Kimberley Brown Six months ago, 16-year-old Valentina was watching TV with her cousin and younger brother at her home in Quito, Ecuador's capital, when she received a call from her mother, Ivonne. She had been arrested again, and was in prison. She wouldn't be coming home for a while. The pair had been living together since Ivonne's last prison sentence ended in 2023, and the thought of being separated again was devastating. “I had gotten used to being with her,” says Valentina.