The invitation to the Graduation, attached with a quote from a famous Indigenous scholar Dolores Cacuango:
"Just as the sun shines on everyone--men and women;
so should education enlighten everyone--the rich and the poor,
the masters and the laborers."
"Just as the sun shines on everyone--men and women;
so should education enlighten everyone--the rich and the poor,
the masters and the laborers."
About 250 community members and leaders attended the graduation, accompanied by various representatives of collaborating institutions. Mr. In-pil Chun, Vice-president of KOICA, and Dr. Maria Pichazaca, National Director of Bilingual Schools, also took part in the festivity by giving donations of cuy (guinea pigs) for our cuy-microenterprise project.
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| Representatives from cooperating institutions |
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| The Canine Unit show by the Police Department |
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| The program included cultural activities such as Ecuadorian folk dance and a Taekwondo demonstration |
The Teachers' Excel course was a basic introduction to computing with spreadsheets. At the end of the course, the teachers received a Certificate issued by the Ministry of Education and KOICA, which will help their effectiveness in the school in the present and their personal careers in the future.
A graphic design course for the teachers is being planned for the new semester starting September 2011.
On a different note, the project has partnered with SECAP (Ecuadorian Services for Professional Training), a Government-run employment training project. Through a community gathering, we identified six different areas of interest for the students' parents:
The project coordinators and the Neighborhood Development Team (comprised of the District-Community President, School Principal, and the PTA President) are seeing this as a great opportunity for the members of Barrio Santa Maria to escape the vicious cycle of poverty within the neighborhood, resulting in a better learning environment for many students who suffer from malnutrition.
The six courses offered by SECAP are designed with one purpose: that the participants would be able to start their own business after the training, The 165~470 hour extensive training not only prepares the participant to begin working right away, but it also includes around 60 hours of business management and personal motivation classes.
The first of eight classes started on May 30, 2011, with 53 students in three different subjects. The other five classes are scheduled to start in the month of June, for all of them to be finished before the end of the year.
A graphic design course for the teachers is being planned for the new semester starting September 2011.
Job Training: Against the vicious cycle of unemployment
On a different note, the project has partnered with SECAP (Ecuadorian Services for Professional Training), a Government-run employment training project. Through a community gathering, we identified six different areas of interest for the students' parents:
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| A total of 154 parents and community members over 14 years of age are registered for the courses. |
The project coordinators and the Neighborhood Development Team (comprised of the District-Community President, School Principal, and the PTA President) are seeing this as a great opportunity for the members of Barrio Santa Maria to escape the vicious cycle of poverty within the neighborhood, resulting in a better learning environment for many students who suffer from malnutrition.
The six courses offered by SECAP are designed with one purpose: that the participants would be able to start their own business after the training, The 165~470 hour extensive training not only prepares the participant to begin working right away, but it also includes around 60 hours of business management and personal motivation classes.
The first of eight classes started on May 30, 2011, with 53 students in three different subjects. The other five classes are scheduled to start in the month of June, for all of them to be finished before the end of the year.
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| Inaguration ceremony for the first batch of classes. |
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| This is Santiago. He is 15 years old. His dream is to open a bakery in the neighborhood, and he will be able to do just that with the training and the support the government gives him. |
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| Through the Cosmetology class, the ladies will graduate knowing how to give haircuts and do professional makeup. |
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| The neighborhood is stirring in hope as many do not have any qualifications to work outside of home. Usually, families in the urban marginal areas end up selling candies on buses. |
| Other posts of the project |
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