Christmas has always been one of the best holidays for me. As a child it was because I got toys, but as I got older it became an excuse to splurge on other people. I think this has developed even more because of my travels. I hardly ever buy anything souvenir wise for myself because we all know it’s not worth it to pack it around. Instead, I always try and pick up some small things for family and friends back home, who always take care of issues for me that I can’t while on the road.
Since I wasn’t going to be home for Christmas this year I decided I would do something for someone else. My girlfriend had told me about a daycare for little kids here in Quito, Ecuador run by a family who operates it out of their home. Most of these kids are indigenous and come from very poor families. The mothers have to work all day to help maintain the family income, so the kids get dropped off at this daycare. The lady running it gets next to nothing for each child, but it works, as she gets to stay at home with her kids and provides a service to other mothers in the neighborhood.
When I heard about it I knew what I wanted to do for Christmas this year… I wanted to throw these kids a kick-ass Christmas fiesta that they wouldn’t forget. I remember being a kid, and these little holiday parties meant the world to me at school. So I went to the local market and bought $150 worth of candy, rented a cotton candy machine for an afternoon, bought soda and popcorn, got enough Santa hats for everyone and picked up some balloons. We spent the night packing all the candy into little bags, and stuffed them as full as we could. We did the same for the popcorn.
We called the daycare and spoke with the lady running the place. She was shocked and excited that we wanted to come by and spend the day with the kids.
As a backpacker, it’s great to stop every once in a while and give back when you can. It can be something as simple as buying a meal for someone, to just having a real conversation with a local over a drink. I’m a sucker for helping kids, and below are the photos from the day. It was one of the best things I have ever done, and it made my year complete.

... but after a few minutes they were walking up and staring right into it. Didn't take long for them to figure out when it snapped that they could see the LCD screen afterwards.

She didn't want me to take her picture at the start of the party but by then end she was asking me to. Such a sweet cute smile she had.

...and eating! She never left that chair for 3 hours and was determined to eat all that cotton candy and popcorn.

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