Volunteer work with street children and orphans in Ecuador

Street Children Program

The Street Children Program was initiated in 2001. Its purpose is to help abandoned, mistreated children that are forced to live in the dangerous streets every day and that have no conscious of their rights as children.
This program currently cares for approximately thirty children from 2 to 16 years old, providing them with accommodation, food, educational and psychological follow-up for a temporal period. This project tries to reintegrate them into their families as much as possible. The project also accommodates 280 scholar children, providing them with lunch and school support in the afternoon.

The center is located in the old town of Quito, the historical part of the city.

Program Description

The volunteer work in this project concerns a lot of different aspects;

• Educational aspect: The majority of the children don’t go to school and need to be taught basic knowledge of Spanish, Mathematics, English, etc. The classes have to be prepared by the volunteers according to the children’s level.
• Personal aspect: Children need to know about their rights as children and as human beings, and also need to experience moral and ethical values like respect, tolerance, honesty, ect.
• Ludic aspect: Most of the children have never had a "real" childhood and have to learn to be children again. By playing games they can learn to live in society and to share and express their emotions.
• Emotional aspect: The children have never experienced a loving, caring surrounding or stable relationships, and that's why the volunteer's affection towards the children is so important for their self-esteem and personal development.

If you are interested in working with children, this volunteer project is probably perfect for you!

Volunteer Work Activities

- In the morning: classes with the children (Mathematics, English, Spanish....).

- In the afternoon: manual activities, games, workshops, etc. He/she can also take the initiative to do excursions.

Duration

The volunteer work with the street children takes a minimum of 1 months.

Free Time

Free time is available on weekends. During this time you can do excursions to other parts of the country or stay in town and get to know the community and people better.

Requirements

All the volunteers need to have some knowledge of the Spanish language before starting their volunteering. If the volunteer is not at this level, Ecuador Volunteer could help him/her to find the best program to improve his/her Spanish skills before starting the project.