For His Children’s Guide to Short-Term Missions
In Quito and Latacunga, Ecuador
Mission Teams

Click on the highlighted links for more information on individual or church mission groups.

Mission teams have been an important part of FHC’s ministry since the first team visited us in 1994. Mission team visits are important for several reasons:

1. The visits offer teams the experience of sharing FHC’s mission and vision;
2. The visits build lasting prayer and financial partnerships between team members and FHC;
3. The time and energy so generously spent by the teams glorify God as teams help care for the children at FHC and work on maintenance and construction projects at FHC’s facilities; and
4. The visits provide the opportunity for teams and FHC to connect with each other and pray for each other.

Ecuador

Ecuador has a population of approximately 14 million people, located just south and west of Columbia and north of Peru. It is about the size of the State of Nevada and is the most densely populated country in South America. Almost half of its inhabitants are indigenous to the country and many still speak Quichua and maintain traditions from Inca times and before. The people are generally very friendly, approachable and easygoing. The scenery is spectacular and diverse, with the snow-capped Andes, the Pacific coast and the expanses of the Amazon jungle. If you have never been to Ecuador before, it is recommended that you buy or borrow one of the many guidebooks that are available at your local bookstore or on the internet.

Quito
Quito is the capital of Ecuador and is home to about 2 million people. The average family income is approximately $600 per month. The minimum wage for a domestic worker is $1.50 per hour and the average wage for a skilled worker is about $2.50 per hour. A visitor to some sectors of the city will see a great deal of wealth and apparent prosperity. However, this is not representative of the average Ecuadorian, who doesn’t own a car. Quito is a city of contrasts and nowhere in Ecuador is the contrast as vivid as in Quito. You will see children begging in the street at stoplights where drivers wait in their Mercedes and BMW’s. Expect to be impacted and expect to be changed by your visit to Ecuador.

Weather
The climate in Quito (located at 9,300 ft.) is ideal. Average temperatures during the day throughout the year are 50-75 degrees Fahrenheit. Afternoon thunder showers may occur during the rainy season (November through April), so be prepared and carry a light jacket or sweater with you.

Safety
If you read the US State Department’s warnings on travel to Ecuador, you very likely would not leave home! (The US Embassy here raised the risk level from high to critical for crime in Ecuador back in 2004.) However, Ecuador is a very safe country to travel in, provided that you are prepared and informed as to where to go, and where not to go, how to dress, and how to act with Ecuadorians. We have seen an increase in local crime in our area which means you will have to follow our rules regarding where you can go and how you get there. For instance, our teams used to be able to walk to the local market, Supermaxi, just a few years ago (located about ¾ mile from our home) and now we recommend taking a taxi. If you are aware of your surroundings and use common sense during your visit, you shouldn’t encounter many problems.

Water, Food, Medications and Altitude Sickness

Drink only bottled water, or water that comes from a water filter that is capable of filtering out impurities down to .5 microns. Our group home in Quito has such a filter (reverse osmosis with UV light). Coffee and tea are safe to drink because they have been heated to boiling or close thereto. Salads and fresh vegetables should not be eaten unless you know that they have been disinfected properly. If you are taking medications, be sure to bring enough for the duration of your trip. While Quito has many of the same medications that are available in the States, there is no guarantee that you will find what you want in the local pharmacies. If you have any medical condition that may be affected by Quito’s altitude (9,300 ft.), you should talk to your doctor. We find that if you take it easy the first few days and drink plenty of water, you shouldn’t have any problems with the altitude. One of the first symptoms of altitude sickness is a loss of appetite, headache and feeling tired.

Money, Traveler’s Checks and ATM’s

Ecuador adopted the U.S. Dollar as its official currency, so you won’t need to exchange your dollars and coins into another currency as in almost all other foreign countries. Do bring most of your personal spending money in small denominations (no larger than $20 bills!) as change is often hard to come by from many vendors and merchants. Do remember to spend all of your Ecuadorian minted coins prior to your departure as they can’t be spent in the U.S. upon your return. Traveler’s checks can be difficult to cash and will cost you a 1-2% commission and are not recommended. ATM’s are available with a $300 per day limit and a transaction charge of $2.50-3.00. The group leader may want to wire transfer funds to FHC’s checking account in Quito a week or so prior to arrival so as to avoid traveling with large sums of cash.

Dress and Clothing

Ecuadorians dress more formally than North Americans and almost never wear shorts in public unless they are engaged in sports activities. We recommend that shorts be worn only at FHC or other non-public areas. Other than this one restriction, casual wear such as blue jeans, T-shirts and sweatshirts are acceptable street wear, but avoid torn or stained clothing or clothing with holes. You will feel most comfortable if you dress up a bit more than you would in the U.S.

