Welfare Open House in Quito

Last night we participated in an Open House or a Welfare Fair held in the Quito Stake Center. All the leaders and members of the six stakes in Quito were invited and our turnout was quite good. There were more than 200 people present by my estimation. The sign below is a brief explanation of the Welfare program of the church.


I had not even noticed but Sister Yost pointed out to me that if I would but turn around I could see a snow covered volcano from this area right in front of the door. Quito is surrounded by volcanoes and this one is often covered with snow.


Autosuficiencia is self reliance. An important concept that we all need to understand and practice. It can feel so comfortable to have someone else take care of us, but that is not the Lord's way. We are responsible to care for ourselves and our family to the fullest extent that we possibly can. After that, we can call on extended family and then the church to lend a hand to help us improve our own self-reliance.


The first booth (called a stand in Spanish) was about the Bishop's storehouse.

Mercedes below on the left works in the Bishop's Storehouse which is on the first floor of our building. She and her daughters have helped us in the PEF Service Center when they were on vacation from school and work. She is a very sweet lady and last week she gave me three tiny felt ladies with a gold safety pin sewn to the back to wear as a lapel pin. She told me I should wear one to the Feria and I remembered to do so.


This sign is for LDS Social Services. I do not think there is a lot of help available in this area but there is some.

The Trujillos from the Colon ward were helping in this booth.


This announces the Services of Resources of Employment

There was a lady with 72 hour backpacks and they set up a tent (which the children loved) and showed how to make a homemade sleeping bag. (Sew together waterproof material with a blanket and a sheet inside.) That would work just fine where the temperatures are not below freezing. We did have a little earthquake that we felt in our apartment on Saturday morning. I am hoping it was just a little stress reliever and not a precursor of something larger. Emergency preparedness is something we need to do before the emergency. I'm reminding myself, as well as you readers.

The Yosts have been traveling so they had to scramble to get everything ready ahead of time. They had a very interesting display showing all of the projects they have participated in here in Ecuador - quite a variety of type and location.

All of the ladies were fascinated by the fleece blankets that Sister Yost has been making between their projects. The Ecuadorians have never seen the fun edge treatments Sister Yost has been doing on the baby blankets.

Most members were not aware of the scope of the humanitarian projects in Ecuador.


Here is the one we were involved with.

Grandpa is ready.

Elder and Sister Morales came to assist us in answering questions and explaining how the PEF program works here in Ecuador. We met several students and prospective students and lots of interested parents and leaders.

My favorite section was this one:

They demonstrated square foot gardening.

There was lots of interest in how to store grains and other dry food in soda pop bottles.

They taught that eating a variety of colors of fruits and vegetables improves nutrition.

My favorite part was the chicken coop. These chickens came to teach us about lots of possibilities of improving our health by eating nutritious foods and even producing our own food.


It was a productive evening!

The Open House was well organized by Fernando Aguirre, who is in charge of all of the facets of welfare in Ecuador. He even provided sandwiches and juice for all of us that presented material during the evening. I think that everyone who came was glad they attended and left with greater knowledge of how to improve their own welfare and an increased desire to contribute to the welfare of others.