Gracias a Mi Cometa!

During my visit to Ecuador, Jenn gave me a great little tour of Mi Cometa. Come join me on the tour!

Upon my arrival at Mi Cometa, Jenn ushered me into Gladys' office. We talked at length with her and the woman in the red shirt, Eugenia, who told us that Mi Cometa used to work all over Guayaquil - in neighborhoods north and south! She was one of the founders of Mi Cometa, when it began 20 years ago in the neighborhood of Guasmo.

Later, I spent time with both Gladys (left) and Janet. Gladys is the president of Mi Cometa - we love that a female runs this great organization! Janet is in charge of Creciendo Nuestros Hijos (CNH), a program to provide early stimulation for children ages 0-5.

Look - we have a cabinet! Jenn is able to keep supplies in this cabinet, in a locked room at Mi Cometa. We are so appreciative of the space to keep track of our Scholars' materials!

I peeked into the room where CNH operates, and I met one of our Scholars (Geovanny, middle) and one of our huge supporters from CNH! Many of the staff members at CNH recommended certain families for Jenn to visit - in total, she checked out almost 50 houses to elect the 28 Starfish Scholars!

THANKS ... For keeping this space clean, "remember that cleanliness is part of good living."

"We care for the environment." Mi Cometa and Starfish share many values!

View from the roof of Mi Cometa. You can see for miles!

One location of many Guasmo Starfish meetings.

Another view from the roof of Mi Cometa. It was so peaceful up there - a great place to sit and think!

The bulletin board for Adopta Una Familia (AUF). The program works with families in the area to have "minga" - joint clean-up sessions - where everyone pitches in to build a house for one of the families. AUF works closely with a church in Connecticut to sponsor and support this effort.

Jenn and I with Marjorie, one of the AUF social workers and promoters. Marjorie has SO much energy - she made me feel right at home!

Thanks to Mi Cometa for a wonderful visit! I also learned a lot about the music school at night and their new efforts to care for street kids in 2013. I appreciate every one of you and all the work you are doing so much. God bless you all!

--Beth Awalt, Co-Founder

The Starfish Foundation, Inc.

Martin's First Day in Ecuador!

Hi =]

Me and my family made it safely to Ecuador! And much to my delight I was surprised to see Senora Elena, Lily, and Christian greet me at the airport!! They met my parents and my brother and I know i'll be seeing them really soon! My family was picked up by some family friend's and we are spending the night at their house, but first thing in the morning,  7am, I am leaving to Urdesa to meet up with Angelo and move into the apartment Jenn and Beth have so graciously found for me! Then, in the evening I will head to Guasmo for a meeting at Mi Cometa headquarters. All is going to plan with homework help and the photo project starting up  +Monday! =] Look out for more posts by the end of the week!!

Peace and Love,

Martin

Martin's journey with Starfish

Hi, my name is Martin Garcia and I am excited to be interning for Starfish this summer. I will be a senior at Villanova University. It was at Villanova that I first learned about Starfish. I was taking Professor Klingler’s Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship class and we were asked to work with Starfish to help raise funds. 

Martin and his group presenting their semester's worth of ideas on fundraising for Starfish.

Our group decided a Benefit Dinner at Villanova would be a great idea because Starfish was Co-founded by Villanova’s own Beth Awalt. The Villanova community is always looking to help support their own. 

Our more creative fundraising idea was to start a photo project with our wonderful scholars in Ecuador. Our hope is to emulate what was done in the documentary “Born into Brothels.” We are hoping to help the student’s raise their own funding for school supplies, books, and uniforms by selling photographs of their home-life environment in their own artistic representations of life. I also see this photo project as giving something tangible to the kids. They’ll be keeping their photos and making their own memories. For many of the kids, it’ll be the first camera they have ever used.

Martin, pictured here with The Starfish Foundation co-founder and Villanova University alumna Beth Awalt (front right), along with the rest of the group from the Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship class.

