Education for children in Ecuador

The school year in Ecuador comes to a close next month with graduations. Our local teachers have done a sterling job once again with all the students on course to pass their exams. We aim to continue with our local teachers for the new school year starting in August.

We have been implementing a Plan Cuy sustainable plan thanks to the donations raised from this month’s 20th Anniversary Charity Challenge. We purchased all the materials to build a large Cuy House where guinea pigs will be reared and sold with the income raised going towards some of the monthly costs of the school. Members of the community got together for a couple of mingas to help with the ground preparation and construction which will be finished during the community day as part of the Challenge.

The school vegetable garden we introduced in January is beginning to show results with cabbage, beetroot and carrots being able to be grown at high altitude. These will be essential for the children’s daily food programme. Harvests are underway with our large-scale Plan Huertos we introduced in 2024 which help cover some costs of our sustainable plan management whilst helping local families.

As is tradition, Fanesca was prepared in the school with extras taken home to be shared with the families. This is a soup made during Semana Santa (Easter) and made from a variety of ingredients including beans, grains, fish, eggs and many others. Pawkar Raymi and Muchuk Nina were celebrated giving thanks to Pachamama (Mother Earth) for the flowering of crops and the upcoming harvests of grains.

The Charity Challenge to celebrate our 20th Anniversary gets underway in a few days as we will attempt to summit Fuya Fuya (4,260m / 14,000ft), Imbabura (4,609m / 15,120ft) and Cotacachi (4,944m / 15,580ft) volcanoes as well as hiking Cuicocha Lake and spending a day in the community. We’ll tell you all about it in the next update in a couple of months!

Thank you so much for your fantastic support for the projects, it really does mean so much for the families in the communities. We’ll update you more in a couple of months.

Cheers