Sin Soluka Ecuador
Sin Soluka is a non-profit organisation in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. The organisation was founded in 2004 by an Ecuadorian psychologist, Dr.Mario Piedra. Sin Soluka makes it possible for children and adolescents to attend school, and the aim is that they should finish with a school leaving certificate. Currently the project is taking care of 280 children and adolescents and their families.
The project team in Ecuador
DR. MARIO PIEDRA (back left),
Overall responsibility and coordination
PAMELA OROZCO (front right),
Coordination and responsibility for kindergarten and first grade children, morning and afternoon
EDI LUNA (back middle),
Responsible for school support of the children in the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grades in the morning and the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades in the afternoon.
FRANKLIN PACHECO (front middle right),
Responsible for school support of the adolescents in 8th, 9th ,10th, 11th (high school diploma) and 12th (high school diploma) grades, mornings and afternoons
MARCOS PIEDRA (back right),
Responsible for school support of the adolescents in the 6th and 7th grades in the afternoon
RITA MORAN (front left),
Responsible for the kitchen and lunch
VERONICA SOLORZANO (front middle left), Responsible for cleaning
Sin Soluka Ecuador takes care of children and adolescents from poor backgrounds. The parents of many of these children are ex-street children, who were also supported by Sin Soluka. Also children of sex-workers, who live and work in the centre of Quito, and children from Indigena families, who have left the rural areas and come to the town in search of work, are looked after. With all these children there is the danger that, in the future, they will live in precarious conditions and possibly even on the streets again. Sin Soluka strives to make a sustainable improvement in the lives of the children and adolescents under their care. In order to achieve this aim, the main focus lies on education.
Following the principle of ‘helping people to help themselves’ Sin Soluka gives financial support to families so that they can enrol their children in state schools. Attending school regularly should, in the long-term, be a valuable contribution towards an independent life away from the streets. Although state schools are free in Ecuador, the families have to pay for the school material and uniforms. The project takes on the costs which the families can’t cover. With the enrolment of the children in schools, the work of the project isn’t over. The project workers visit the schools regularly and are in close contact with the teachers and families of the children.
In addition, Sin Soluka looks after the children and adolescents before and after school in the project’s centre, in the inner city of Quito. The staff feed the children at lunchtime, and run an after-school programme, where the children are divided into age groups, getting help with their homework and ideas on how to organize their free time. In addition, the project places a particular focus on teaching the young people about hygiene, health, addiction, violence and sexuality.
Dr. Mario Piedra, who has led the project since its foundation in 2004, is responsible for the psychological care of the children and their families.
The local project team consists of seven Ecuadorian workers: the founder and project leader Mario Piedra, four support workers, a cook and housekeeper.