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Volunteer Abroad with Children in an Orphanage in Quito providing a home for abused children whose parents are in prison.
Volunteers provide basic childcare, help with homework, and activities such as English, art, sport, games or music.
Description of Project
The orphanage project is in the heart of Quito in a busy residential area. The orphanage provides a home for approximately fifty
children aged 1 to 17 years. They have a parent (often a single mother) who is serving time in prison. Without the project the
children are obliged to stay in prison with their mothers, lead a life of destitution on the streets, or unfortunately return to
live in abusive family situations.
The centre does what it can to provide meals, care, love and attention for the children that live in dormitories in the centre. Lack
of funding has led to the closure of alternative local services so this project has taken in as many children as it can cope with and
can only operate a reduced service at weekends. The centre is very short staffed to care for this many children so volunteers are
essential.
The centre is currently based in a spacious church building which is in need of livening up. There is also a large courtyard and
garden which is disused due to lack of staff resources. The children require stimulation, love and opportunities to go outside of the
centre for fun and to access healthcare for which they need adult volunteers to accompany them.
"We could make a small contribution to improving these children's lives by
making their surroundings more friendly. The buildings are white and cold and a bright, colourful
mural would really brighten things up. We are also planning to do activities with the children during
our stay, making friendship bracelets, cooking basic treats and art. Making things for each individual
child is important because in a children's home, they share everything. Making private items for
themselves to enjoy alone would be a rewarding contribution for us to make. I love this place."
Daisy. Orphanage Volunteer
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Summary
- Project Code:
E16
- Main Activity of Project:
Volunteer childcare and teaching in prison orphanage. Love, attention, games,
help with home work, basic welfare and education.
- Minimum Period of Stay:
Three weeks.
- Cost:
One month: £1330.
Three months: £2965.
For full details of our prices please see our costs page.
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Articles / Volunteer Evaluations
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Monthly Report - Orphanage
This orphanage is more of a home for children unitl their mothers are released
from prison or until they are old enough to leave. The kids are very well looked
after, with lots of meals, school help (they even have a pyschologist that works
there!) and attention. Our day starts by getting on a bus from Supermaxi in Quito
until we get to Selva Algre. We then catch another, very rickety, old bus up dirt
tracks to a village called San Fernando. From there we walk 5 minutes to the
Foundation. The children rang from about 4-15 years old. They are there because
there mothers are in prision and there fathers left them when they were little.
The children are divided into houses and each house has a 'tia' who looks after
them. When we arrive we are greeted by all the children who run up to us and give
us a kiss on the cheek! I am in Casa uno and the first thing we do is wash the
childrens clothes by hand. This can take a while as some of the little kids are
really slow! There are 9 children in my house and they are adorable! After washing
clothes, we sit down at the table and they have lunch. From about 2 til 3 in the
afternoon, they go outside and play. I go with them and push them on the swings or
play with the skipping rope we bought them. At 3 o clock its time for homework.
This can take 2 hours at least as the kids seem to get a lot of it! This can be
quite boring as most of them dont need help with it. We have also made chocolate
krispies with them which was fun. However the kids didnt really say thank you and
were more interested in taking as much of it as they could. We were all really
surprised as we thought they would be more grateful. We also bought thread to
make friendship bracelets. This was a similar story in that although they loved
making them, they were very adamant that they should be given more and more string
to make more bracelets with, rather than being thankful for what they had. I
suppose it comes from being always in a large group of children which whom they
normally have to share everything with, it makes them possessive of the things
that they can have for themselves.
Now we have been there a few weeks we have settled in and are enjoying it much
more. The children do seem very happy to see us everyday and love playing with us.
We organised teaching the adults and teenagers on wednesday mornings which has
been really rewarding. The tias and tios are really enthusiastic to learn english
and put a lot of effort into it. We plan our lessons the day before so we have
some structure to the lessons. I have probably enjoyed this the most as it makes
us feel useful and appreciated.
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Evaluation by Sophie Wren
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Volunteer Responsibilities / Activities
This is a humanitarian project in need of help. You will organize activities, play with the children and provide them with love care
and attention and help with education. In addition to play and education volunteers help children with their domestic chores, meals,
washing, homework, take children to school and help teach on a one to one basis. If you have art, sports, games, music, or simply don't
mind getting your hands and knees dirty, the children with love you. Volunteering with children in this gap year orphanage project is
challenging and rewarding. You will be given plenty of encouragement and support from our local volunteer coordinator.
Accommodation / Food / Language / Time Off
You work 5 days a week with the opportunity to work weekends if you choose. Accommodation is with our coordinator in a comfortable
family home in Quito close to the Spanish School.
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