. Bruce Ecuador:
"Quito Northwest" Childrens Centre
Volunteer vacancies: volunteers:
3 longstay |
Introduction.....................V I D E O
'Quito Northwest' CHILDREN'S CENTRE is in the Quito Northwest community, a poor section on the north side of Quito, Ecuador. Our aim is to offer the opportunity of becoming educated to children who missed their chance to go to school so far due to extreme poverty, abandonment or abuse.. Bruce Ecuador have agreed to provide education to the children in our care, looking forward to the time when we have them prepared to metriculate into the national school system at the grades they would have entered had they beed attending school all these years..
The Quito Northwest Children's Centre is housed in ce bulding, shared
by its owners; some lovely nuns who operate a child care and family support porgramme
in this community..
A marvelous feature of Quito Northwest is tht the
residents are so helpful in leading us to children who need our help. We are delighted
that Kyle and his team have located our first school in this community, in cooperation
with the kind nuns. Within three months the number of children daily attending
our classes has risen to 41, and we are preparing for it to continue to grow.
 | Many
children do not attend school in Quito Northwest, due to one or mor of three reasons:
the nearest school is too far away, extreme poverty (even attending free school
in Ecuador costs more than a poor family, especially a single family family, can
affordr), abandonment or parental abuse (children of poor parents often are made
to work instead of attending school) Our primary goal is to get as many children
into school as possible, and this involves encouraging learning, talking to parents
and in some cases purchassing uniforms and school books. We also are prepared
to educate those children who cannot get into state schools. |
What to expect as a Volunteer:Your Job at 'Quito Northwest CHILDREN'S CENTRE' will involve:
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Accomodation & food costs:We ask a fee from our volunteers to keep our work going. The money goes to pay for the bills, meals, and the cost of the social worker, cook and secretary, as well as maintenance of the Children's Centre- also to promote the opening of other Children's Centres in Ecuador. This fee includes accommodation 7 days per week and 3 meals a day, 5 days a week.
To read more about Ecuador click HERE | ||||||||||
Besides these activities, we welcome new ideas to make our project most effective for the children. Volunteering at Bruce Ecuador in Quito can be a tiring but immensely rewarding experience. You should be able to cope with big groups of street children demanding a lot of attention and enthusiasm. You will have to be a team worker, working together with Ecuadorian and international volunteers. In the centre you will be a representative of the project and are expected to be responsible and behave as an example for the children. What you do in your free time outside the centre is up to you.
Volunteering at 'Quito Northwest' is a fantastic way of getting to know Ecuador, of improving your Spanish, and above all, of interacting with the community and with the children of the city in a positive and helpful way.
The Region:
Quito, the capital of Ecuador,(a UNESCO
World Heritage Site) was founded in the 16th century on the ruins of an Inca city
and stands at an altitude of 2,850 m. Despite the 1917 earthquake, the city has
the best-preserved, least altered historic centre in Latin America. The monasteries
of San Francisco and Santo Domingo, and the Church and Jesuit College of La Compañía,
with their rich interiors, are pure examples of the 'Baroque school of Quito',
which is a fusion of Spanish, Italian, Moorish, Flemish and indigenous art. The Programme:
The Children's Centre is located in a substantial building
in the Northwest sector of Quito. It has water, electricity and sanitation. Our
international volunteers work with our teacher. Quito is in the Northern Hemisphere,
so this school will break for summer in two months: that's how long we have to
prepare them to enter the state school system. We are working to prepare the children
for a future in the National Curriculum. Groups are divided up according to age
or ability. None of these children go to school, so an important aspect of our
program is teaching them group discipline and study habits. The Language School:
In the evenings English-speaking and French-speaking volunteers give English and French classes to adults in our Miraflores campus in Quito (where also our international volunteers live). The small donation our language students make is a contribution to the work of the Satellite Children's Centres.. Our students know that their tuition goes towards our work with the children and enables us to participate in the activities and expenses of the Children's Centre and our volunteers. Volunteers are therefore obliged to give at least one class per night to maintain our Language School.Spanish classes are offered for free to all our volunteers two hours per week..
