Child sponsorship update from Portoviejo, Ecuador

Update for child sponsors from the SOS Children's Village Portoviejo, Ecuador from November 2008.

Dear sponsors!

It’s a pleasure to be able to inform you the news of these last months, and to help you to know more about the work we’re doing in this village, which at the moment gives family-based care to 87 boys, girls and youth. On May, we opened a new family with a group of 5 siblings and the young SOS mom Elsy received all the necessary training for a year to be able to take care of a family. We carried out a welcome party for these 5 kids, together with all the community. Néxar, aged only 3, is the youngest of this group and everybody is delighted with his charm. His sister Isabela, 5, is a very cheerful girl, sociable and independent. Laura (11) is the oldest and a great athlete and orator. She also received this year the great honor to be the standard-bearer of the National flag, because she was the best student of her school. Kelvin, aged 10, is an excellent soccer player and we’re supporting him to continue developing his skills in this sport. Alan (7) is a very adroit drawer besides his incredible skill to tell jokes. Unfortunately, Alan suffers of a renal disease and he must get permanent care and treatment. The village is taking the responsibility to give him all the required medical care to keep him stable.

The adolescents continue getting prepared in their educational processes where they receive informative talks about sexuality, vocational orientation and human values. They are also part of an external group called SEC, where they get training about leadership (on Saturdays) and our youth have also joined other groups in our community to carry out meetings and parties. Besides that, inside their formation they are carrying out productive businesses in their SOS families. In mom Darleny’s family, 4 girls are getting prepared for their independent life and they’re starting a bakery project. They received training in bakery and pastry, together with their SOS mom. They’re already selling their products inside the village community and in the neighborhood. The earnings will serve for the four ladies and we hope that this business will grow even more!!! The other families are rearing pigs, chicken and they’re selling sweets. They all are projects carried out by youth in pre-independence stage with the guide and support from their SOS moms. Also, some of our talented pre-adolescents and youth are embroidering rugs, making pillows, necklaces, wristlets and baskets to sell in the fairs and get money for their savings. We feel really happy to see such creative initiatives in our boys and girls!

Children growing up at Portoviejo, Ecuador

We are glad to tell you that Elsy, (our blind girl) received this year at school, the great honor to be standard-bearer of Portoviejo’s flag. She also received a complete scholarship for her studies in the technical high school “Manabí” for the next school year. We all are very happy with this achievement!! Likewise, Omar, Bartolo, Cecilia and Laura were selected to escort the different flags at their schools, due to their excellent grades!!

Jacinto and Jhon Jairo, our former villagers, are doing very well: they’re working and studying. Jacinto has grown a lot and he already prepares delicious recipes and is a great chef who is perfecting his skills. He showed such talent on Mother’s Day, when he put in practice, all that he have learned. He cooked, together with other youth of the village a great dinner and they even made an awesome decoration of the tables. It was a wonderful celebration. It was very pleasing to assist to this surprise-dinner which was prepared for the youth in honor of their mothers, it was an unforgettable gift!!

July and August were very important months for the village. We celebrated the integration party with the biological family of our kids. We also organized the annual bazaar and we received the support of many people of the area. It was a very happy day for all the participants.

On September, the former village directress, Soledad Freire, left this village to assume a new challenge inside our organization. After some years of good job, now she is the leader the SOS Children’s Village in Quito. In October, and after some years leading the family strengthening programs in our province, Martha Zambrano took the responsibility to direct all the SOS programs in Portoviejo. We wish both of them great success in their new functions!!

Community projects for children at Portoviejo, Ecuador

Our social centre located in San Alejo, cares 90 boys and girls from poor families of that neighborhood. We have also extended our service to more families, thanks to the two childminding programs. The childminding programme in Mejía looks after 50 boys and girls and in Paján are cared 80. In total 220 children being benefited. They receive daily care while their parents work; besides feeding, stimulation of their skills and medical care, their older siblings (schoolchildren) get the service of task-driven support. In Picoazá, another impoverished parish in Manabí’s province, we’re setting up a new childminding programme, thanks to governmental support. Now we are improving infrastructure to be able by year 2009 to extend our service to more children. Our goal is to start year 2009 with 50 boys and girls cared in the SOS childminding programme in Picoazá. Now, we have committed the technical support to reach this goal and the government has already started improving the place to be suitable for the care of children aged between 0 - 5 years. Herewith we will reach to 270 children being cared and protected in our family strengthening programs in Manabí province.

Now, we are starting to plan the Christmas and New Year’s celebrations with some activities because the time runs fast and we have to hurry.

We hope that this short news will be pleasing to you. We won’t say goodbye without express our deep gratitude on behalf of all the members of the SOS programs in Portoviejo. Thanks for the help that you offer us everyday!! We rely on you to continue with this work and with the mind set in our permanent goal: boys, girls and adolescents with a fitting life and being happy.

Hoping that these Christmas and New Year’s holidays will fill your homes of happiness, peace and a lot of God blessings and that during all year 2009 your goals and dreams may become true!

With a warm greeting!

Martha Zambrano
SOS Programmes in Portoviejo Directress