UBECI and IVHQ

The company I use when finding volunteer placements around the world is called IVHQ, and is based out of New Zealand. They do all the legwork of finding legitimate and safe opportunities in countries of need. Once I arrive in country, I am directly working for the local NGO for that region. Here in Ecuador, that organization is called UBECI.

UBECI is run by Byron Salvatierra and his wife Monica.  They have three young girls of their own, and still they work tirelessly to help the street children of Quito.

From a young age, Byron dedicated his time to social service projects focusing on at-risk children and their families. In 1995, he began working with a social service agency as a street educator and has since implemented numerous social programs such as student scholarships, reintegration into the school system, summer programs, volunteer program coordination, and apprenticeship and exchange programs. 
In 1999, Byron reached out to areas in Quito where assistance was not available for low income families, creating recreational programs for children and families for special holidays, such as Christmas, International Children’s Day, and International Day Against Violence.
After eight years of working with children as a street educator and program coordinator, Byron, with the support of Archie Jarman (a current staff member at UBECI Foundation), established UBECI as an official non-profit foundation in the USA to continue providing social services to children in and around Quito.

One Week In

So the past week has been brutal, long, fun, and heartbreaking. It seems like everyday we are saying goodbye to volunteers as they end their stays, and the kids always sad to see them go. Everyday we go to a different market, so we see each group of kids about once or twice a week. I am still interested in doing a shoe drive, but after talking with the directors of UBECI I found out having them shipped here would be extremely expensive for them on the receiving in. Such things are heavily taxed in Ecuador, and it is likely they would be responsible for paying well over $100 for receiving a package that large. What they typically do to get around this is to coordinate with an incoming volunteer to bring the items in an suitcase. So my plan is to do a shoe drive around Christmas time, when lots of kiddos will be getting new kicks anyway, and collect their old ones to be taken to Ecuador by another volunteer.

An aside about the funny things that have happened since I've been here. First of all,  I have come to understand that I and other volunteers in this program all live in the worst neighborhoods of Quito. Whenever I have mentioned where I live to local Quitenos, I get the same reaction; "oh wow, that's a bad area." As recently as yesterday I was telling a fellow on the bus about it and he said "oh ya, that's where I got carjacked and tied up." (!!?!?!) I haven't felt in danger or anything, but it definitely is a rough part of town. I hd an old man hollering at me the other for not getting on the bus fast enough, though in my defense there were already at least 900 people on the bus squished all the way up to do the door. And every night something different and crazy is going on outside my window at 11pm. One night I looked out to see a bunch of teenagers breaking bottles and peeing everywhere. Another night a whole family (man, woman, daughter, son) werte in a four way screaming match/fight in the street. Their dogs were going crazy too. just another day in Quito.

Here are some more pics from the past week:

Photos! (Borrowed from fellow volunteer Alissa Benjamin)

Playing Ball

Getting a surprise hug!

Preparing for lessons

Doing worksheets

Working hard

Books and Puzzles

Singing songs

Look what I did!

All smiles!

Long Days and Lots of Hugs

So after two days of work I am officially exhausted.  A typical day begins with a meet-up at the office around 8:30 in the morning.  From there we travel by bus to the designated street market for the morning shift. Buses are crowded and sketchy as you can imagine.  We then walk to the remaining distance to a clear spot where we can set up what we have brought. Everything must be carried; the rubber mats we set out to sit on to the toys and puzzles, water for handwashing and drinking, the tent awning, etc. We lay everything out and begin sorting puzzle pieces while a few volunteers peruse the market to round up the children.  The setup looks like this:

Sometimes we are lucky and can use a cement lot in a churchyard or square. We spend the next several hours teaching the kids about hand washing and hygeine, colors, numbers, and a weekly lesson (this week is modes of transportation). We play with them, get and give lots of affection, and try to encourage virtues such as kindness, sharing, patience, and compassion. The children average around 3-5 years in age, though we have a few toddlers and a few preteens.

Around lunchtime we pack up to move to another location. We grab a quick lunch and then map a bus route to the next market where we do the whole thing over again. It's pretty cold out by now and it rains lightly most afternoons, but the children still come. By the time I am walking home in the late afternoon I'm soaked, filthy, and tired. But it's totally worth it.  Next week I am going to bring a small camera to the sites so you can meet some of the children. They are so sweet and adorable! I am also trying to setup up a way to receive donations of items by mail here at the office. I noticed many children are wearing extremely ill fitting shoes or even sandals in this freezing weather. I'll post more info on that as it develops, but I see a shoe drive in the near future.

Getting Started

Hola!

So I got here with minimal disruption and met me host family last night. My host mom's name is Carmen, and is a warm and kind, and speaks no English. Thankfully I have her daughter Sophia, a college student, to help me with my painfully elementary Spanish.

Today was my orientation. I met other volunteers and received the details of my placement.  We will be working directly in the streets with children who spend their days selling wares in the open markets. These children begin their days at 4 am when they begin bringing and setting up goods in the market.  They then sell there until well into the evening, often returning home after 9pm (Often this 'home' is little more than a shared shelter).  The Organization I am with comes to the market and sets up an area where we provide care, teaching, and love to the children everyday. Many of them are woefully behind both educationally and developmentally. Part of what the organization does is to help transition the children from the street into public schools. We help with homework after school and also strive to teach them proper hygiene such as hand washing and tooth brushing.

I meet with my group tomorrow morning to pick up supplies and head to the markets to meet the children. I'm very excited about meeting them and look forward to helping them as best I can. Thanks again to everyone for the love, support, and donations. I can't wait to put it all to good use!