Education for children in Ecuador

I hope all is well with you. It has been a great couple of months on the projects thanks to your generous donations. 

Our six local teachers continue giving classes in the school. Four of the teachers are part of our University programme where we help them with the cost of their studies in exchange for them teaching in the school. With this hands-on experience they should be able to find employment with the State once they graduate.

Mother's Day was celebrated in the school in May with lots of traditional dance, gifts and food. As is tradition the fathers do all the preparation and cooking for the mothers. This year the elderly members of the communities were invited too so they could all be involved with the activities.

Plan Moo is coming along well with purchasing of cows restarted. The current herd is growing with several previous cows into their second calving. The sales of milk are shared between the local family and helping to cover teachers’ costs. 

The land has been prepared and the seeds have been sewn in our 2½ acre (1 hectare) Plan Huerta bean crop. Leftover dried grass from the land clearing remains to protect the young shoots from the cold and the rain. Proceeds from this plan will be shared amongst the community who help out on the land and management costs of Plan Moo. 

For those of you in the UK we will be taking on the London Bridges Charity Challenge once again on Saturday 3rd August followed by a reunion in a pub. We plan to walk the fifteen bridges and 12 miles (20km) from Tower Bridge to Putney Bridge where we will have a Phoenix reunion in a pub there. 

As we tick off the bridges we will also take on the Phoenix treasure hunt to find objects and landmarks that are associated with our work in Latin America so feel free to bring the family too. Please let us know by emailing me on dom@thephoenixprojects.org if you are interested in joining us from the start, halfway or even just for the reunion in Putney. 

We still have extra spaces for the Patagonia Challenge in November so if you are interested please do let us know as we will need to know final numbers by September and for those of you with Instagram we recently started to update our account once again after a couple of years’ hiatus so please do seek us out on phoenix_flying_2020 

Have a great June

Cheers

Links:

• London Bridges Charity Challenge

I hope all is well with you. In Ecuador classes headed into the second half of the school year with a new printer and the house for the new family was finished with the materials for the roof purchased thanks to the Appeal. Work will begin shortly on securing a new area for a playground next to the school with a wall as well as a school vegetable garden for daily meals. 

A new sustainable Plan Huerta (vegetables) in a fifth community producing beans has started on a 2½ acre piece of land and aims to provide part-time income for several members of the community as well as income for the management of Plan Moo as the herd continues to grow.

Celebración de la Lengua Materna – Kichwa del Pueblo Otavalo (celebration of the mother tongue – Kichwa) was held in the school. In Ecuador Pawkar Raymi and Muchuk Nina were celebrated giving thanks to Pachamama (Mother Earth) for the flowering of crops and the upcoming harvests of grains. Fanesca was also prepared by the parents for Semana Santa (Easter) which is a soup made from a variety of ingredients including beans, grains, fish, eggs and many others.

The parents got together for a minga this month and the whole school was disinfected, all the windows cleaned and small paint jobs were undertaken. Preparation for the new school vegetable garden was also started with lots of earth removed and new darker earth brought in before sowing.

As you can see we've had a great start to the year and to help us continue our work over the next few months GlobalGiving will be matching all donations up to $50/£40 by 50% this week (Monday 8th - Friday 12th April) whilst available funds last as part of their Little By Little Campaign which is a fantastic opportunity for the projects. If you can donate anything this week to take advantage of the matching, thank you so much in advance. 

It goes without saying that you cannot study on an empty stomach though the vast majority of the families where we work cannot provide much more than the absolute basics at home, usually a few boiled or dried potatoes or noodles in hot water with some herbs. Some governments have become more proactive with school meals over the years by providing some supplies like rice and beans though these generally run out well before the next delivery.

We have seen the success of the Plan Huerta that we started in Perú in 2022 with Impington International College. The government sends doctors each year to check on the children’s basic health and whilst most are underweight and anemic the levels of chronic malnutrition have reduced.

Our school Plan Huertas aim to provide sufficient vegetables sustainably for the students on a daily basis with any extra used to barter for other products which cannot be grown or shared with the families to eat at home. Our larger plans, like the one we are starting in Ecuador this month, aim to provide part-time employment for members of the community throughout the year whilst generating income to cover other project costs. 

For those of you with Instagram we have started to update our account once again after a couple of years’ hiatus so please do seek us out on phoenix_flying_2020

We are nearing capacity for the Patagonia Charity Challenge (please follow the link below for details and costs) which is raising money for all the projects so if you are interested in joining us in November 2024 please do let us know by emailing info@thephoenixprojects.org 

We will also be taking on the London Bridges Charity Challenge again on Saturday 3rd August followed by a reunion in a pub. If you are interested in getting involved with the bridges or just coming to the reunion afterwards please do let us know by writing to the email shown above!  

All the best for April.

Cheers

Links:

• Charity Challenges 2024