Secondary Education/Vocational Training & School Vegetable Gardens in Babahoyo, Ecuador

The 2 projects being supported in Ecuador are under those under the educational initiative and supervision of the Basque Missionary Group through their partnership with the local government and parish church.

The Vocational School

The school was able to build at least 2 toilets for use of the students.

7 students are given transportation allowance for the entire school-year.

13 volunteer teachers are given honorariums.

School desks, sewing machine, and other tools for the vocational hairdressing classes were purchased.

The school, Nuestra Señora de Fátima Academy has been operating for the last 43 years. It is licensed by the government as a partnership with the Parish Church Nuestra Senora de la Merced, to supplement a 3-year secondary education where students earn 50% of the required 6 credits per year of education.

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, servicing the communities within the cathedral’s jurisdiction, offers morning classes in General Mechanics and Automotive Mechanics to boys, and afternoon classes in Hair Styling, Dressmaking and Literacy to 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.

Medical Service Needs – Babahoyo, Ecuador

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 – Babahoyo, Ecuador

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 – Babahoyo, Ecuador

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.

For more information or donation, please contact
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

There are 235 boys in the Automotive and General Mechanics Classes

138 girls are in Dressmaking and Hairdressing Classes and 50 in Adult Literacy Class.

Class Schedule - Babahoyo, Ecuador Vocational School

The School Vegetable Gardens

The project began in May 2006 planting season. The fruit and vegetable nurseries are organized as training laboratories to teach:

Incorporate training in school curricula, use the fresh produce to augment school cafeteria, and distribute seedlings to the students for their backyard farming.

Partner with families to allot a portion of their farm for the nursery.

Two hundred thirteen (213) girls and boys and their families will be involved in the pilot 6 community schools of the Catholic Church of San Lorenzo de Vinces

Profile: Vinces, Ecuador

Regional Data

The city of Vinces is situated on the left side of the river that carries the same name, southwest of the province of de los Ríos. It is 54 kms. from the town of Babahoyo, with a territorial extension of 692.7 sq.km.

Boundaries:
North: Mocache region and Quevedo
South: Baba region and Guayas province
East: Baba region, Ventanas and Pueblo Viejo
West: Guayas province

Total area: 692.7 sq.km., Regional Cabecera 5 sq.km., Rural sector 686 sq.km.
Antonio Sotomayor Parish: 1 sq.km.

The climate is tropical, moderately humid, with rains of the seasonal amazonic kind; in the winter it is affected by the east winds which blow from the north to the south.
From May to October, the temperature ranges between 20ºC and 32ºC. The high temperatures are from October to May when they oscillate between 26ºC and 38ºC.
The annual average of rainfall is between 1,500mm and 2,000 mm.

Climatic areas:

According to the Holdrige triangle, the region belongs to the ecological area, with tropical humid forest; there being a large section of plains. Slimy, sandy ground; nearly the major part of the region has this type of slimy, sandy ground –this being common in dry, tropical places like: Antonio Sotomayor, Poza Seca, and the sector of Abras de Mantequilla.Firm, sandy ground; this is mainly found along the edge of the river that exists in the region.The sources of supply of potable water for the city of Vinces are the Vinces River or the superficial and subterranean waters of Vinces.The Vinces River has a water flow 200 times bigger than the needed water flow, even in the most critical periods of summer. Nevertheless, its waters don’t have the optimum quality and are constantly threatened by the new industries and the use of fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides in the intensely exploited agricultural area.

Rivers: Vinces River Springs: Bobo River, Mastrantal River
The quality of the water is good except for its iron concentration which is slightly high.

Demographics

The social characterization of the population of Vinces, according to the data taken by the 6th Census of the population and the 5th Housing survey of 2001, is that Vinces is mainly populated by mulattos, with a total number of 61,565 inhabitants distributed in the following manner:

Region Total population Urban population Rural population

Men Women
Men Women
Men Women
Vinces 32,247 29,318 11,763 11,954 20,484 17,364
Total 61,565 23,717 37,848

The community is organized in nucleus-type spaces which correspond to concentrated and populated centers, leaving big areas for the use of prominently agricultural and cattle raising activities.

The totality of the population distributed in the 692.7 sq.km. area has a density of 88.9 inhabitants per sq.km., that is, 7.8 inhabitants per each hectare of land.

Total population of the region 61,565
inhabitants = 100%
poverty = 83.4%
basic necessities not covered 76.75%

Urban population of the region 23,717
inhabitants = 43%

poverty = 60% basic necessities not covered 53.5%

Rural population of the region 37,848
inhabitants = 57%
percentage of poverty 80%
basic necessities not covered 100%

The creation of the School Vegetable Gardens in the 6 pilot barrios of Vinces, under the supervision of the Catholic School of San Lorenzo will be a 2 school-year duration after which the project becomes self-sustaining.