Adopt a Village in Ecuador

A Free The Children school in the Chimborazo province of Ecuador.

Ecuador is the newest home of Free The Children projects, joining Kenya, Sierra Leone, China and Sri Lanka in the list of Adopt a Village countries. Ecuador is located on the Western Coast of South America, and has many distinct geographic regions, including a scorching-hot coast, the cool Andes Mountains and the tropical Amazon Rainforest—all within about the same land area as the state of Nevada!

Along with geographic diversity, Ecuador is home to many different cultures indigenous to Ecuador as well as from Europe. Unfortunately, great disparities in access to education and income levels exist between Ecuador’s many people. Only 39 per cent of indigenous children complete primary school compared to 76 per cent of children from other cultural groups, and 90 per cent of indigenous children live in poverty.

Free The Children

Maria Chisag in front of her school in Cruz del Arenal, Ecuador.

Free The Children is committed to helping the indigenous Amerindian and Mestizo communities in the province of Chimborazo, which is home to Ecuador’s highest peak, the Chimborazo volcano. All land in this mountainous region was formerly controlled by hacienda owners, who granted local farmers limited access to grazing for their livestock in exchange for labour. Though farmers now have access to the land, the population is recovering from generations of marginalization and exploitation. With an average annual income of $500 US, the people of Chimborazo lack many basic needs.

Chimborazo is made up of many remote and sparsely populated villages cut off from basic resources, such as access to primary education. Free The Children’s development projects provide local children with quality primary education, including instruction in their first language, Kichwa. By making school accessible to children within their own communities, these projects help to raise the low rate of primary school completion while preserving the cultural heritage of the indigenous population.

María’s Story

Students at a Free The Children school in rural Ecuador.

María Chisag lives in Cruz de Arenal, Ecuador, a rural indigenous village near the Chimborazo Ecological Reserve. The village sits at 13,000 feet above sea level, where almost nothing can grow. The villagers live off of what few animals they have and money sent by the men who migrate to the cities for work.

For many years, María and the other children of Cruz de Arenal attended a school that was falling apart and could not provide the proper tools for learning. A few years ago, children around the world came together to raise funds for a Free The Children bilingual primary school in her community. Built in the traditional “choza” style, the new school provides school supplies and textbooks so María and her classmates can learn effectively.

María has now graduated from primary school, and she is excited about continuing her education at the secondary level through a distance education program. She hopes that the skills she continues to learn at school will help her bring more resources to Cruz de Arenal.

Adopt a Village in Chimborazo

The Adopt a Village campaign involves different elements to provide complete support to families. Together, all the elements provide sustainable sources of growth and development for entire communities. You can make a difference by supporting schoolbuilding, alternative income and clean water projects.

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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.