En una comunidad nubleada
Today we drove to Shuid, a rural village in the Chimborazo Provence of Ecuador. It took hours of snaking higher and higher up through the Andes, until we were quite literally in the clouds. The community has 270 families split between Shuid Bajo and Alto, separated by a stretch up the mountain. We were greeted by We , a group that works with the community on healthcare, education, food, water, and opportunities. The group was formed by community members to help with these 5 pillars to strengthen the community overall, and to end the cycle of generational poverty.
Being such a remote and rural community makes it very difficult to leave regularly, for example: going to school. They explained that the government will provide teachers to the community as long as the community provides a place to learn, so over the years, they have been building their school Socta Urco classroom by classroom to meet the needs of the children in the town. In order to get resources, the school became bilingual in Spanish and Quechua, the native language of the Andes, therefore preserving their heritage and allowing the school to stay open in their little village (Quechua teachers/speakers are harder to come by in the bigger cities)
Currently, they have 18 teachers and about 350 students from kindergarten to sophomore year, and are expanding to accommodate for more. They said it is very difficult to find teachers that are willing to make the trek to the village, as it's about 2 hours from the nearest city. Unfortunately, there is no difference in pay for urban vs rural teachers, making the search for new teachers even more difficult. We spoke with community members just moved to tears while talking about their passion and pride for their town, and we were able to experience the tenacity of a whole community working together and taking initiative for their own future.
After leaving the school, we made our way back down the mountain to another village where we learned about a program that We has in place to help teach their young women vocational skills so that they can stay in school. Often times, girls will drop out after grade school in order to make money for the family. By honing their artisanal skills in weaving and jewelry making, they are able to work on weekends and when they don't have homework, and allow themselves to stay in school and receive an education. The program has been running for 5 years, and the girls involved started from ages 13-17. The young women were also gaining practical business skills, handling money and even giving loans out to help others in the community. These loans are for 6 months with 2% interest, and it's up to them to follow up with their borrowers and ensure that the money is paid back. The program helps not only the women who participate, but the community as a whole as they work to end the poverty cycle.
Seeing entire communities stand behind such an incredible initiative was inspiring. They are working to better the problems that they are seeing rather than continuing as the generations before them. By improving their communities, they are hoping to retain more of the people born there. The sense of pride for their community was nearly tangible. By implementing these programs, people don't have to leave for the big cities and abandon their heritage and tierra because of economic strain: they can continue to raise their families in their homes, and keep moving towards a better life for themselve, their children, and generations to come.
