Education for Ecuador is a Not-for-Profit Association founded to facilitate the creation of sustainable communities and invest in social capital in Guamote, Ecuador, in partnership with the Non-Government Organisations or Not for Profit Organisations and/or the communities themselves. Our first partnership is with Inti Sisa, (Sunflower Centre), a community education and tourism project run by local people in Guamote.
Amongst the women selling to tourists in such picturesque locations, you will find little girls like the one in the picture above. Only two, she already knows how to charge tourists to take her picture. However, she may never go to school. As she lives in rural Ecuador, there are 26 chances in 100 that she will marry young enough to be defined as a "child marriage." Infant mortality is high and maternal health can be poor. Research has consistently found that the most effective way to change societies, improve health, decrease infant mortality and drop the birth rate is to educate girls and young women. Education for Ecuador, whilst supporting both sexes, will support the inclusion of girls in primary and secondary education through Inti Sisa, which has been established in Guamote for a decade, has strong links in the community and which is working with that community to build a strong, environmentally sustainable economy.
Our Statement of Purpose, as found in the Proposed Rules for Incorporation are as follows:
- To facilitate the creation of sustainable communities and invest in social capital, in partnership with local non-profit organisations and/or the communities themselves.
- The enable affirmative action especially for the education of girls and young women, but without excluding suitable boys and young men.
- The assist communities toward self-sufficiency.
- To encourage children in selected Victorian schools to communicate with the Project communities and, where possible, to support those communities in constructive and mutually helpful ways.
- To cooperate with relevant government and non-government agencies to further the intent of the association included under sections (1) and (2) of this statement.
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Because when my husband and I visited Inti Sisa our hearts were touched by the children and our minds impressed by the excellent work Inti Sisa is doing and how much they have accomplished. This was doubly so because my mother, Patricia Eileen Monaghan(née West), also had to leave school early to help support her family during the Great Depression. Her lack of education was something she has grieved throughout her life. Her siblings, her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren can think of no better way to honour her and enshrine her memory than to help families and their children create a future for themselves, to facilitate the creation of sustainable communities and invest in social capital.
"If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls."
- Greg Mortenson in Three Cups of Tea: One man's mission to promote peace one school at a time, Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Viking, 2006)
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If not you, then who? If you are reading this on a computer, you are one of the most privileged people in the world! We ask you to join us in giving the gift of education to some of these children. Education is for life in every sense. It has a snowball effect for the whole community. It not only enhances the life of one child, but the well-being of the family, improving access to resources, enhancing earning capacity and occupational choices, and so strengthening the whole community be increasing economic options.
Educational programs and self-help projects have the capacity to help combat malnutrition, develop an economy still dependent on subsistence farming, and increase especially the well being of women and children. In the rural mountains of Ecuador, in Guamote, there are still children who are illiterate and may never attend school because they are kept at home to mind younger brothers and sisters or to help in the fields. In an area where infant mortality is still high, where medical resources are limited and the birth rate much higher than the national average, education is proven to be one of the most significant factors in reducing the birth rate and improving infant mortality and thus contributing indirectly to maternal health.
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Join our Association
Click here to become a member. This is an excellent option that will keep you at the heart of our progress. Short of cash to donate extra at the moment? Why not join us as a volunteer? If you think you are too insignificant to make a difference, then you've never been in bed with a mosquito!
Donate Now!
Click here to make a donation. The price of a coke and an ice cream at the movies is about AU$7.50! Add the price of the ticket and you won't see much change from $20.00. Forgo one movie and you will help our educational fund grow and become a member of our online community. Get 10 of your mates to contribute the same, and you'll have contributed 50% of the annual amount needed to keep a child at school for one year. If you enjoy dining out with a bottle of fine wine, consider donating the cost of one dinner. Get a group to join you and if you collect $400.00 you can keep one child at school for a year.
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