Bachillerato in Ecuador is High-school and they have 3 years signified by B-1-3. We have 3 students entering B-1 this year. All are older than age grade level but as long as they continue to move through the grades and do not turn 18 before completing 9th grade (the last junior-high-school level) they are allowed to continue in a normal school setting. I would like to highlight one of these students for you to better understand the difficulties faced by the children cared for at CdF.
This student will turn 18 in early 2017, but has moved through school without any missed time for the last 4 years or so and therefor can continue in a normal school setting. That being said she has been in and out of Casa de Fe 3 times in the last 11 years each time reinserted into a family that she dreamed would be a loving environment and each time disappointed. As if this wasn’t enough, there has been much turmoil in her family life with her siblings. She was never able to be a child, she always carried the burden of taking care of and at times shielding her siblings from events that no child or adolescent should have to endure. All of this said she is turning out to be a beautiful and resolute young lady. She dreams of being a psychologist some day. She wants to help young people like herself to overcome the challenges their lives have thrown at them. She still struggles in many areas including self-esteem and mistrust of others but meets each difficulty head on and is beginning to reach out to others for help. She is also learning to rely on her faith in Jesus Christ and walking day by day with him.
Basica Superio is 7th, 8th and 9th grades in the US. We have 5 kids in this range and 1 of them is at age grade level. This is a hard transition as holes in their primary education start to become evident. For example, the biggest short fall always seems to be in the early learning of math concepts and become apparent when it is necessary to bring the different concepts together in solving more complex math problems.
One of the students we have in 8th grade this year actually lost a year last year due to being moved to a home closer to her family resulting in huge turmoil in her life. About 6 months after the move, she returned to CdF. I can’t say enough how hard it is for these children to have a failed reinsertion. They yearn to have what they imagine to be a normal family life and when that desire is crushed not once but multiple times, most of the children believe they did something wrong or even worse they are not lovable. This translates into issues that can put them on a road to failure because in their hearts they are not good enough at anything. I know this sounds extreme and you may think this applies to a low percentage of CdF children but this actually applies to the majority of the children cared for at CdF. This young lady is hard working and very artistic but when presented with a problem she can’t solve she will retreat and put up high walls. She doesn’t have any goals for her future because she doesn’t believe she has one.
Media Basica is 4th, 5th and 6th grades in the US. We have 6 children in this grade range this year, 5 of which are at grade level. You will notice that the younger we go the more children we have at grade level, there are 2 reasons for this; first CdF school does everything we can to move the kids through grades while they are in the CdF school and fill in what is missed along the way, the other is that they have just been pushed along in school (Ecuador also has the no child left behind mentality) up to grade 7 a child can not fail a grade.
One example in this grade level is a child who has been at CdF 3 times, meaning he has been reinserted to his family twice and the reinsertion failed twice. He is at grade level but only because of lots of work with him. Between CdF teachers, tutors and volunteers, he has been brought up to grade level. At grade 3 he did not yet know how to hold a pencil properly, he had never learned how to form his letters correctly thus he could only copy what was written. At CdF we started him over as if he was in 1st grade and the result is that he is now preforming at grade level.
Basica emmental is 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades in the US. These grades are split between the CdF school and 3rd graders being in the public school. We have 2, 3rd graders in public school neither of which are at grade level and 6 in 2nd grade at CdF, 1 at grade level. We have 6 in the 1st grade at CdF school and 1 is at grade level and 1 is above grade level.
I would like to highlight one young man who is way over age for his grade level. He was, up to 2 years ago in the Special needs school but then deemed able to go to public school. He was in the CdF school last year and we were able to give him special attention and he was able to do his work at his own pace. This year he will be in the public school, 3 years of age above his grade level. He will be in a class of 25 to 30 students with no helpers in the class. They are mainstreaming these kids without the ability to help them succeed. He will need considerable assistance in the forms of, tutoring and mentoring order for him to succeed.
Preparaoria is Kindergarten, PreK4 and PreK3. We have 7 children in this group and all are at or above grade level.
We have 8 children going to the Special Needs school in Puyo this year. This is a huge blessing for us. That being said Renee Fogg, the volunteer therapist for CdF, tries to go to the school once a month to observe and assist the teacher and therapist to continue to improve their skills in order to best serve our children as well as all the children at the school.
We have 1 young lady at the Alternative school in Puyo. I am proud to say that last year she completed 6th and 7th grade and if she stays on track she will complete 8th and 9th this year and be able to start High school the following year. She will turn 18 in 2017.
Needs:
The 3 High school students
Uniforms $92 each per year
Books and supplies $80 each per year
Class fees $50 each per year
Tutor $450 each per year
Total $672 each per year
or $56 per student per month
5 students 7th, 8th, & 9th
Uniforms $92 each per year
Supplies $50 each per year
Class fees $50 each per year
Tutor $450 each per year
Total $642 each per year
or $53.50 per student per month
6 students 4th, 5th & 6th
Uniforms $90 each per year
Supplies $50 each per year
Class fees $50 each per year
Tutor $450 each per year
Total $640 each per year
or $53.30 per student per month
2 students 3rd grade
Uniforms $90 each per year
Supplies $50 each per year
Class fees $50 each per year
Tutor $450 each per year
Total $640 each per year
or $53.30 per student per month
CdF school 19 students
Supplies $50 each per year
Teachers $908 each per year
Total $958 each per year
or $80 per student per month
(Costs are higher because teacher salaries are paid by Casa de Fe)
Special needs school, 8 students
Registration $30 each per year
Supplies $50 each per year
Class fees $20 each per year
Total $100 each per year
or $8.43 per student per month
Alternative school 1 student
Registration $80 per year
Uniforms $60 per year
Supplies $80 per year
Class fees $40 per year
Tutor $450 per year
Total $710 per year
or $59.17 per month
(this is for 2 years of school in 1 school year)
Total 2016-17 school year cost (estimated) $30,070
or $2505.84 per month
Great News $8373 of this need has already been received and used for School start up. Uniforms and supplies are already purched. Please help us eduacate the children of Casa de Fe.
