Casa Victoria

2012-01-28T13:14:00.001-08:00

WE HAVE A WEB SITE!!!

PLEASE VISIT US AT

www.casav.org

blood pressures were taken, eyes were checked, Officers caps waited patiently, alongside Moms...

2011-10-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

2011-10-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

One day this past summer, a team of volunteer student nurses from Florida, and our
friendly local Police unit, came together to give free check ups to more than 60 children
and their Moms.

CARNIVAL--QUITO STYLE!!

2011-04-06T10:39:00.000-07:00

In other "civilized" places of the world, Carnival is celebrated with elaborate parades, masquerade balls, dancing on the streets, exotic costumes and often-times, wild behaviour.

In Quito, Ecuador, we play with water....lots of it: small balloons filled with water to be thrown at the 'victim'--usually a friend who is actively engaged in the same--buckets full of water, or even a plain, old hose will do!

In attempts to 'not waste water' by this crazy tradition, City Hall promotes 'playing Carnival' with canned sprays that contain a harmless--but quite strong-smelling-perfumed-white or colored-slushy spray.

It serves the purpose, but not quite: there's nothing more satisfying than aiming a water balloon at a perfectly dry and dressed person, seeing it crash against hip or back or leg, and getting her soaking wet! Especially if the 'thrower' is a child, and the 'receiver' is the Director of the Foundation: ME!!

All in good fun! Great day for the kids at Casa Victoria! AND for Mamalicia!

2011-01-19T13:44:00.000-08:00

CHRISTMAS WISHES AND BLESSINGS

TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AROUND THE WORLD

FROM THE
CASA VICTORIA FAMILY

QUITO, DECEMBER,2010

Volunteer Mom helping with after school homework

2010-01-28T03:10:00.000-08:00

Voluntario William, jugando con Tatiana, 9 anios

2010-01-28T03:02:00.000-08:00

BUILDING CHARACTER: TWO “LITTLE GEMS” AT CASA VICTORIA

2009-06-20T22:36:00.000-07:00

**Every afternoon at Casa Victoria, more than 40 children between 5 and 12 come for after-school activities guided by our young men and women volunteers. One afternoon, Esteban Jaramillo, one of our young men living at CV, was helping out two little 8-year-old girls with some math problems. One of them had a wrong answer and Esteban asked her to erase it to correct it.

“I can’t”, she said, “because I didn’t write it in pencil!”
“You could tear out the paper and write it again”, Esteban suggested.
“Oh no, I can’t do that because Rosa (pointing to the other little girl) will tell my Dad and he will beat me!” she replied.
Esteban went to the other girl and, in a kind voice, asked her “ Is Laurita your friend?”

“Oh yes” she answered.
He added, “Rosa, friendship is a very special gift from Jesus and He wants us to love our friends. Do you know that when you tell on your friend, Laurita, she gets a beating from her father?”

Rosa gave an anxious look at Laurita. Slowly, two big tears rolled down Rosa’s cheeks! She got up from her little chair, went to Laurita, hugged her and said “I’m sorry, Laurita, I didn’t know that!” Both embraced and cried together as Esteban watched in awe and thanksgiving for having been allowed to witness forgiveness and reconciliation, even at the tender age of eight!

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**At two in the morning, it isn’t unusual to hear all sort of strange noises on the streets around Casa Victoria. But the loud crash followed by disturbing voices, made Oscar, our brave young intern from Colombia, rush out to the front yard. With bat in hand—just in case—he heard two well-known burglars fighting over the semaphore, the street-light that a truck had just knocked over.

Oscar shouted at both of them, “Whichever of the two of you who is going to steal the stop-light, will have to face me and my bat! The stop-light is the community’s, and neither of you can take it!”

Several neighbors opened their windows and balconies to see what all the commotion was about. The two thieves, feeling too conspicuous to all the onlookers, dropped the stop-light on the sidewalk, and quickly walked away as they voiced some profanities at Oscar. He then rushed to the street corner, proceeded to carry the stop-light as he shouted up to the neighbors: “ Please note that this stop-light which belongs to you and to all, will be kept in Casa Victoria until I take it to the police tomorrow.”

The following morning, he reported the incident to the Captain at the neighborhood police station. The Captain was astonished to learn that this Colombian young man, not only was part of a volunteer group working with the community children for free, but had defended public property and was honest enough to return it to the authorities. This is particularly meaningful especially considering that a stoplight is worth a couple thousand dollars!!

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Casa Victoria Restoration 2007 Video

2009-02-21T06:50:00.000-08:00

In October of 2007, seven friends (two from Newport News, two from Dallas, and three from Nashville) were allowed to visit Casa Victoria during the final stages of the physical restoration. This is the story they heard and experienced.

