Our programs are designed by local experienced Ecuadorian teachers and social workers, and carried out with the help of volunteers from around the world. Led by Monica Rivadeneira, our Ecuadorian staff understands Quito and the population with which they work. Our volunteers play a pivotal role as well by contributing their generosity, knowledge, experiences, and support.
UBECI created its first program, “Academic and Social Support”, in 2003. This program was directed at rural populations living outside of Quito, Ecuador. In 2004, “We Play, Do, Learn” was created to work with child laborers on the streets of Quito. In 2005, both the Summer Program and the “Intervention, Rescue and Education” Program were implemented to focus on at-risk street children.
Our current projects include Working Children Programs (street children and child laborers), After School Support Program (rural academic support), Summer Project (rural summer program), and English Classes. These programs focus on the needs of the children, providing equal access to activities that encourage social participation, values, education, health, self-esteem, trust, and family.
To learn more about these specific programs, please visit our Programs page.
OUR GOALS FOR UBECI CHILDREN
- To reduce their working hours
- To teach them:
- academic and social skills needed to succeed as adults
- lessons on good nutrition and hygiene
- To provide them medical care when needed
- To enroll them in school and track their progress so that they will complete their primary and secondary studies and eventually enroll in universities
- To give academic assistance to children in rural underserved communities
OUR PROCESS
At UBECI, we begin our work by conducting need assessments of the children we serve and their families. We look closely at rural areas as well as at different sectors of the city to reach out to the children and their families. After we have established a relationship with these families, we use the data we have collected and the fieldwork we have conducted to design social projects targeted at that group of children. Our primary goal is to reduce their working hours and to provide childhood development activities. We also work with schools, health centers, shelters, and other services accessible to the families in the areas we serve to build collaborative relationships and to better assist the children and their families.
With the help of international volunteers, we work to ensure that every child in our program has a safe environment to develop social skills and a positive identity. Our education programs cultivate their love of learning and encourage them to enroll and stay in school. Our social programs bring them the healthcare services that they lack. UBECI then follows up with these children in school to provide them with continual support throughout their schooling. Our work strives to break the cycle of poverty these children live in and offers them an opportunity to become self-sufficient, productive citizens.