Shots, Visas and Passports
No shots are required to enter Ecuador, nor do local medical authorities recommend them, unless you are traveling to the Amazon basin or the coast. Your local doctor or county health officer may disagree, but I can assure you that there is no need for yellow fever, malaria medicine or other shots in order to travel safely in the highlands of Ecuador. No paperwork is required prior to departure from the U.S to enter Ecuador. A visa is issued free of charge at the time of entry into the country. You will need a valid US passport to enter the country, so plan ahead if you don’t have one, or if your current passport is about to expire (Most airlines will not allow anyone to travel if their passport is within 6 months of expiration!). Do make a photocopy of your passport to bring with you so that you can leave your original passport safely in your room or with us at FHC.

Airline Tickets and Baggage

If your group has 10 or more people, you should be able to obtain a substantial discount on ticket prices by contacting the group sales department at any of the airlines. Most groups have opted to travel on either Continental, American Airlines or Delta, the only three US airlines flying into Ecuador. (By the way, other non-US operated airlines are perfectly safe and many of our teams use them!) Prices range from a high of $1,000 to $1,200 for a round trip flight from almost any major city in the States to a low of $800-900, depending on the size of the group and the time of the year. Please note that if you want to travel over the Christmas holidays, prices are at their highest levels and seats are sold out for months in advance. You are allowed 2 checked bags and one carry-on bag, plus a purse or laptop case or camera case. New rules adopted in 2005 now limit each traveler’s checked bag to a 50 lb. limit per bag. Most airlines are allowing one “free” checked piece of luggage, and charge $25 to $50 for a second checked bag. (Do check on your airline’s baggage policy early in your planning). Please put all valuable documents, cameras, medications, your toiletry case and a change of clothing in your carry-on bag. It is not uncommon (5%-10% of the time) for a flight to be diverted to Guayaquil due to poor visibility or bad weather conditions in Quito. If this happens the airline will put you in a hotel in Guayaquil at their expense, but you will not have access to your checked bags. Check the latest rules on liquids that are allowed in carry-on baggage.

Arrival at Quito’s Airport

Upon your arrival at Quito’s airport, you will wait 10 minutes or so at immigration. Then you will need to rent a baggage cart for $2 cash to carry your bags through customs. If you are in a group, please wait until everyone in your group has all of their luggage before leaving the baggage claim area for customs. It sometimes helps for your group leader to mention to the customs inspector that you are traveling in a group and you may be waived through without having to have your luggage x-rayed. If a customs official does question you regarding something you have in your luggage (most likely something we have requested you bring with you!), try to explain that it is for an orphanage. This usually works, but if it doesn’t the item or items may be taken and will be held until someone from FHC goes to the airport with the proper paperwork and retrieves it. Before you can exit the customs area you will be required to produce all the luggage claim tickets that are stapled to your ticket folder. Then an airport employee will push your cart out through the arrival area where someone will meet you from FHC. Please try to exit the departure area in a group so that everyone will arrive at the FHC vehicles together. (Re: tipping of the guys helping with the carts, please see the section below on tipping practices.)

Lodging

We have a large comfortable 4-bedroom with loft, 3 bathroom home available on site at FHC which can comfortably accommodate up to 16-18 persons. There are 6 sets of bunk beds and 3 double or queen sized beds available throughout the home. The cost is $12 per person, per night, which includes the use of the kitchen. Groups should plan on buying food and preparing their own meals while staying in the FHC work group home. We will buy the food for the team to prepare their first meal (usually breakfast) after arrival in Quito, and then the group will have an opportunity to go shopping for food at a local supermarket. During the summer of 2010 most groups estimated their cost for food to be approximately $7 per day, per person.

Recommended Items to Bring

1. A 1 liter or 1 quart water bottle;
2. A supply of waterless soap or disinfectant to clean your hands when away from soap and water;
3. Sun block and a good pair of sunglasses;
4. A photocopy of your passport to carry with you at all times throughout your trip;
5. A light-weight water resistant jacket;
6. Hat and work gloves if you will be doing physical work;
7. A money belt or waist belt for carrying your valuables when away from your room;
8. A swimsuit for use in our therapy pool;
9. Snack food that “you can’t do without;”
10. Earplugs if you are a light sleeper; and
11. Plenty of warm clothes since it can get cold any month of the year!

Email and Telephone Calls to the States
Ecuador remains one of the most expensive countries in the world to call to or from the US. The cost is approximately $0.40 per minute and most phone cards don’t work here, or they may charge a $2-3 connection charge per call! So, don’t bring phone cards and expect them to save you money! We have ADSL broad band internet service available 24 hours a day in the group home using a wireless router. Bring down your own computer/smart phone if you want to use it while you are here and access the internet to use Skype if you have your own account . Please don’t plan on using the Vonage phone in our offices except for emergencies.