2009-02-07T15:03:00.000-08:00

2009-01-31T22:28:00.000-08:00

Justo regresamos de Naranjito 235, el pueblo de donde viene Lenin Pavón, un gran amigo de Casa Victoria (vivió allá 2006-2007). Acá están unas fotos de nuestro tiempo. ¡Qué SUPER bien pasamos allá!

We just got back from Naranjito 235, the town where Lenin Pavón is from. He's a great friend to Casa Victoria (he lived there 2006-2007). Here are some photos of our time. What a great time we had there at 235!

2009-01-18T16:48:00.001-08:00

Hola, ahora estamos trabajando mucho en la Casa Victoria. Estamos construiendo nuestros programas: Club de Niños, Clases de Inglés, Deberes dirijidos, Visitas Clases, etc. También estamos perfectando nuestros recursos para que estén mas disponible a nuestro barrio. Entonces, muchos cambios vienen: eso incluye un video, que explica que hacemos acá en la Casa Victoria, también una nueva pagina web. Gracias por tu paciencia mientras trabajamos. ¡Ciao!

Hello, right now we are working a lot in Casa Victoria. We are building our programs: Kid's Club, English Class, Directed Homework Time, Class Visits, etc. Also, we are perfecting our resources so that they will more available to our neighborhood. That being said, many changes are coming: this includes a new video, that explains what we do here at Casa Victorira, also a new web page. Thank you for your patience while we work hard! Ciao!

2009-01-02T09:51:00.000-08:00

Hi, it's me Charlie, one of the volunteers at Casa Victoria. The new year is here, and this website will be changing soon! But for now I have for you a video we made for my mom's 50th birthday party. Instead of asking for gifts, she asked her friends to bring money to support Casa Victoria! So, here is our video showing what we have been doing at Casa Victoria lately. Enjoy!

2008-09-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

Click the photo above to view a slideshow of Casa Victoria

2008-08-31T16:34:00.000-07:00

Casa Victoria: your own piece of paradise in the middle of Quito, Ecuador.
Guest Room shown above.

Meet our guys!

2008-02-03T13:29:00.000-08:00

Clockwise: Jorge, Esteban, Bill and Lenin, Rigo, work daily helping with the restoration of the 100-year-old house where the Casa Victoria outreach to the community of San Roque, Quito, Ecuador, takes place.

Restoration

2007-10-24T11:50:00.000-07:00

Casa Victoria is a venue for two kinds of restoration. The obvious and tangible restoration is that of the house itself, and the landscaping of the the surrounding area. It is a beautiful, grand, and historic home with an inner courtyard, high ceilings, wood floors, many fire places and several original artistic designs. The goal is to complete the physical restoration by the end of 2007.

The other type of restoration is the restoration of people to God and to each other. Alicia, Jose Luis, and Jose's wife Carolina have been pouring into the five young men who are currently living at the house, and caring for each visitor (rich or poor) who is somehow connected to Jesus.

The young men living in the house come from various backgrounds, but each of them knows their need for God; for His love, grace and leadership in their lives. They are learning to be faithful in small things, like keeping things clean and doing what they say they are going to do. They are learning to be honest with each other and to apologize and forgive each other for offenses. They are learning to love and serve the poor, whether it be a hungry person, or a political leader who is poor in spirit.

These young men are also seving the community of San Roque, where the house stand. This neighborhood is inhabited primarily by poor people coming from the countryside in hopes of having a better life in the city. Most of the time, they face dissapointment, hardship and mistrust. This is where Casa Victoria come in: it is a place where they are shown love and care, a listening ear, a shared meal, and Jesus of Nazareth.

THE LIBRARY
In August of 2007, the city council of Quito awarded Casa Victoria a grant to build a library inside the house, as a prize for their submitted proposal of a project that would benefit the community. When completed, this library will be an information center with computers, multimedia, and two levels of book shelves. This is a vital opportunity to open the doors of Casa Victoria to the children of the neighborhood and their parents, many of whom are single mothers. There are no libraries in the local schools, so this will be a wonderful resource for people, and one more opportunity for those overseeing and living in Casa Victoria to serve and develop relationships with those who come.

Overview

2007-10-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, a group of friends (some Ecuadorians, some North Americans) . pooled their money together to purchase a 100-year-old house in the heart of Quito's Historic Center- just a few blocks from Presidential palace.

Alicia--the daughter of Sixto Duran Ballen a former President of Ecuador and former Mayor of Quito-- had a vision to restore this run-down house and use it as a place to accomplish three things:

1) To house young men who would commit for 1-3 years to live and study together the principles and Person of Jesus of Nazareth.

2) To create a safe, inviting place where both the leaders of the country and the poor in the community could gather, share a meal, and get to know one another. People from all different backgrounds, ethnicities, and social classes would be welcomed in the name of Jesus.

3) To host international friends who would visit, share, serve, and participate in the activities of the house for a period of time, causing the network and family of God to grow.