My Community Service

As part of my study-abroad program, every student is required to do at least 3 hours a week of community service at a site of their choosing. The sites range from public hospitals to homeless shelters. I chose to work at a guardaria, or a public after school daycare. I work at a guardaria in Toctioco, a poor neighborhood in southern Quito. I go every Thursday from 1pm to 6pm and play with the kids and help them with their homework. I work with kids between the ages of 5 and 12, and a majority of them are Afro Ecuadorian or Indigenous. Toctioco is notorious for drugs and prostitution, and these kids grow up with the harsh realities of these byproducts of poverty. However, as you can tell from the pictures, they seem rather content with their humble lifestyles. Which is a lesson in it of itself.
To get to my community service, I take two busses for a total of 1 hour one way. My second bus winds up a steep mountain side in southern Quito. Below is a photo of the street that my guardaria is on.

This is the hill I climb every Thursday to get to my guardaria.
A beautiful view from the Guardaria, with the soccer field to the right.

Interestingly enough, in Ecuador, the poor live on the hillsides. Unlike the US, where views are prized and usually up the value of real-estate, hills like the previous picture are more of a burden. (understandably so, as cars have a very difficult time ascending those hills). That hill is mild compared to most in this neighborhood. Therefore, the flats are the chosen location of the wealthy.
Toctoico and the soccer field, taken from the eastern fence of the guardaria.

Another fantastic view from the guardaria

The Panecillo, A giant statue of the Virgin Mary. Visible from the playground of my guardaria.

The facility, by American standards, is extremely underfunded. As you can tell from the pictures, the facility is older and under supplied. There are stray dogs that run around the facility unattended. Organized activities are sparse due to the lack of funding. However, lunch and a snack is provided every day. And the food is good. So good that I opt out of eating lunch at home just so I could share it with the kids at work. Again, none of this seems to phase the kids.
The sala, or the main room where the kids do their homework.
This is the playground where the kids play. The soccer field is to the left.

The art room.

"Chaypi," as the kids call him. Chaypi is the resident stray dog that lives at the Guardaria. Strays are a huge problem in Toctoico as well as the rest of South America.
For fun, the boys throw rocks at Chaypi in order for him to chase them around the playgound. I was appalled at this, as the employees seemed to do nothing to stop it. One day, Chaypi had enough, and actually bit one of the children. The only reprimand by the staff was to put the dog outside. Talk about a different way of growing up.
My guardaria is part of a larger government system that provides subsidized after school programs for needy families. Most of these guardarias are in poorer neighborhoods like Toctoico, and due to socio-economic trends, institutionalized racism, and unstable government, a majority of the lower class has been consolidated into Afro Ecuadorians and Indigenous peoples. As a result, that demographic is primarily served by the public guardarias. Nonetheless, these kids seem very content with their lives. They are really glad to have volunteers like me who care about them. judging from the pictures, it's hard not to care about these little guys.



Me being goofy. Apparently the kid on the right thinks i'm crazy.

I taught the kids how to throw up a "peace sign."
The trend caught on.

Snack time!! Today was watermelon.

Hello? Are you there?

These two kids are inseperable.
mudballs from hell. I warned them if they dared throw one at me, there would be retaliation beyond their wildest dreams. The minute I turned my back, I got pelted with three.
Da homies.

study time!
Evelyn, the lady, who runs the guardaria.



The dining room. The kids are holding roses that they just made out of construction paper

One event in particular really made an impact on me. About two weeks ago, while I was working, I heard a few kids yelling about something. I ran over to investigate, only to find that about 4 police officers were searching a group of men on the soccer field that is adjacent to the guardaria. I asked the kids what was going on, and they casually told me "The police are searching for drugs. Those are drug dealers." None of the kids seemed phased by the incident, and none of the employees of the guardaria tried to shelter them from the incident. Judging from their reactions, it seemed as if that happened on a regular basis. It was a reality check for me to say the least.