God didn't bring us all the way to Ecuador without a good reason - Day Three

This morning, Annie met us at our Hostal at 9:30 am for our tour to Duran which is across the bridge fro Guayaquil. Sonaly accompanied us (she is a volunteer here for 2 months working at the Foundation from Duke University). We met Pat McTeague at the Nuevo Mundo Preschool.

 She explained how and why she started the preschool. Duran is in a very poor, underdeveloped area. When she arrived in Ecuador in 1965, she had started out in Quito. She moved on to Guayaquil where she advocated for education as a way to help lift people out of poverty.

 She explained that mothers would lock their children in the homes during the day in order to go to work, there was no care for them. She she started the Preschool in a one room building. It has since been expanded to a larger compound with a playground.

She shared with us about some of the problems concerning the national education system, for instance the minister of education is an Economist and has no background in education. There are national standards which do not vary by province. Teachers are poorly trained and can not be fired. 

We had a tour of the classrooms where Nora led us in a rousing performing of "Marcheramos en la Luz de Dios" for the children. Following the tour of the Nuevo Mundo preschool in Duran, we went of a tour of Duran. The poverty there is striking. 

This is where many of Annie's staff live. The houses are made of bamboo and only last for between 5-10 years. 

Following our tour of Duran, we went back to the Foundation for lunch. 

Then the kids visited more with the patients, then we went to Nuevo Mundo school in Guayaquil. Pat met us there. The school is elementary for 10 years, then 3 years of preschool. The kids from Duran and the underdeveloped areas go to school there in the afternoon for $17/month and the more priviledged kids from Samboradon attend in the mornings for $500/month. 

Pat reminded us that now that we have seen the poverty of Duran, we can't sit idly by. We have to do something about it. We can't use our ignorance as an excuse. God didn't bring us all the way to Ecuador without a good reason. 

We capped the night off with dinner at a local restaurant, Aquacate (avocado) and ice cream at Fragolas.