I feel blessed that Villanova’s President, Father Peter Donohue, and the Center for Global Leadership of the School of Business gave me financial support to make this internship possible. 


So I am back from my training in Guayaquil. Jenn prepped me on everything from which busses to take to how to put money on my cell phone. I was lucky to have Jenn training me because she knows everything there is to know about Starfish, its partners, and most importantly the student scholars and their families. Hands down, Jenn is Awesome!! 

I now feel confident about returning to Ecuador on July 5th and being able to get to where I need to go and do what I need to do to make my stay a success! The best part about orientation was meeting all the Starfish Scholars! Walking into their homes, they were instantly friendly offering food and whatever else they could despite their disadvantaged economic conditions. The scholars are also very smart and responsible. I am leaving tomorrow to go back to Ecuador and I am really excited to go back!!

--Martin Garcia, Villanova University Class of 2013

The Starfish Foundation, Inc. summer intern

A humble house.

Imagine my surprise as I find out that one of the Starfish Scholar parents wants to meet me! In fact, I believe Jenn said she insisted on meeting me. 

Marina’s* two oldest children are Starfish Scholars. Marina cried as she shared that this is the first year her children don’t have to wear used uniforms. The youngest of the two Scholars, Steve, was so excited – “Mom, I love that the professor just tells me what the homework is and I can pull out my workbook and do it!” 

For the next oldest children in Marina's family, two young girls in elementary school, they don’t have a scholarship. When her elementary-school-aged children ask for their workbooks or textbooks, Marina has to tell them, “Look- this is how much money I have for the day. You’ll have to choose between the book and your tummy. Which do you choose?”

What a decision to make! I have never even had to consider a decision like this. Food or books for school? My memories of the summer always end with a huge school-supply shopping spree at Target, where I was able to buy all the supplies I needed (and then some). At the end off the trip, we usually went to grab lunch somewhere or had a big dinner at home. The thought of choosing between my tummy or a school book is so difficult. People should not have to make that choice!

In the hour and a half we were in her home, Marina used the word "humble" seven different times. She described so many things as "humble": her house, the snack she bought us, the soup we were served, even the chair we sat on! But I have to say -- no matter what she tried to claim as 'humble' - the most humble feeling in the room came from me. I was so humbled by Marina's generous hospitality, genuine curiosity about Jenn and I, and thoughtful appreciation. Marina taught me more in those 90 minutes than most people could in a year.

“I’ll never stop thanking you. Well, first God, then you all. Because you all came to me through Him. I asked God to provide – and he did, by sending you!” The visit with Marina put so much meaning to what we do with Starfish.

*name changed for privacy

Me with Maria, who left for school first, around 12:15pm. She was ready to go on time -- a rarity for many Ecuadorians!

Steve left about 20 minutes later. Marina told us that Steve and Maria's friends and professors didn't believe that they got scholarships this year! The Starfish Scholars had to carry their letters of acceptance to prove that this blessing did exist.

Me, Marina, Jenn and one of the younger children. Thanks, Marina, for a lovely visit!

--Beth Awalt, Co-Founder, The Starfish Foundation, Inc.

Meet Emily Specchio...

Emily was truly an amazing and inspirational person. She always had a huge smile on her face and had a fantastic sense of humor. Her laugh was infectious and her passions in life were many.

Born on September 3, 1984 in Morristown, NJ, Emily lived the majority of her life in Chester, NJ where she attended Chester public schools and Mendham High School. After graduating from Mendham in 2002, Emily started her college career at Virginia Tech. She truly flourished at VT and became very involved in many charitable organizations. She pledged Phi Sigma Pi national honor fraternity (PSP) in 2004. Emily absolutely loved both Virginia Tech and her fraternity, and embodied their virtues of Scholarship, Leadership, and Service. Through PSP, Emily raised money and participated in Relay for Life, helped tutor children at Gilbert Linkous Elementary School, helped clean and beautify Virginia Tech’s duck pond, and helped raise money towards PSP’s national charity, Teach for America. Outside of the fraternity, Emily was also very active in the Foundation for Peace, travelling twice to the Dominican Republic to help improve the water quality and health in the areas surrounding Santo Domingo. In addition, Emily was an extremely talented pianist and artist.