Service Opportunities at For His Children
If you are coming to help at FHC you can expect to work side-by-side with our staff that cares for our children. We have three homes in Quito (infant, toddler and our older girl’s home) and another home in Latacunga (mostly children from 6 months to 4 years of age) where you can play, love, hug, pray for and connect with our children, age’s newborn to 15 years. In addition, we can always use help in organizing, planning and supervising day-to-day operations. Finally, we always seem to have an abundance of maintenance, repair and construction projects for those that want to do physical work. Painting, sanding, staining, plumbing and electrical repair, landscaping, and building sidewalks and other structures are just some of the projects work groups have worked on in the past. During 2010-2011, we will be finishing the second floor of our new home in Latacunga and improving the exterior grounds around the home. This will present opportunities for those folks that want to be involved “hands on” in doing construction work or helping to complete the home.

Other Outreach Service Opportunities
Visits to the local maternity and children’s hospitals can be arranged, as well as visits to Pan de Vita and Spotlight (held at English Fellowship Church). In addition, small work projects such as clean-up, painting and general maintenance can be arranged.

Transportation
FHC no longer has any vehicles available for use by teams during the day on weekdays in Quito. Our newer Nissan van is used from Monday through Friday during the day by our driver to take our children in Quito to school (three in all), but may be available in the evening and on weekends. If our vehicles are used by your team in the evenings or the weekend, the cost of their rental is $0.35 cents per kilometer to cover our cost of maintenance and operation of the vehicle, plus $2.50 per hour for our driver’s time.

If your team wants to travel on a weekday you will have to use public transportation or rent a van ($125 per day). If your group is larger than 12 persons, buses with a driver may be rented from a safe and reliable bus company for approximately $130 to $150 per day depending upon the size of the bus and where you are traveling. Please budget accordingly to cover the rental of a van or bus for weekday travel since this is a change from past practices at FHC!

Group Size
If you are staying in the group home, the comfortable capacity for the home is 14-16 persons, with a maximum of 18 persons.

Itinerary and Trip Length

We would like to have received or agree upon an itinerary of the group’s activities no less than 2 weeks before your arrival. This will enable us to better serve you and to arrange our activities at FHC accordingly. We recommend the group spend at least 7 full days in country. Allowing for two days of travel time this means that the trip length will be at least 9 days. If the group arrives on a Saturday night and leaves on the following Sunday this will give the group 7 full days to sight see, spend sufficient time at FHC to get to know the kids and experience other ministry opportunities without feeling pressed for time. If the group wants to travel outside of Quito to areas such as Riobamba or Shell, then an additional 3-4 days should be added to their itinerary to allow for travel time. While a trip to our home in Latacunga can be done in one-day (round trip by car takes approximately 4 hours from Quito), it is better to plan on spending at least one night in a local hotel to allow sufficient time with the children.

Cost
Lodging at FHC is $12 per night, with food costs running no more than $7 per person per day for groups that prepare their own meals. Airfare can run anywhere from $800 to $1,200. We have had groups stay for 7 days in country and the total cost per person of their trip has cost from as little as $1,200 to a high of $1,600 depending upon where they stayed and what they did while they were here. Plan to bring additional personal spending money.

Project Funds
Please budget $200 for each person on your team to cover the cost of construction and maintenance projects during your stay. Any funds not expended towards your group’s expenses in this area will go towards the completion of other projects such as the second floor of the Latacunga home and the activity room adjacent to the infant home.

Local Customs, Tipping and Beggars
It is customary for Ecuadorians to greet each other with a good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, depending upon the time of day, as well as shaking each other’s hand upon being introduced to someone for the first time. So, when you walk through FHC’s homes, expect to hear every employee greet you and it is recommended that you respond with a similar greeting in Spanish. Almost all restaurants add a 10% service charge to the bill as well as the 12% IVA charge (sales tax). Most people add an additional 5-10% as a cash tip that will go directly to the waitress or waiter. No one visits Ecuador without being impacted by the number of beggars on the street. They are everywhere and sometimes can be more assertive and more visible than we would like. Most people simply ignore the beggars while others always give them something even if it is only a few cents! We recommend that you decide before your arrival to Ecuador on how you will respond to this situation. It really is between you and God as to how you respond. If you do decide to give someone money remember that the minimum wage for a worker is $1.50 per hour and give accordingly. At the airport, a $1 tip is sufficient for each cart helper.

Important addresses

FHC’s address in Quito for immigration form required prior to landing at airport: Eloy Alfaro Norte, km 8, Quito (phone number is: 2-470-832)
FHC physical address in Quito: Calle E-6, N75-110, Sector Carretas (near the bus station in Carcelen), Quito

Important phone numbers (as dialed from the United States)

FHC office phone in Quito: 011-593-2-247-0832 (M-F, during normal workhours)
Vonage phone in our administrator Veronica’s office: 850-677-3040 (M-F, during normal work hours)
FHC group home where our teams stay while in Quito: 011-593-2-280-8426
Clark’s cell phone: 011-9-140-2101
Jen Schneider’s (our volunteer host/guide) cell phone: 011-8-184-6843

Clark Vaughn
For His Children
Mission Team Coordinator
Revised 03/2011