Salinas - A Look Behind the Faces

I've often wondered about what goes on in the lives of the women who work at the factory of whom we know so little but see at service time. This trip enabled me ask more questions and get some answers. According to Milton and Paulus, traveling after dark is fearful for the women. In Salinas, an individual can spend from one half to one hour getting home. Travel can be either by foot or include riding in the back of someone's pickup. There are no street lights in Salinas and none in the countryside. Robbery is a real possibility. Once the woman gets home, she may then need to care for livestock, children, or fix a meal for her husband.

These realities and others we don't know about most likely factor into the scheduling of services in Salinas and may explain why there is always a level of uncertainty as to dates and times of the day when services can be arranged. That and also the Ecuadorian way of thinking about the future which is more like only a day or two ahead of time. A month or two can seem like eternity to them.

The factory or textile workshop for women.
A familiar worker looks on.

 

The 'givens' we have such as owning a car, secure neighborhoods and stores, street lights, and so forth are not part of their lives. In Ecuador, witnesses to a crime are likely to do nothing according to one believer. They don't feel it is their concern.

In Ecuador, as in Africa, many homes or business buildings are mini-forts complete with high walls and broken glass, wire, or spikes at the top. At the apartment we live in, the property entrance door has a spring loaded dead bolt and a second dead bolt activated by key. The door to the apartment complex has another dead bolt with a place to add a keyed hasp type lock, plus the keyed lock integral to the door. Finally we have our apartment door locked. So that totals six locks or dead bolts that one would need to get by if all were enlisted. The fear of violence and robbery is manifested by the way the houses and store fronts are built.

When planning for our trip, safety was on the top of the list followed closely by health concerns. I often found myself considering some sort of deterrent to bring with and carry to provide a counter to violence or robbery attempts. But I also had to return to the Christian point of view and trust that God will protect us while here and decided against bringing some device along. So far we have been escorted by believers to and from stores and bus stations. This has been a blessing.

Yet, amazingly, so way up in the mountain setting of Salinas people cannot escape the fear of robbery or other crimes. You wouldn't think so based on the natural beauty of the area or rural setting. Some big city streets are dangerous even in the day time. We feel safe in the day light hours.

In the United States to be able to walk to our car and drive to the services without concern for our safety is a great gift of God that we take for granted. We also take for granted being able to have regular services as though it will always be that way. Witnessing the situation in Ecuador and Africa causes us to cherish our opportunity to be in the hearing of the Word and in the fellowship of the children of God as often as possible.

Walt and Avis