Our Programs
I PLAY, I DO, and I LEARN
8:30 am- 12:00 pm
January to December
Focus: Child Laborers
The daily reality of Child Laborers is a difficult one. Children that participate in this program are as young as three years of age and often accompany their parents to work beginning the day at 4:00 am. The environment that many of these children grow up in does not nurture their development and they are exposed to aggression, poverty, lack access to education, machismo, discrimination and other difficulties that could potentially impede their healthy growth and development.
The development of this program is based on the environment in which a child develops. We begin by contacting the family of the child in order to gain a better understanding of the child’s environment in order to promote the child working fewer hours. We do this by: building a relationship and rapport with the family, we communicate our desire support the family and be a part of the process of the child’s development, we try to bring awareness to family members about the positive impact that schooling has on a child. Once a parent agrees to allow their child to be a part of our program and participate in our activities we make an agreement with the family. The process takes about 6 months in which we provide information to the child and their families to enroll in school and continue the educational process. Simultaneously, the educator and social worker continue to work with the family in order to lead to the final result that the child works fewer hours and continues going to school.
The team at UBECI consists of a program coordinator, social worker and volunteers that work in different areas and activities of our programs:
The social worker and education advocate make contact with children and families and refers them to our program and the space we have in place of the children working. The education advocates, along with volunteers, develop activities for the program. The program coordinator evaluates the progress of the child with the goal of retaining the child in the program. Our ultimate goal is that the child enrolls and begins attending school within a period of six months from the time that we begin working with the child and family and that they maintain the two year trial that UBECI proposes to the family.
SCHOOL AND SOCIAL SUPPORT
2:30 pm-5:00 pm
September to June
Focus: Child Laborers and Rural Areas
The children that participate in our programs are from rural areas and have low educational backgrounds, literacy difficulties, difficulties with writing and studying. Many of the children work weekends on farmlands, although according to the children and families this is not considered to be work. The children live in environments that do not always nurture their age appropriate development. Many factors of their environment affect their development such as, abuse, machismo, alcoholism, aggression, poverty and discrimination.
Our goal with the children is that they continue to attend school, that their parents, family and community respect them. We also aim to create continuity in the material being studied in the rural schools so that when the children become of age and want to obtain employment in the city they are able to compete with children that were educated in the city schools. With this, we would like to change the paradigm of thought as to how children that come from rural areas are not as well prepared for jobs in the city. We hope to do this by providing support around literacy and writing activities, math, values, leadership, hygiene, art and by exploring other cultures to obtain deeper awareness. The children are taking part of an educational process and we consistently evaluate their progress by meeting with parents, visiting school sites and meeting with teachers.
The program takes place 50 minutes outside of Quito, Ecuador. Volunteers come together at the office in Quito and from there we transport together to accomplish our mission of providing support where help does not already exist.
Volunteers need to be present for evaluation meetings, planning and development of program activities once a week to discuss any difficulties and objectives we have in our programs.
SUMMER PROGRAM
Availble from July to August
Focus: Children of Rural Areas
The summer program takes place during summer vacation with the goal that children and adolescents participate in recreational activities, they develop their potential, skills, motor skills, self-esteem and to participate in a positive group that will encourage children to continue in the activities and not encourage parents to utilize the children’s free time to work longer hours in the fields.
The activities that take place are: art, dance, world exploration, leadership formation, recreational activities, English classes and sports.
INTERVENTION PROGRAM: EDUCATION AND RESCUE
Focus: Street Children
The focus of this program is to work with children that either work or live on the streets and to gain greater awareness of their experience. We work closely with them to identify the reasons for being on the street and depending on their situation we will encourage them to return home or refer them to local children’s shelters.
This program is not available for volunteers.
TEACHING ENGLISH
The focus of this program is to gain greater skills in the English language during times of globalization, employment requirements, education and increased communication with volunteers. Those that benefit from this program are divided into several different groups: young children, adolescents, university students, employees from Non-governmental organizations, mothers of families and the general community.
EXPLORING THE WORLD
This activity focuses on developing awareness of various countries, cultures, customs, and traditions. The participants also have the opportunity to share photos of their families, friends, and cities and prepare local traditional foods.