andrea’s story

I was born in Portoviejo… in Ecuador and then at age eight, I went to the foundation “Casa Hogar de Belen”. When I got to the foundation, I remember all the kids were telling me that a group of volunteers from the United States would come to the foundation and that I would love them because they always would do fun things. It was just a few days after I got to the orphanage that Hands for Humanity came. I can’t remember everything exactly from the first time they came but I remember, I guess, everyone was really tall! One of my favorite memories of being at the foundation was when Hands for Humanity came in a big bus and took us to the pool… we had lunch, and played soccer. I didn’t know it at the time, but mom-to-be was one of them that had come.

So first I want to say something that my birth mom was a good mother for us. She always tried to protect us and be the best mother she can be but she really struggled with drugs and alcohol. She really had a hard life so it wasn’t easy for her to leave the things and handle everything. And also, she was in rehab for addiction for a while but it never helped her. She always went back to drugs and alcohol. It was hard for her… to be with us. The foundation always tried to make us to go with my mom but because she can’t really have us and never followed the stuff she has to do so we can go with her. She used to visit us at the foundation but then she lost the… what’s the word… her rights so then she couldn’t visit us. I understood why we can’t go with my mom. But then she passed away in March 2016.

I decided that adoption was a better option for me and my brothers when I was 12 years old. That was really hard because - I had to make a decision if we can go… all four of us as a family or if my twin brothers will go together and me and my youngest brother will go together. My decision was that we would all go together but if we can’t, then two and two.

It was very difficult to find a family that wanted to adopt four children.

Then the earthquake was in April 2016 and Hands for Humanity came right after. That’s when I asked Lena if she knows a family that was interested to adopt me and my brothers and it was months later that we find out that Lena wants to adopt all of us.
It was really hard to wait. We had to wait almost two years for adoption. I really wanted to go and have a family. In November, we left the foundation and we stayed in Portoviejo for six weeks doing paperwork before we finally flew back to the United States.

It was like -10 degrees on New Year’s Eve when we finally came here. I was in my sandals. My new sisters and dad met us at the airport with coats and boots. We walked in the door of my new home right around midnight. To this day, we still celebrate New Year’s Eve Ecuadorian style. We bundle up in our snow clothes and go out and light fireworks and eat Ecuadorian food. And it’s cold. It’s really cold.

We went back a year after the adoption. It was hard. It was hardest on my twin brothers because they thought they were going to stay at the foundation. They were asking, asking, asking if they were going to have to stay. I went back recently for my friend’s graduation and I got to see some of the girls I was at the orphanage with. I miss the ocean… I miss my friends…

When I get my degree, I want to do something that really helps people and I think nursing is a good way. I always heard how there’s a doctor and always a group of nurses from Hands for Humanity coming. I want to go back to Ecuador and be one of the nurses who are coming to help.