Emily graduated magna cum laude from Virginia Tech University on May 13th, 2006. She was a Marketing major in the Pamplin College of Business and had already begun taking graduate courses her senior year at VT. She passed away suddenly and unexpectedly two days later of a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. She will forever be missed, yet touched so many people during her 21 years of life. The mission of the Emily Specchio foundation is to celebrate the life of Emily by following her inspirational lead in continuing to support charitable organizations close to her heart. An endowed scholarship at Virginia Tech has been created in her name to give annual scholarships to students with similar interests and passions.

http://emilycspecchiofoundation.org

This year, Beth and Jenn have been selected for the Emily C. Specchio Ambassador Program! We really appreciate the mission of the Emily C. Specchio Foundation (http://emilycspecchiofoundation.org/wordpress/mission-statement), and we are excited to work with Marco and the rest of the staff at Emily C. Specchio Foundation this year. Jenn and Beth's experiences in Latin America, working for non-profit organizations and passion for The Starfish Foundation lend themselves naturally to the Ambassador Program. Stay tuned for more updates on Beth's speaking engagements this fall, our fundraising goals, and our experience with the Emily C. Specchio Foundation! To find out more, click here: http://emilycspecchiofoundation.org/wordpress/ambassador-program.

So what exactly happens at these monthly meetings?

Each month, Jenn meets with the Starfish Scholars (every three months, the parents come too).  Let's do a little agenda, to see what life might be like at a monthly meeting:

12:00pm: Jenn arrives to set up, complete with drinks and snacks for the attendees.

1 pm: Meeting is supposed to begin.

1:25 pm: Meeting finally begins. Icebreaker (dinamica) to get to know each other, like picking a few jellybeans and having to tell certain facts based on what jellybean you chose (red- embarrassing moment, yellow- fun fact, etc.). The human knot is now a favorite!

Scholars untangling the Human Knot in Flor de Bastion (left) and Guasmo.

1:45pm: Catch up on any necessary paperwork or action needed from / for Starfish.

1:50pm: Begin chat on theme of the month. Themes and workshops include Youth Leadership, Family Relations, Study Techniques, Good Health, Intercultural Awareness, Community Development and more!

Scholars brainstormed the definition of leadership.

2:15pm: The students do some "valor agregado" - community service! We at Starfish really believe in the importance of community service, and we love to see our students give back. One month, the Flor de Bastion students organized their own "minga" (cleanup) to continue fixing up the space where they meet!

Community service has ranged from making Mother's Day cards in Guasmo (left) to clearing weeds from the yard in Flor de Bastion (right)!

2:45pm: Fun activity :) Soccer is usually a hit here, or some other type of game. Jenn always makes sure to celebrate the birthdays of the Scholars that month, too! What a special celebration :)

 The May birthday Scholars in Guasmo.

Refuerzo - After-School Program!

The first baby step of our Tutoring program has been taken! The Starfish Scholars themselves set up a mini refuerzo in Flor de Bastion. The 7 who study in the morning have gone every afternoon this week and I was only there Tuesday and briefly on Thursday. I think its great because not only are they doing their homework and helping each other, but the 3 quieter ones have really opened up and I can really see their personalities interacting with the others now. And it came out that Milena is the coordinator of her class too, just like Samantha. What a special group we have!

Students in Flor de Bastion at their after-school (or before-school) impromptu tutoring session.

The space is owned by the uncle of one of the Scholars, but he doesn't live there - what a perfect opportunity for our students to have some space to study!

The students in Flor de Bastion have really started to create a beautiful community. We're so blessed!

--Jenn Zocco
In-Country Representative