School 49 :  Pan Y Miel South Quito

Pan Y Miel

In my last film I mentioned that I was meeting many wonderful people on my journey, this was true of my first visit to Ecuador.

I travelled to the south of Quito, the capital of Ecuador and here I met an amazing group of women. I was introduced to Rosalia Luna and her team....

Just over 2 years ago a group of 5 women were anxious about the children in their community, many of the children in the community, were living impoverished lives, were victims of violence, abuse, neglect and drugs, many of them lived and were worked on the streets to stay alive and care for themselves and their younger siblings. In the words of these remarkable women they were "children with no childhood, no hopes, no dreams, no laughter.

And so began the dream of "Pan Y Miel " ..... After much discussion and reflection, these women decided to put ideas into actions, to try to make a difference and bring some bread and honey into the lives of these children.

They started making jewelry and flowers to raise money to start a foundation school, they "borrowed" a room in one of the parents house and began a school encouraging the children in the neighbourhood to attend, initially children were encouraged to sing, dance and paint, to laugh, to smile, to be children again and so began the Pan Y Miel Foundation school.

Soon the numbers began to swell and so did the demands on these remarkable women, but not being undone they set about borrowing more rooms in the house and transforming them into classrooms and learning areas. Now the foundation has over 100 children attending and employs 9 qualified teachers. How ? - is remarkable ..... they set a fee of $12 (USD) per child per month to help cover costs, but because of the livlihood of this neighbourhood only 40% of the children are able to pay.... the remainder is gathered through fund raising .... producing jewelery and synthetic flowers which they would love to export to other craft shops around the world.

I arrived to be greeted by children of all ages with smiles as big as rainbows, hugs as big as teddy bears and songs that could lift even the lowest spirits on a damp day. My Spanish was miniscule and the younger children were amused by my lack of intelligible conversation and eagerly tried to improve my conversational Spanish and practice their English speaking skills. We spent a wonderful day sharing ideas and experiences, these bundles of energy even taught me an Ecuadorian dance and for those that know me that is no mean feat. The children sang me an Ecuadorian song about how they would like to make a million friends around the world.... A million may be a bit ambitious so how about we try for 999,999 !

As I reflect on my visit to this pot of honey, I am amazed by how these magnificent 5 and team, have managed to put their dreams into reality and given these children back their childhood. The women are achieving their dream and now the children are begining to dream their dreams. The school is bursting at the seams and hope to expand into a proper school premises, they have achieved so much in such a short time, with very little resources. Imagine what they could achieve with a little bit of help ;0) !

Mucho Gracias - Pan Y Miel

Please contact Rosalia Luna at : panymiel_33@hotmail.com for more information

School 50 - Manteles Ecuador

Today was a special day for me, I have reached my 50th school!

The school is placed high on a mountain top in Manteles overlooking the Tungurahua Volcanoe

The school is situated in Hacienda Manteles and caters for the children of the workers and inhabitants of the Manteles area. I arrived at the school and was eagerly welcomed by a group of children singing the Ecuadorian National Anthem. Via a translator we eagerly swopped questions about our different parts of the world.

The children study all subjects of the curriculum they have an environmental garden and study the importance of ecology and the environment , this is especially important to these children and their community as not only to do they live and work of the land, they live in close proximity to the active Tungarhua Volcano. http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1502-08=

This area is an important area of out standing natural beauty close to the Amazonas and is it amazing to see how our actions around the world are efecting this niche of mother nature.

I was invited to the school by  Hacienda  Manteles http://www.haciendamanteles.com/

The staff here are  comitted to environmental and conservationalist education and work closely with the workers and inhabitants of this community to educate and preserve this wonderful biosphere.

I spoke at length with Cesar Duran who told me of his dreams to connect not only the children at the school to the International Community but the whole Community of Hacienda Mantelas. He welcomes visitors and all enquiries directed towards global education, environmental conservationism and global linking to Mara Clara Duran Calisto at info@haciendamanteles.com  for in Cesar's words :

" The future of our world may be in the hands of the children tomorrow but today it is in our hands"

I look  forward to returning to Manteles to see how their dream of creating an international community dedicated to education, conservation and the environment grows from strength to strength!

The Plaza- Foundation Hacienda Zuleta

http://www.zuleta.com/en/plaza-foundation.html

I visited 3 schools at Hacienda Zuleta as part of my visit to the Plaza-Foundation.

The  Galo Plaza Lasso Foundation was formed in 1995 to continue the legacy left behind by the beloved late ex-president. The organisation is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation that sponsors projects which benefit the community of Zuleta and its surrounding areas within the Imbabaura Province. The Foundation works to bring to fruition the empowerment and education of the local, mainly indigenous, population of the region surrounding Hacienda Zuleta

School 51: Jardin des Infantes - Plaza Pallares

I joined the young children in the local elementary school for a morning of fun and laughter.

This elementary school is situated in the small village community of Zuleta high in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. Spanish is the main language here and the children taught me through recitation and song the spanish alphabet, numbers and local songs. The school is growing and provides educational provision for pre schoolers prior to them attending the local governement primary school at Zuleta.

I had great fun at this rich vibrant elementary school and wish them all the best for the future!

School 52: Galo Plazza Lasso

Just opposite the elementary school is the local government funded primary school. I was warmly welcomed by staff and students at the school and given a guided tour of the schools facilities and curriculum provision by the principal. I have to give special thanks here to my guides and translators Geovanny Sanhana and Kathrin Overbeck for doing such a great job in acting as my translators to the schools  here in Zuleta

The schools first language is Spanish and they are keen to hear from any Spanish speaking schools around the world. Please contact them via info@zuleta.com

Thanks Guys for a wonderful visit! Mucho Gracias

School 53: Colegio Technico Agropecurio Zuleta

The  Colegio Tecnico Agropecuario Zuleta caters for students from the Cochabamba region . The colege is growing in size and stature and covers a range of skills both indidgenous and modern, including crop rotation, water purifucation, animal husbandry, medicinal crops,  dairy production and organic produce for the villagers and neighbouring Hacienda.

I had a great day at the colege which concentrates its efforts on regeneration, cultural heritage, environmental awareness and conservation. The skills and knowledge both past and present are in good hands here and it is great to know that it is being kept alive by the enthusiasm and comitment of its staff and students and with the help of the Galo Plaza Lasso Foundation .

Schools 54-55 Yachana Amazon

Schools 54 & 55 saw me travel deep into the Amazon Jungle up the Nappo river to visit the Yachana Foundation.

 www.yachana.org.ec