For us, it all started in Ecuador’s orphanages. The children there will both fill and break your hearts like they do ours.

We work with and support many other orphanages throughout Ecuador. Too many kids in these orphanages are never placed back in a safe home with family or adopted. Because of this, many orphanages are overcrowded. The children there live out their childhood in an orphanage with no place to call home when they leave.

Our hope and goal in Ecuador is to give these children a better life. To equip them with the tools needed to become confident, capable adults.

In Ecuador, speaking English and having computer skills increases a child's chances to be successful once he or she leaves an orphanage. With that in mind, we planned our 2010 fall projects. In one of the all-girl orphanages we assist, we fixed the roof of a computer room and hired an English tutor for a full year.

As mentioned earlier, many orphanages that we visit are overcrowded. In 2011, Dando Amor helped build a new dormitory to separate younger orphans from the older ones to increase safety.

We continue to do projects in many orphanages that teach self-sufficiency among older orphans. This teaching helps break a continual cycle of poverty through education and hard work. That way when it comes time to leave, these children will not end up living on the streets because they will have the skills to succeed on their own.

In 2013, we opened our own orphanage in the outskirts of Quito, Ecuador.