage you to do anything other than pass through...[it] has a seedy side...visitors should be some what weary". My personal favourite is, "There's not really any reason to stay in Santo Domingo".
Now these observations are, to be fair, very accurate when looked through the lens of a tourist guide as this is not a city geared around that industry. It is situated at the foothills of the Andes and is about 2 hours drive from the coast. The climate is very hot and humid all the year round (day time temperatures are normally 26C-28C, night time 20C-22) and the sun rises at 6ish and sets at 6ish for 365 days of the year. It is a largely agricultural city with a market that attracts farmers from many miles around and there is also a lot of industry as its location makes it a transport hub for everywhere west of the Andes.
It is also a poor city, particularly when compared to the Sierra cities of Quito, Cuenca or Baños where most of the money is. The run down look of the city isn't helped by the climate as the humidity means everything grows moss and mould and buildings look 10 times their actual age, they literally start to rot the moment they are finished.
This city however has much deeper problems than just aesthetics. 9 out of 10 women in Santo Domingo have been abused and teenage pregnancies (often as a result of that abuse) are very common. Unemployment is quite high and wages here are not much. Most people will only just earn enough to get by and there are many shops in town where you can hire things like fridges and washing machines as people don't have the money to pay for it all at once.
All of that to say that this is a city where there is a lot of need and that, in the end, is why we are here. Viewed as a tourist there is nothing here but as a place that needs help this is exactly where we need to be. The people that we have met here are incredibly warm and kind and the foundation we are partnering with are very supportive, we just can't wait to get going!
Thank you to all who have donated, it really will make a massive difference and we couldn't do this project without you. If you haven't yet donated and want to, please use the button at the bottom of this email marked 'donate here'. Thank You.
"[A] very uninspiring town...few attractions to encourage you to do anything other than pass through...[it] has a seedy side...visitors should be some what weary". My personal favourite is, "There's not really any reason to stay in Santo Domingo".
Now these observations are, to be fair, very accurate when looked through the lens of a tourist guide as this is not a city geared around that industry. It is situated at the foothills of the Andes and is about 2 hours drive from the coast. The climate is very hot and humid all the year round (day time temperatures are normally 26C-28C, night time 20C-22) and the sun rises at 6ish and sets at 6ish for 365 days of the year. It is a largely agricultural city with a market that attracts farmers from many miles around and there is also a lot of industry as its location makes it a transport hub for everywhere west of the Andes.
It is also a poor city, particularly when compared to the Sierra cities of Quito, Cuenca or Baños where most of the money is. The run down look of the city isn't helped by the climate as the humidity means everything grows moss and mould and buildings look 10 times their actual age, they literally start to rot the moment they are finished.
This city however has much deeper problems than just aesthetics. 9 out of 10 women in Santo Domingo have been abused and teenage pregnancies (often as a result of that abuse) are very common. Unemployment is quite high and wages here are not much. Most people will only just earn enough to get by and there are many shops in town where you can hire things like fridges and washing machines as people don't have the money to pay for it all at once.
All of that to say that this is a city where there is a lot of need and that, in the end, is why we are here. Viewed as a tourist there is nothing here but as a place that needs help this is exactly where we need to be. The people that we have met here are incredibly warm and kind and the foundation we are partnering with are very supportive, we just can't wait to get going!
Thank you to all who have donated, it really will make a massive difference and we couldn't do this project without you. If you haven't yet donated and want to, please use the button at the bottom of this email marked 'donate here'. Thank You.
Greenfrost is a chain of frozen yogurt stores, perfectfor cooling you down in humid Santo Domingo
So that's what's been going on since our last email. Little by little things are coming together, from the language to the house, and in it all we are both really happy to be here and finding a lot of joy in what we are doing. We have Susie from Craft Aid International coming out to be with us for 2 weeks which will be a great help and hopefully by the time you hear from us again we will have started the project proper and will be living in our lovely new casa in San Pablo...
Don't forget to check out the Facebook page, Instagram and website.
God Bless
Mark and Lydia
So that's what's been going on since our last email. Little by little things are coming together, from the language to the house, and in it all we are both really happy to be here and finding a lot of joy in what we are doing. We have Susie from Craft Aid International coming out to be with us for 2 weeks which will be a great help and hopefully by the time you hear from us again we will have started the project proper and will be living in our lovely new casa in San Pablo...
Don't forget to check out the Facebook page, Instagram and website.
God Bless
Mark and Lydia
