Help my friend Manuel's family to keep their home
Donation protected
Hi all, I'd like to introduce you to my good friend Manuel, who is in Quito, Ecuador. I had the pleasure of meeting Manuel back in July of 2017 when I was in Ecuador for work. He was the bus driver on our tour for over a week so I got to know him quite well. Manuel has been a good friend ever since.
(Manuel is on the left, to my right.)
When the pandemic hit last year, Ecuador was extremely hard hit. I'm sure some of you saw the horribly tragic news stories out of their port city of Guayaquil. Right now, Quito, the Capital, is in pretty rough shape. As Ecuador is a relatively poor country, sadly their nation simply doesn't have the resources to address a crisis of this nature. They have also had a good amount of political instability leading up to this pandemic, so it's a bad situation all around.
As tourism is one of their major industries, their economy was hit hard. Manuel's work as a touristic bus driver all but dried up and he has had virtually no work for the past year. Unfortunately their government does not provide any kind of unemployment assistance or other type of social safety net, so average Ecuadorians, including Manuel, were on their own to fend for themselves.
A few weeks ago I learned that he, his wife and their 11-year-old son were about to be evicted on March 10th because he owed 6 months of unpaid rent. His son was regularly in tears and Manuel was worried they were going to end up on the street. He is one of 8 children and his family all work in agriculture, which is sadly a lower-paying occupation than his own. They all have their own debts to pay so unfortunately none of his family members were able to help. There was no way I could let his small family become homeless, so I had to step in.
Manuel and his 11-year-old son, Camilo.
With the generous help of my dear friend Eric and my brother Dave, we were able to send him the money to pay his 6 months of back-rent. He sent us the receipt from his landlord and his family is now safe and with a roof over their heads, but only thru the end of March.
(Manuel is on the left, to my right.)When the pandemic hit last year, Ecuador was extremely hard hit. I'm sure some of you saw the horribly tragic news stories out of their port city of Guayaquil. Right now, Quito, the Capital, is in pretty rough shape. As Ecuador is a relatively poor country, sadly their nation simply doesn't have the resources to address a crisis of this nature. They have also had a good amount of political instability leading up to this pandemic, so it's a bad situation all around.
As tourism is one of their major industries, their economy was hit hard. Manuel's work as a touristic bus driver all but dried up and he has had virtually no work for the past year. Unfortunately their government does not provide any kind of unemployment assistance or other type of social safety net, so average Ecuadorians, including Manuel, were on their own to fend for themselves.
A few weeks ago I learned that he, his wife and their 11-year-old son were about to be evicted on March 10th because he owed 6 months of unpaid rent. His son was regularly in tears and Manuel was worried they were going to end up on the street. He is one of 8 children and his family all work in agriculture, which is sadly a lower-paying occupation than his own. They all have their own debts to pay so unfortunately none of his family members were able to help. There was no way I could let his small family become homeless, so I had to step in.
Manuel and his 11-year-old son, Camilo.With the generous help of my dear friend Eric and my brother Dave, we were able to send him the money to pay his 6 months of back-rent. He sent us the receipt from his landlord and his family is now safe and with a roof over their heads, but only thru the end of March.
Covid-19 is quite bad there at the moment, their nation has very little access to medications and they certainly are not yet seeing vaccines. Manuel has lost 3 cousins and several friends already to Covid-19. They are largely trying to stay indoors as many people in the streets are not wearing masks. As Quito is extremely densely populated, the virus is spreading rapidly. Manuel has been trying to find work, but there is no work to be had. He is largely out of options.
His son Camilo turned 11 recently and Manuel was very upset that they could not afford to buy him a cake. Thankfully, we were able to help him buy a cake and put a smile on Camilo's face. It is tragic that any child should have to carry the sadness and emotional burden of such economic hardship so it warmed my heart that we were able to do this for Camilo. He is a sweet, sweet kid that is pure heart.
I am doing this fundraiser because Manuel is a good, kind, soulful man who has been a wonderful, supportive friend to me. He and his family are very hard-working and humble and they need help. This entire pandemic has shone an even brighter light on the privilege that we have here in the United States, even for those of us who do not consider ourselves "rich." And while it breaks my heart that there are people suffering all over the world and it makes me sad that I am unable to help them all, I hope that we can at least help this one kind family. And I can promise you that they will pay it forward.
Here is some perspective. Many of us enjoy our regular Starbucks, and we often don't even think about how much we spend on it. The cost of 2 Starbucks Venti lattes is basically the equivalent of a full day's wages for Manuel as a bus driver.
My brother and I would like to help Manuel and his family to survive this pandemic until tourism comes back. I am confident that it will eventually come back (my work and job depends on that too!), and he will have regular work again as a bus driver, but given how things are in Ecuador at the moment, I think realistically he will have to weather another year without work. They use our USD in Ecuador and as the cost of a Starbucks latte for us goes so much farther for him, I would like to humbly ask if any of you can donate even a small amount to help my friend and his family.
His son Camilo turned 11 recently and Manuel was very upset that they could not afford to buy him a cake. Thankfully, we were able to help him buy a cake and put a smile on Camilo's face. It is tragic that any child should have to carry the sadness and emotional burden of such economic hardship so it warmed my heart that we were able to do this for Camilo. He is a sweet, sweet kid that is pure heart.
I am doing this fundraiser because Manuel is a good, kind, soulful man who has been a wonderful, supportive friend to me. He and his family are very hard-working and humble and they need help. This entire pandemic has shone an even brighter light on the privilege that we have here in the United States, even for those of us who do not consider ourselves "rich." And while it breaks my heart that there are people suffering all over the world and it makes me sad that I am unable to help them all, I hope that we can at least help this one kind family. And I can promise you that they will pay it forward.
Here is some perspective. Many of us enjoy our regular Starbucks, and we often don't even think about how much we spend on it. The cost of 2 Starbucks Venti lattes is basically the equivalent of a full day's wages for Manuel as a bus driver.
My brother and I would like to help Manuel and his family to survive this pandemic until tourism comes back. I am confident that it will eventually come back (my work and job depends on that too!), and he will have regular work again as a bus driver, but given how things are in Ecuador at the moment, I think realistically he will have to weather another year without work. They use our USD in Ecuador and as the cost of a Starbucks latte for us goes so much farther for him, I would like to humbly ask if any of you can donate even a small amount to help my friend and his family.
Thank you, humbly, for any generosity that you are able to show. Manuel and his family are eternally grateful.
Organizer
Jeannie Page
Organizer
Seattle, WA