PROJECT-SUPPORT ECUADOR

Association Sin Soluka Switzerland, Kriens, Switzerland

Country / Place

Ecuador, Quito

Ecuador is a republic in the north-west of South America and borders Colombia, Peru, and the Pacific Ocean. The country is named after the equatorial line that runs through the northern part of its territory. The Galápagos Islands, which belong to Ecuador, are located to the west off the coast in the Pacific Ocean.

Located in the Andean highlands at 2,850 metres above sea level, the capital city is called Quito, and it is the highest capital in the world. The historic centre of Quito is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The country's largest city, Guayaquil, is located in the Pacific coastal plain.

General

Sin Soluka is a non-profit organisation in Quito, Ecuador. It looks after children and young people from poor backgrounds who have little chance at an education. The organisation enables children and young people to attend school regularly and aims to ensure that they can graduate from school. In the long term, regular school attendance will make an important contribution to enabling young adults to lead an independent life later on.

Beneficiaries

Many of the children and young people have lived on the street for some time or spend a large part of their daily lives on the street in the company of their parents, who try to survive by selling goods or by doing other jobs. Some are orphans, others have parents who are struggling with many problems themselves and are therefore barely able to look after their sons or daughters. The project currently looks after around 280 boys and girls and their families.

Project-support

Project: School education

Sin Soluka aims to achieve a sustainable improvement in the quality of life of the families it supports. In order to achieve this goal, the main focus of the project is on school education. Sin Soluka provides financial support to enable children to attend state schools. Although attendance at state schools in Ecuador is free of charge, families have to pay for their own school materials and uniforms.

However, the project's work does not end with school enrolment. The project staff visits the schools regularly and they are in close contact with the teachers and families. Sin Soluka also looks after the children and young people before and after school at the project centre in the centre of Quito. The employees provide the pupils with lunch, help them to do their homework in age groups, and organise their leisure time with them. Furthermore the project focuses on education in the areas of hygiene and health, addiction, violence, and sexuality. Dr Mario Piedra and his team have been looking after the children, young people and their families since the project was founded in the year 2004.