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Some really great kids need your help…

I am writing this post solely in regards to helping out some kids in my community gain an education that is extremely difficult for people here to attain. There are a few kids in my community that I would really like to help – with the help of friends and family from home – finish high school. Because we live in such a rural area the students who want to go to high school have to travel an hour by bus every day to school. In addition to paying bus fare they also have to buy uniforms, supplies and pay a matricula fee at the high school. Cost for a high school eduction is about $200 a student. Below is some more detailed information about a few of the kids I really want to help out…..

Angel Ulloa is 13 years old and has a heart of gold. From the first days of my arrival in Estero de Platano he was always making the effort to talk to me, even when my Spanish was absolutely horrible. He has the most lovely smile that when he smiles at you, you can do nothing but give a him the biggest, most genuine smile back. His name Angel really is perfect for him. In class he was always the first one to participate, when all the other students were giving me a blank stare thinking… ¨what does this gringa want us to do?¨ He has just completed 7th grade and will be starting high school this year. He lives with his mom, brother and 2 sisters. Without a father in the house they have little to no income. They live in a one bedroom house with the family squeezing into 2 beds at night. The mom makes monthly trips to Esmeraldas to collect the government bono of $30 a month. Other than that they have no income. One of her hands is crippled which makes it impossible for her to work efficiently in the farm and doing other housework.  Angel has been working hours and hours a day this summer vacation on a farm for un señor.   His pay is very little and he is working so hard.  Everyday though he comes to my house to talk about his day with excitement… stories of horses, cows and his 2 hour trips by horseback into the woods.  High school starts in one month and his family is still uncertain how they will pay for their school.

Jairon Moreno, 12 years old
Jairon is another one of my best buds in Estero. He also has a smile that can bring tears to your eyes. He has so little but yet is such a happy kid, always giggling and playing around. He is one of the few 100% afro-ecuadorians in my community and everyone calls him negro. In general the people here are extremely racist against the afro-ecuatorians. And even though he says it doesn´t bother him I can see the hurt and embarrassment in his eyes when they call him that.  I get so angry.  He also lives with just his mom and works hard every day selling mangoes, avocados and other various fruits to make ends meet. His mother is very unhealthy with heart problems due to her extreme obesity. Her ankles get so swollen from working the farm that she can´t walk at night. He has also just finished 7th grade and will be entering high school. His father lives in the next town but has such a problem with crack and alcohol that doesn´t help financially with Jairon. His mom finally left him a couple years ago because she couldn´t handle the constant physical abuse that surrounded her daily life.

Katie Rios, 13 years old
Aaah Katie. Beautiful, sweet girl that is stuck between holding onto her childhood and becoming a mujer. She is definitely feeling the pressures from Latin American sexual culture. Most girls become pregnant from an older novio by the time they are 15 years old. Katie has just graduated 7th grade and has begun wearing the short, short skirts, the make-up and the provocative appearance. I am sooo worried about her. I want to help her keep her focus on education and keep her from following the footsteps of her sister and mother. Her older sister had her first child at 15…. 4 children later and Magali is without husband and struggling with how to raise these four children. They all live in the same house with her brother, cousin, parents, 4 children, uncle… in total 11 people struggling together with the small income that they bring in from selling the occasional produce from their farm and the govt bono of $30.   The father is an extreme alcoholic spending the little money they do get on booze.

These stories are just snapshots of some of the situations of people here in Estero de Platano. People have very little income and no opportunity for jobs. They are a product of a corrupt government that has neglected them for generations.  They can´t leave Estero to move to a bigger city because their land and farms are here. They keep having children because they don´t practice safe sex.  Alcoholism is rampant and the machismo culture continues to oppress the women.  The children, they are the future, they will be the ones to change life here.  The cyles of violence, teenage pregancy, poverty, alcoholism will not break without education. I truly believe that is the only way to make a difference and change the only ways they know how to live… by giving them more education to open their minds and learn that there are other options and ways to live your life. If you can donate anything to help change the life of some of these children I and those who are helped will be forever grateful.

Click on the paypal account in at the top of my blog to donate a little something.

Muchisimas gracias,

Katie

PCV Ecuador

Saying Goodbye….

Friends Alison and Austin just left from a wonderful 4 day visit. I was a bit nervous before they arrived worried that the place that I live in would not be comfortable for them. Life here is so far from life in the US and wasn´t sure how friends from home would acclimate to it all. My preocupations were silly because everything was great. And they were more comfortable then I would have imagined. It was really great sharing my life and experiences here with people from home. There is no way to really explain what I see, live and experience on a daily basis unless you see it for yourself. Thank you Alison and Austin for being so flexible and positive. I had a great time. It was so fantastic seeing familiar faces from home and although I am feeling homesick now I know that this is still where I belong for now.

Hello world!

Bienvenidos to La Katita blog….  this is where i will keep you up to date on my life here in Estero de Platano, Ecuador.  If you are wondering what La Katita means… it is a name that some of my friends call me in Estero.  It literally means little katie…

I have been living in Estero for 10 months now.  I live in a little house with a thatch roof near the beach.  The family that lives next door to me takes very good care of me and are always there checking in on me.  It is nice to have a family close but also lovely to have my own space.  They are always bringing me various foods such as, ceviche, arroz con leche or the random mango every once in a while.   They think that I can´t cook and still don´t understand why a 31 year old woman is living alone without husband or baby…  they definitely think I am weird… yet entertaining. 

I have this weird habit lately of leaving my key in the padlock on my door when I leave my house.  Denni (my neighbor) who always seems to be watching me will run over and grab it and hold onto it.  Then she watches me as I look and look for my key in my bag and finally asks ¨Donde esta tu llave Katie?¨ smiling her big lovely smile and I know I have done it again!!  yes they definitely think i am a crazy gringa….