Ryan and Cara, volunteers from the United States went to the jungle for a week or 10 days. They will be back in Salasaca at the end of the month.
I received an e-mail from Enda, a volunteer from Ireland who asked about Maria Antonia. Well I am happy to say Enda, that she is back. After a six month sabbatical in the United States, taking care of some pressing personal business she is back for an indefinite period. She is a good friend and a dedicated supporter of the Katitawa School.
Welcome home Antonia. Your garden awaits you.
During a recent conversation, we were discussing money or the lack of it and she said “have you ever had to budget $0.40”. I had to laugh because I knew exactly what she was talking about, for I had been there myself.
Today I met our latest volunteers, Wendy and Adam from England. They plan to stay for a minimum of three weeks but it could be longer. We will stay at the hostel in Ambato tonight and tomorrow I will take them to Salasaca and up to the school at 7:30Monday morning.
The hostel and spa are now open in Ambato. All of the proceeds from this venture will go to the projects in Salasaca. Since we have no crystal ball to look at for the amount of donations we will receive each month we are hoping that we will be able in a few months time to have a steady income from the hostel and Spa of at least $500.00. This will help with our monthly expenses in Salasaca. We only have two paid employees who work in the spa and give massages. The rest of us work for free.
In the meantime we need to spread to word. We have added an Ambato page to this site which you can reach by clicking here.
Ambato is not a tourist town, however there are tourists that visit. The spa is located in the city center which attracts 100% of the tourists. There are many musical concerts and two or three act plays that take place in the city and most are free. It is well worth a night or two to get to know the city. I will be posting on the Ambato page, a calendar of events so that visitors in Baños could possibly come down for a night of culture.
We will also be looking for volunteers who would like to help out for a week or two. If anyone is interested, leave a comment.
I had to cancel my Internet Service because the service was just tooooooo bad. I have really missed being able to write and post whenever I had the urge, not to mention the additional cost of going to the Internet businesses. Part of the problem with the service was, I am sure, the age of my computer. Recently a friend donated an almost new computer so I am contemplating signing up once again for the Internet service. We will see.
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