Education for children in Ecuador

For the first time ever in Ecuador we celebrated a Christmas party including all the children, parents and grand-parents from Muenala, Huayrapungo, Achupallas and Urcusiqui. Adding another Phoenix teacher, Cristian, has really helped lessen the teacher/class ratio and David has continued his fine work. The community got together for a "Minga" to paint the school which hadn't been done for years. We supllied the paint and they supplied the man (and woman!) power.

Bringing the year to an end the community celebrated Kapak Raymi where soil is placed on recently sown seeds, asking Pachamama (Mother Earth) for a good crop in 2019.

With 2019 ushering in the second half of the school year we hope to add further teachers for the start of the new school year in September whilst concentrating on the implementation of a variety of sustainable plans within the communities during the year. 

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated to this year’s Appeal, raising funds to go towards the $100,000 we plan to spend during 2019 on local teachers and materials. One final push by donating to this page and we can reach our targets so please do dig deep if you can or even crowd fund with friends, family and co-workers in your office or school and aim for one teacher's salary for the whole year!

Examples:

$3,725 1 teacher for 25-30 children for one year
$1,860 1 teacher for 25-30 children for six months
$930 1 teacher for 25-30 children for three months
$310 1 teacher for 25-30 children for one month

$180 1 child for one year
$90 1 child for six months
$45 1 child for three months
$15 1 child for one month

Thank you to everyone who has signed up to the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu Challenge from 26^th-31^st May. There are now no spots left due to the official limited numbers allowed on the trail each day. Due to demand we will be running a second challenge in tandem, the Salkantay Trek, with both finishing at Machu Picchu on the same day. We have only six places remaining so please do get in touch if you are interested.

The following week we will be taking on the Ecuador Challenge, including volcanoes Fuya Fuya and Imbabura. A great group is forming for that one too so please do get in touch with dom@thephoenixprojects.org if you are interested in either challenge, or indeed both!

Thank you so much to all of you who have helped us continue our work this year with regular donations, charity challenge participation and one-off donations. To coin the old cliché, we couldn´t have done it without you!

Have a great 2019!

Cheers

Links:

• Charity Challenges for 2019

Our work in Ecuador continues at pace with our new local Phoenix teachers helping to reduce the teacher to class ration. Much of the science classes have been dedicated to learning about Natural Disasters, their inherent risks and how to avoid them – the children got quite artistic and as part of next year’s Ecuador Charity in June we hope to reforest some of the surrounding area. The children and teachers took part in the Baile Cayambeño wearing the traditional dress from Cayambe. New Phoenix teacher Cristian donned his traditional mask! We hope to repaint the whole school in December, the first time in years, so 2019 will get off to a great start! To celebrate the traditional Day of the Dead, we celebrated with Colada Morada and breads with the children and parents in the school – it is so important to continue such traditions.

Our Appeal this year, in conjunction with Giving Tuesday on 27^th November, aims to raise funds towards our local teachers’ salaries and materials for 2019. On average each teacher will educate between 25-30 children per class and will often teach more than one class so the more teachers we can bring on board for 2019, the more children we can give a vital education to whether this is primary, secondary or college.

Our local Phoenix teachers are the backbone of the projects. Their daily dedication to hundreds of indigenous children in Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador and Perú cannot be commended enough. They are the future of the projects as well as their communities and we must guarantee this future with funding, both through donations in the short term and through sustainable income plans over the medium to long term.

For example in Ecuador we took on Cristian this year who grew up in the community where we teach and

Over the next two months we hope to raise a large proportion of the $100,000 we plan to spend during 2019 on local teachers and materials so please do dig deep this Giving Tuesday on 27^th November if you can and donate to this page or even crowd fund with friends, family and co-workers in your office or school and aim for one teacher’s salary for the whole year!

Examples:
$3,725 can cover 1 teacher for 25-30 children for one year
$1,860 can cover1 teacher for 25-30 children for six months
$930 can cover 1 teacher for 25-30 children for three months
$310 can cover 1 teacher for 25-30 children for one month

$180 can cover 1 child for one year
$90 can cover 1 child for six months
$45 can cover 1 child for three months
$15 can cover 1 child for one month

On behalf of all the communities where we work, thank you so much in advance for anything you, friends and family can donate for the communities and their future!