GOALS ACCOMPLISHED!
The journey was over, and all objectives were amply met!
Throughout more than 13000 miles and 150 days we exceeded by far the 1000 seeds of knowledge and love planned, leaving hearts full of enthusiasm in adults and children, we made dozens of friends, we left two groups of new volunteers on fire and ready for many activities when we return, and meanwhile children from Chile and Peru are already joining the virtual art classes.
And a fundamental achievement: we finally found our new place in the world.
Great things are coming!
There is so much to do and we are so happy
Soon we will tell you about our new plans, and how you can help!
We are sorry that during the journey we did not manage to keep the information updated as promised, we apologize, it was a trip of such magnitude, and so many different challenges day by day, that there was no time left to organize the communication.
We had several problems with the old and noble NurVan, we visited 14 auto repair shops! But faithfully, after driving us 13,173 miles, between October 11 and March 11, it brought us back to Cuenca.
We had to suspend the section to Uruguay and Brazil because there were no automotive spare parts for the van in those countries, and it was too much risk seeing how the breakdowns increased with the thousands of miles, and our stress increased day by day.
Delays due to repairs, and requests for more lectures, workshops and children’s classes in various places, delayed us until we added two more months of travel to the three planned!
And that delay led us to…The scorching summer caught us!
Heat, heat and more heat, and the certainty that as we returned, climbing towards the north and its deserts, the heat would be even stronger.
This not only made us work twice as hard, struggling with the enormous distances, the endless deserts, and the omnipresent heat that exhausted us, but also took a heavy toll on the NurVan, and forced us to make unforeseen modifications and repairs.
More time, more patience, more effort, more expenses, but we have the great satisfaction of having overcome everything!
And we must recognize that without the unconditional support of the dozen donors who generously sponsored this trip, and helped to resolve the difficulties, the outcome would have been very different!
Another factor that allowed us to keep going, to get up and start again after each blow, was the infinite beauty of the landscapes that we were able to see and that nourished our souls.
It was an extraordinary trip, every day was a new challenge and a test of patience, but also every day came with a new wonder: seas, rivers, lakes, mountains, amazing clouds, incredible sunsets, unexpected snow, gigantic forests and endless and ever-changing deserts.
The equipment we had put in the NurVan allowed us to sleep anywhere, either in extraordinary and inhospitable places, or in the square of a village, as we did on New Year’s Day, or in front of a police station when we could not find a safe place, but always attentive to the beauty that surrounded us.
The tiredness, the heat of more than 104°F , or the freezing cold of 28°F disappeared in the face of so much beauty and the emotion overwhelmed us!
And the most important thing: People!
Those who accompanied us in this search from the moment we knew we could no longer live in the heights of Cuenca, those who joined us and made their contribution, those who helped us plan the trip, those who helped us equip the NurVan, the donors, those who added colored pencils for hundreds of unknown children, those who gave us their friendship throughout the trip, the hundreds of children and adults who laughed, were amazed, were excited, smiled and applauded throughout the trip.
Without forgetting those friends, virtual for years, who have now become real and great collaborators.
And what can we say about our new friends, who opened the doors of their homes to us, and who now invite us to continue dreaming and building together, side by side.
All of them, all of you, impossible to show them all on this page, and impossible to fully express our gratitude. We put a few representative pictures, even in many meetings the emotion made us forget to take pictures!
We are exhausted and happy, full of many more dreams to fulfill, replete with the enormous affection we received everywhere, eternally grateful to the multitude of new and old friends who day by day encouraged us, cared and gave us the necessary support to continue, we have received so much affection, so many gestures of love, that we do not know how to express our gratitude.
This gives us the energy for what is to come: a new and brilliant stage, a lot of work to consolidate it, and many hands, brains and hearts working together. Very soon we will share details of the new project, this publication is only to give details of the Thousand Seeds Project and to thank everyone.
Thank you all for the enormous support, thank you for believing that we were capable of making it, thank you for allowing us to face this enormous challenge.
This triumph is yours.
Patricia and Jorge