This month we worked with the Starfish Foundation. They sponsor Ecuadorian children to be able to purchase school supplies, uniforms, and basic needs. The organization also provides tutoring, a variety of clubs, English classes, and opportunities to develop critical thinking skills. Since the location of the foundation is in a low economic area in Guayaquil, the goal is to give students the necessities and skills needed to become successful and break the “norms” of the community.
Jenn, the founder of the foundation, proposed an interesting project for our team: to begin interviewing the students, similar to the very popular Humans of New York project. As we started interviewing different students, our team found ourselves inspired by their prospects and, well, I thought you might be, too.
So, here are some of the most inspiring students we have had the privilege of meeting this month in Ecuador.
- Genesis
“I would say an obstacle for me is that my parents do not ever congratulate me or give me any positive feedback when I have done something well in school. I find it difficult that they do not support my education. To be honest, that is actually the hardest thing for me, not having the support of my parents. Even though my parents don’t show their support when it comes to my education I still love them.”
- Itaty
“My parents have always said to follow what I want. They encourage me to keep studying. They are not able to give me everything I want because of our economic situation but they say, ‘If you want to study you have to do it yourself.’ If I tell my dad I want some shoes, he would tell me, ‘You can buy them yourself, it doesn’t make sense for us to spend money on them.’ They tell me to work for things. This advice is good and I know it is because if my dad tells me to do something I have to do it because he is my dad and he is older than me. He is 40 years old. He has been through what I am going through and he wants me to do what he could never do.”
- David
“In my life I am most thankful for my family. If it wasn’t for my family I would not be here. I believe I have the best family that anyone could have. My family always helps me with everything. If my house was burning I would choose to save my family.
“I would also choose to save important things for the house so they wouldn’t burn. For example, I would choose to save things like the kitchen so we could still cook. I would save the refrigerator. I would also save some clothes so we would all have something to wear. However, besides my clothes I would not choose to save any of my own personal belongings.”
- Oscar
“One thing I would like to change about Ecuador is all the robbery and murder. I would also like to change how people just throw their trash all over the ground. I also wish they would stop cutting down the trees.”
- Janilexis
“When I grow up I want to be a doctor. I want to help children that are sick, I like helping people. When I was younger I always loved to pretend to be a doctor. I know being a doctor won’t always be easy. I know that I will have to study a lot at University and I know that learning all the things I need to learn to be a doctor will be challenging. However, I know that with time and everything I will have been taught it will be much easier for me to help people more quickly.”
- Jelitza
“People younger than me should remember to put more effort into their studies and achieving their goals. If they think, ‘No, I can’t do it, I can’t do it,’ then they won’t be able to achieve anything. But if they think, ‘Yeah, I can do it,’ they’ll be able to do whatever they want.”
Financial Update: I am only $1,053 away from being fully funded! My deadline to have this money in is March 3.
