Ecuador day 2

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Day two I tried to do some good, but it didn’t happen. I signed up to visit the Social Service Mall. (I signed up on a lot of day trips in Ecuador because most of the ship went to the Galapagos Islands. I needed to keep myself occupied, and it would be hard to explore on my own. Guayaquil is a difficult city to navigate.) I thought I would be helping out there, but it was actually just a tour of the mall. It was still very interesting. I am going to write what our field program book said about it because that is the easiest description. “The Social Service Mall was created to improve, through a number of development projects, the quality of life of people with limited economic resources. The challenge is to integrate children, teens, adults and institutions; and through training, education and formation guide them towards productive activities for themselves and their community. Projects include day care centers that receive over 153 children daily, mostly from working mothers. The day care centers also provide workshops for parents, getting them involved in their children’s education. The Social Service Mall also organizes workshops for people in search of an artisan profession that will allow them to access a greater source of income. Another program called Compensate Education offers younger people (16 to 29) an opportunity to finish middle and high school in one year. The “Mall” has also created the Family Orchards Program, which helps families set up small vegetable, fruit and medicinal plant orchards in their own backyards. Finally the “Mall” also offers sports centers, recreational areas, and communitarian telecaster, dynamic library, training and social development.”

It really is an amazing facility. To get there we drove through so many poor areas into what is considered one of the worst off districts. Right in the middle of this shantytown is this amazing building that would look like any YMCA in the states. We were greeted by several coordinators who then took us inside to give us the tour. We started in the children’s library where many students were reading some books. For many of the students until the Mall was built they had had very little education. I spoke to several of the kids. There ages were from 10 to 14 and all were reading books that in the States would be considered at a first or second grade reading level. It makes you realize how important this facility is to the people in the area. We also toured some classrooms where different vocations were being taught. The cooking class made some pastries, which were awesome. We visited the jewelry making class and the salon class. Also there is a class to teach people how to become waiters and bartenders, both very sought after jobs for people in the area.

Next we were taken to the hospital. Contrast between this one and one in the US was unbelievable. By our standards it would be considered a clinic and not a very good one at that, but for this area it was state of the art. We visited the x-ray room, and I felt like I had walked 20 years back in time, but the doctor said that the machine was new. We were able to walk into the lab, which was just a counter with several machines and microscopes on it. I was surprised that we were able to just walk in there and that there was a mother and sick child just standing there waiting for the nurse to finish. This hospital was probably one of the greatest things to happen to these people. While many people would think it was gross and unsanitary, I cannot begin to think about how many lives have probably been saved there.

The whole Mall was great to see. Its good to see how hard the country is trying to help its people. The facility we visited was the first one to be built. It has been so successful that they are trying to open more all over the city. I hope that those are just as successful.

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