Lucie, an iPad and a school in Canoa

As I have said before, opportunities arise in all sorts of ways. The opportunity to visit a school project on the Ecuadorian coast arose because of my children's fascination with iPads. Lucie and Cameron had gone down early to breakfast one day last week and as I understand it, having spotted an iPad, started arguing with each other about it could do. The unsuspecting owner of the iPad was a fellow resident of the hotel, Alan Gibson, who until this point had been quietly minding his business over breakfast.

Having spotted Lucie's fascination with his iPad, he kindly offered to show her how it worked, and the two of them got into a conversation about why we are here and the research I am doing. She spoke with such enthusiasm that Alan suggested that we meet, as he was sure he would be able to help. As it turns out, he was right.

Alan Gibson and Scott Beard are Americans who run a farm in West Virginia. Alan is also in advertising and Scott is a concert pianist. (I have had the pleasure of hearing him play...if anyone is planning a recital in Helsinki then I have his number.)

They were here in Ecuador to visit and raise funds for a school project in the small fishing village of Canoa in the region of Manabí. The school was started three years ago by a man called James Dean Byrd. Despite the poverty of the region, James could see that the natural beauty of the area, in addition to the surfing possibilities, were attracting more and more tourists every year and that in order for the children to have a chance of work in the future they would need to learn English. As a result of this he took the decision to start a bilingual school, "Los Algarrobos".

With very limited funding, the school was constructed from scratch using local materials and workmanship. It has been a magnificent success. The school now has 58 pupils and goes up to grade four. There are plans to expand as and when funds allow, but just so you get the idea, the building of a new classroom can be achieved for just $6000.

The school is accredited, but recieves no funding other than that from donations, so it is forced to charge fees in order to survive. For $25 per month the pupils receive a uniform, materials, tuition, two meals a day and health surveillance. In addition to a basic education in both Spanish and English the children are also taught about hygiene and how to protect their local environment. They are always keen to wash their hands before mealtimes as it remains a novelty...most of them have no running water at home.

When Alan and Scott visited the school, the children put on a puppet show, in which all the "puppets" were made from items the children had found on the beach and recycled.

As you can imagine, $25 is a lot of money to a family who has almost nothing, and because of this most of the children can only attend if they are sponsored by either individuals or companies.
This very modest amount is giving these children a real head start in life and the chance to find work in their local region in the future.

Our family has been invited by the Director to spend a week at the school, and we are planning our trip for mid July when the school exams will be over.

I have asked the Director to provide me with a list of children who would like to attend the school but still lack the necessary funding. If you feel you would be able to commit yourself to $25 per month for one of these children then please let me know. You would quite literally be changing someone's life.

For more info see www.jamesdeanbyrdfoundation.org