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.

The little smiles made it all worth it!

I kind of scared them at first with my big camera

... 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.

Loved the different looks I got that day!

So much cotton candy... so little time!

I asked her to smile for me and this is what I got. Man my Spanish is getting bad!

"Por favor, mas cola senor"

"What ya looking at Willis?"

He looks calm in this picture but after 3 cotton candy sticks he turned into a wild man!

He got a kick out of trying to hit my camera with his balloon

We even got a friend to show up, dressed as a clown.

Playing games on their sugar high

The sugar is kicking in!

She wouldn't let me leave her side the whole time I was there. My girlfriend got jealous I think!

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.

Both these little girls had such beautiful eyes.

The 3 Amigos!

I think she ate 4 sticks... man was I giving these kids diabetes?

I think the kids had more fun with a $1 bag of balloons then anything.

I couldn't get her to smile the whole day... she was the only one to hold out on me.

I tried to walk away and my "new" girlfriend got mad at me.

Wildman working on his 3rd stick of cotton candy

I asked her to smile for me and she went all out, giving me her best.

This little girl was a trooper. She stayed at that table eating and eating...

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

If you enjoyed this post, make sure to subscribe by e-mail or RSS feed!