As my colleagues and I embark on a trip to Ecuador to interview sponsored children and their families, we’ll be sharing stories about the amazing people we meet along the way. In the meantime, here’s a two-part look at my first trip on behalf of Children International. It was an experience that left me with a fresh outlook on life and, in a manner of speaking, a whole new identity...
It was December 2003, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and I was sitting in the hotel lounge after a long day’s work.
As I skimmed over my interview notes and tried to make sense of the staggering poverty I’d just seen, a familiar song by Frank Sinatra echoed through the lounge...“Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew/ When I bit off more than I could chew./ But through it all, when there was doubt,/ I ate it up and spit it out./ I faced it all and I stood tall;/ And did it my way.” The jazz duo in the corner was staring directly at me, grinning.
I couldn’t help but smirk and give a nod of recognition to the musicians. I decided to take it as a sort of universal anthem. How else to explain the strength and resilience I’d witnessed in the people who had little more than pride to get them through poverty’s relentless hardships?
Besides, I’d drawn a lot of attention already. Earlier in the trip, I’d stepped out of the van and into the wide-eyed stares of several children playing soccer along the dusty streets of a community called Lucha de Los Pobres, or “Struggle of the Poor.” Bumping my head on the way out, two young boys pointed and whispered to one another, “Supergringo, Supergringo.”
My goal had been to hang back and observe, like a fly on the wall, but at 6’4” I looked more like a fish out of water – a very long, pasty-white fish. Then, just when I was starting to feel completely out of place and wet behind the ears, I met Walter Mendoza...
Damon Guinn is a senior staff writer with Children International. Check back tomorrow to learn more about the inspiration Damon gained from Walter's story.
It was December 2003, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and I was sitting in the hotel lounge after a long day’s work.
As I skimmed over my interview notes and tried to make sense of the staggering poverty I’d just seen, a familiar song by Frank Sinatra echoed through the lounge...“Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew/ When I bit off more than I could chew./ But through it all, when there was doubt,/ I ate it up and spit it out./ I faced it all and I stood tall;/ And did it my way.” The jazz duo in the corner was staring directly at me, grinning.
I couldn’t help but smirk and give a nod of recognition to the musicians. I decided to take it as a sort of universal anthem. How else to explain the strength and resilience I’d witnessed in the people who had little more than pride to get them through poverty’s relentless hardships?
Two children in Guayaquil enjoy listening to themselves after an interview with Damon in 2003.
Besides, I’d drawn a lot of attention already. Earlier in the trip, I’d stepped out of the van and into the wide-eyed stares of several children playing soccer along the dusty streets of a community called Lucha de Los Pobres, or “Struggle of the Poor.” Bumping my head on the way out, two young boys pointed and whispered to one another, “Supergringo, Supergringo.”
My goal had been to hang back and observe, like a fly on the wall, but at 6’4” I looked more like a fish out of water – a very long, pasty-white fish. Then, just when I was starting to feel completely out of place and wet behind the ears, I met Walter Mendoza...
Damon Guinn is a senior staff writer with Children International. Check back tomorrow to learn more about the inspiration Damon gained from Walter's story.
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