Secondary Education/Vocational Training in Babahoyo, Ecuador

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	The school, Nuestra Señora de Fátima Academy has been operating for the last 43 years. It is licensed by the government to supplement a 3-year secondary education where students earn 50% of the required 6 credits per year of education. (students, left)

The school combines vocational training to students to afford them the option to earn a living after finishing their education. Or, they can continue to complete the required 50% school credit in another town to complete their secondary education. The school is housed on the grounds of the Catholic Cathedral of Babahoyo.

The Academy, using the Iglesia Catedral’s locales within the city, offers morning classes in General Mechanics and Automotive Mechanics to 300 boys, and afternoon classes in Hair Styling, Dressmaking and Literacy to 180 girls. It so happens that a great majority of the students are poor country people who, oftentimes, have problems of attendance for lack of transportation money.

Vocational Training Tools and Equipment

The mechanic workshop has such tools as: electric and self-generated solder, emery, metal sheet and tube bender, drill, metal clipping, toolbox with wrenches, hammer, pliers, screwdrivers, saw. Recycled iron is used as raw material. Recently some of the equipment has been stolen: a solder, emery, drill, lathe and anvil. In the girls’ academy there are 5 sewing machines, 4 pairs of scissors, 8 measuring tapes and a hair dryer.

The Iglesia Catedral helps provide scholarship to some 18 boys and youths so that they can go to school and avail of all educational benefits. Right now 18 young people are being helped, but the number is countless.

Class Schedule

• Schoolyear is from April – January
• Morning: 300 boys from 14-19 of age, learn Automotive Mechanic and General Mechanics.
• Afternoon: 80 girls from 14-20 of age, learn Haristyling; and 58 girls learn Dressmaking.
• Evening: 50 youths and adults learn basics literacy skills of reading and writing.
• Morning/Afternoon clases are 5 hours each or a total of 200 hours yearly. Evening clases are 3 hours daily
• Professors: 13 professors, 8 of whom are without pay, 5 profesores are each paid $8/mo.
• Matriculation is $1/student and monthly tuition is $2.
• Many are unable to pay the monthly fees. These are extremely poor and many travel from the barrio to the city transportation cost of additional $1.
• Additional studies given are: Historia y Geografia, Legislacion Laboral, Aresanal, Cooperativismo, Matematica, Ciencias Naturales, Ciencias Sociales y Civica.

Medical Service Needs

The Iglesia Cathedral has 2 medical dispensaries in 2 marginal urban areas where they charge $1 for treatment and medicine is given at half price. This work is indispensable since the social security service is economically pitiable.

Often when the floods come, which is often, farmers get bitten by poisonous snakes (called "X") and need antidotes to these seizures. Most often there are none available in the hospitals, and the church leaders have to help and request these from overseas, resulting in loss of funds on their part since, normally the farmers are in no position to pay for them.

Social Service Needs

Visits to the Babahoyo jail are conducted once a week, or more, attending to the prisoners’ legal situation as well as to their spiritual, medical and other needs. All these social and medical aids to the prisoners call for economical assistance.

The parish has trained 60 health auxiliaries to reach rural and far-flung areas to provide first aid and medicine for a low fee. They also do preventive medication and organize lectures on the benefits of health care and nutrition. All these require financing.

Housing Needs

There is a housing agency that sells prefab houses made of wood, cane and zinc costing $440 each –payable with a monthly installment in 3 years. We accompany the agency during their collection round for payments in arrears, interceding on behalf of those unable to pay up. We have to work hand in hand with the agency or they will not want to sell to the country people- these usually living in distant places, far from one another and, in general, being poor creditors.

The Iglesia Cathedral employs 2 women who receive a monthly incentive of $25 each to help coordinate the social and housing cases within the parish’s territorial responsibility.

(Sgd.)Fr. Joaquin Rodriguez
Parish Priest
Iglesia Catedrdal
Parroquia Nuestra Señora de la Merced
Casilla No. 12.01.014
Telefono 593.5.730.032
Babahoyo, Ecuador
E-mail: liviza@hotmail.com

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