OA's Project Ecuador

Opportunitas Aequa's first project is the collection of new and used soccer equipment to be transported and distributed to the rural province of Chimborazo in Ecuador. The goal of Project Ecuador is to deliver 1000 soccer balls, and 1000 pairs of soccer cleats to some of the most impoverished children in Ecuador.

Name:
Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

3.19.2007

Celebrating Santa Isabel

With only the finishing touches to be put on our first field at Santa Isabel, we celebrated Sunday by playing a game against the community. It was a good game of soccer, only one card (Brownlee), and plenty of goals.

It was such an incredible experience for all of us - to actually play on a field, which we had helped build, in Ecuador, against a rural community team. Never would I have ever imagined that everything could come together this well. The game, the field, the community, everyone in OA, and most importantly everyone supporting us back home - everything has been amazing.

While talking with Andrew on the bus into Riobamba he was talking about an good metaphor for how everything has gone so far. The metaphor he used was Brenden's performance in the soccer game. With easily the least amount of soccer experience but the most heart on the field, Brenden was the player of the game - as voted by both teams. Just goes to show what a little hard work can do. It is amazing what you can accomplish with not much experience but a whole lot of passion.

After the game the community prepared a special ceremony to thank us. It was very thoughtful and more than we could have asked. We received medals and a little momento to remember the community by - it was a nice thought but we won't need it, we have enough fond memories to last a life time.

After the ceremony the community had a small party and a feast. We were repeatedly offered shots of what Breden has lovingly nicknamed "firewater." As you can see from the picture, we were all a little hesitant to accept. The food was excellent though, and the company even better.

One field completed, one more to go. Our distribution begins tomorrow - the soul of Project Ecuador. The fields have been amazing, but the equipment was the original mission. We can not wait.

* I had a disagreement with YouTube, the video will be up today, but if I have to restart the upload one more time I may go crazy.

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