Recipe for success

Ecuador trip participants lay the adobe bricks

A dash of sand, a touch of water and a month of sunlight is the recipe for adobe bricks, one of the world’s oldest and most durable building materials. In Ecuador, youth participants in Leaders Today’s International Volunteer Trips assist with schoolbuilding projects using this ancient building method.

Megan Sullivan, a trip facilitator who traveled to Ecuador last summer with Leaders Today, explains that this building method is good for the environment and the community. “As the bricks are made of earth and water, they are excellent at staying cool in the summer,” says Megan. “The bricks also release heat slowly, so they keep rooms warm in the winter too.”

After a month of drying in the sun, the bricks are ready to be stacked to build the new structures. When the bricks are finally dry the real fun begins! The small bricks can weigh anywhere from 20 to 50 pounds each and need to be stacked high enough to support the roof.

Sustainable development in Ecuador

One of the most incredible parts of the Adopt a Village campaign is that each of the development models in the 45 different countries Free The Children has worked is unique.

In Sri Lanka, the tsunami that tore through the country in 2004 damaged and destroyed many of the ground level schools. Listening to the requests of the children in Sri Lanka, Free The Children constructed two-story school buildings so the children would feel safe and secure while at school, far out of the reach of any possible waves. In Kenya, schools are built on raised pieces of land so the students are not disturbed by thirsty elephants travelling to the swamp.

In all the countries where Free The Children works throughout the world, each unique environment has an impact on schoolbuilding projects. By understanding and preserving the environment, we can build strong and sustainable schools and empowered communities.

Learn more about embarking on an International Volunteer Trip with Leaders Today.

Support schoolbuilding projects in the country of your choice through Brick by Brick.

Free The Children is the largest network of children helping children through education in the world, with more than one million youth involved in our innovative education and development programs in 45 countries. Founded by international child rights activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children has an established track-record of success, with three nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize and partnerships with the United Nations and Oprah’s Angel Network.