Host Family

Friends: During the first two weeks of February, the temple was closed for maintenance. This was the third closing that we have been able to travel and see Ecuador. During this time Debbie and I decided that we would like to live with a family and help with construction or repairs or work in gardens. We were invited to come and stay with the Tituana family in Cotacachi, 5 mile from Otavalo. Luis is the bishop of the indigenous ward from Cotacachi. He is also a very industrious person. He has an export business, and exports hand knit sweaters. He has people all over Cotacachi knitting for him. He also has 4 employees that come to his house/factory every day that work for ten hours running knitting machines, and sewing liners in knit hats and gloves. Several downstairs rooms in back are dedicated to "the factory" with bales of wool skeins, sewing machines, cutting tables, knitting machines and finished product ready for export. All indications are that they are doing very well. All 4 kids attend private school. He drives the 2 youngest to Otavalo every morning early and picks them up later. We had an upstairs room right above the chicken yard. The rooster saw to it that we were up early.

The first picture is of the family with Debbie.

The second picture is of their house. Note what looks like a spinning wheel below the large window. It is one of three. Wool is purchased in large skeins that come in huge bales. The skeins are draped over the wooden frames, and the wheel turned by hand to wind the yarn onto spools that are used on the knitting machines.

Picture three shows one of the employees getting ready to start winding. The spinning wheel is actually a bicycle rim with wooden spokes attached. Very simple, but effective. In Otavalo, the men braid their long hair but the women do not. The women use a long colorful ribbon to wind around the pony tail. To the left of the worker is a wall blackened by wood smoke. A couple of cauldons ( oil drums cut in half) are there over fire places where the wool is dyed. Some they dye themselves and some comes already colored.

The deal was that Luis was going to find some people in his ward that we would work for while there, so we could learn how they live by working with them. As you will see in subsequent emails, it did work out that way, but not as much work as we had hoped for.