Study Abroad in Ecuador: Earth Quake

As I am sure you already know, Ecuador suffered from a 7.8 magnitude earthquake two weeks ago. Although the epicenter was approximately 300 miles from my house, it did damage here in Guayaquil, revealing how strong it really was. It was a Saturday evening and my host parents were out helping my host grandparents because they were in the process of moving houses. Fortunately, they took my 6 year old brother with them. I was at the house with my 8 year old and 13 year old brother. All of a sudden, the house began to shake intensely. I ran into the other room to find my little brothers. I held the youngest brother in my arms and the three of us just waited together for it to be over. The power went out immediately. I never have experienced anything like it! While it was scary, we were so fortunate to be where we were. No significant damage was done to the house and my host-family and all of their extended family were safe. However, this wasn't the case for other parts of Ecuador. Hundreds have been found dead and more and more are found under the destruction each day. Poor beach towns were affected the most, leaving some of Ecuador's most vulnerable citizens homeless. While major cities have seen major improvement, some of these small towns have still received no help even after two weeks.

As part of my program, I was supposed to spend my last week in Ecuador doing community service in a national park in Manabí (the region that was most affected by the earthquake). Obviously, after the earthquake, plans changed. My university here did not give me permission to still go to Manabí, so instead I volunteered with an organization in Guayaquil, Mansión Mascota. There focus was helping animals in the earthquake zone. They were collecting dog food and cat food and bringing animals from Manabí to safety in Guayaquil. I spent the first part of my week organizing the donations and the second part of my week helping at an animal shelter receiving the animals. This was a good experience because I really have never done service with animals. I usually always choose working with kids or adolescents, so working with animals was something different. It is upsetting to have to leave Ecuador on such a sad note. It is such a beautiful country and it became my home for the past four months, so it is sad to see so many people suffering and see Ecuador's economy collapse. Although I have to leave on a sad note, I am glad I got to spend my last week helping in a small way.