26 Days Till Lift Off!

Our trip is approaching quickly and we wanted to send out some of our thoughts.

REMINDER: If you haven’t done your vaccinations, read Moffitt’s "IMMUNIZATIONS" post below and make your appointment today! If you still have immunization questions, email Mitch Moffitt.

QUESTIONS:

If you have any questions please make sure to refer to the blog posts below or contact the director of that group (AKA Team Leaders).

Dental –Ammon Jones or Brian Zwahlen

Construction-Deven Smith

Education/Fundraising-Brian Ellsworth

Logistics-Abe Cubano or Troy Blanchard

FUNDRAISING:

We welcome any help that you can give with fundraising. This fundraising will go to subsidize in-country transportation and hotel costs, and incidental expenses that correlate with the humanitarian project. Some examples of these expenses are ethanol for sterilization of dental instruments, antibiotics and other meds we’ll need to purchase in the country, and other needs that will aid us in carrying out a successful trip. In the email we just sent is attached a pdf that Brian Ellsworth created for us to explain to others the purpose of our trip. This would be useful if you want to send it out to neighbors, friends, family and your local Rotary Club. If you have any specific questions about how the money will be used, contact me. If you have any questions about the fund raising process, please contact Ellsworth. Also, Brian will send out a step-by-step approach on how to approach your Rotary Club. Any amount will help. Any funds that you raise please report to Brian Ellsworth so he can track it and send to Abe Cubano to deposit.

We need someone to head up the acquisition of cell phones to be used to coordinate the 3 service projects going on simultaneously. This project should take less than 10 hours. Please contact Troy if you can help.

We understand that you may be doing individual fund raising for educational or medical supplies and we appreciate all your efforts.

PACKING SUPPLIES:

Many have asked how we are going to get the supplies down to Ecuador. They need to be transported down with us by suitcase. The dentists are required to carry the dental units so they will need our help packing their supplies. We also have some educational supplies that we need to distribute among us. There is NO WAY we will get it all down there without your help. So… We need each person traveling to bring at least 1 (2 if possible) empty suitcases to our home to fill with these supplies. You will then leave with your filled suitcases and use your carry ons for your personal belongings.

For all of you who live in Utah, we are going to have a Pot Luck Packing Dinner at Troy's Friday, May 27^th at 6pm. Kids are welcome. Please RSVP Daphne for a food assignment and to let us know how many suitcases you are bringing to fill.

Please bring to the Pot Luck:

All supplies you have gathered

1-2 empty suitcases per person traveling. (Depending on how many your airline will allow you to bring.)

Your potluck food item

What is the UTAH group packing down to Ecuador?

Dental Supplies/School Supplies (Tutoring Center’s wish list) (Ammon)

Fluoride (Abrams)

Medical Books (Moffitt)

School Kits from Humanitarian Center (Blanchard/Bingham)

5 Dental Units (which need to be kept with the dentists)

HOTEL:

(June 3^rd) Friday night we will be staying at the Guayaquil Temple which is very close to the airport. You will need a temple recommend to stay there. Children do not need one to stay, but will if they want to eat in the cafeteria or perform baptisms for the dead. The cost will be minimal. We don’t know how much it will be. In the Dominican Republic it was $3 a night, I can’t imagine it being much different in Ecuador. We will meet you there at the temple. If you’re not staying at the temple or attending the session at the temple, you can meet up with the group afterwards.

(June 4^th-10^th) We are working with a church representative that is helping us book our reservations at a discounted price, we will have confirmation in the next couple of days. At this point it looks like we will need to put a group deposit down on the hotel and then you will pay for your rooms individually once down there. We will give you details on who you need to repay for that deposit when it is set in stone. Hotel rooms will be around $75 a night and will be booked Sat-Thursday night (Saturday check in and Friday morning check out).

CASH:

I would suggest that whatever your budget is for the trip, I would bring at least half of that in cash. As you may remember, the ability to use credit/debit isn’t available in many locations. So we all have the same expectations, everyone is responsible to pay for all your transportation, lodging, food and other expenses of the trip. We have secured funding for the cost of the construction project (Thank you, Aaron Baker! Opps- sorry- he did not want any credit) When you’re exiting Ecuador don’t forget to set aside $25 CASH PER PERSON for the Airport Departure Tax. You will need to pay it to leave the airport and can’t use a credit card.

This website has some good info about traveling in Ecuador; but please feel free to email or call team leaders with any questions you may have.

http://www.goecuador.com/traveler-guide/ecuador-customs-taxes.html

Just in the last 4 days we’ve had 6 people join our group. We are now at a headcount of 40 traveling down to Ecuador. Get excited—it’s coming quick!

Thanks,

Troy Z Blanchard