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

My Story. (written by Samantha)

This is my story.  My life was very sad.  Since I was 6 years old I was raised by my grandparents.  They took care of me.  They gave me their love since I didn’t have my mom.  They gave me all of their affection.  They helped me study.  They did everything possible so that I could succeed and every year I strived to succeed since they were doing everything to help me.  Sometimes they stopped buying things they needed so that they could buy me what the school required me to have.  Later, it was time for my siblings to study too.  Now it wasn’t only me, but 3 kids for whom my grandparents had to buy school supplies.  Even though this made it even harder for my grandparents, they never gave up.  They always pushed forward.  Later, I finished primary school and my grandparents were so proud of me because I was a good student.  But then, the teacher wouldn’t give me my certificate because I owed 2 years of monthly payments since it was a private school.  Because we owed so much money, the school didn’t want to let my other siblings matriculate.  Later, they supported my grandpa so that my brother and sister could study.  Many days and months passed, and I kept telling my grandparents that I wanted to continue studying but they told me that they couldn’t do anything else since we owed so much money and I didn’t have the papers I needed to matriculate in a high school.  I lost hope.  At least I had finished primary school.

            I want to study because I want to be someone in life and education is the most important thing that one can have.  I want to study to be able to help my brothers and my grandparents have a better life.  Because of my papers, I missed two years of school but now I live with my aunt and uncle and I asked them to support me to start my high school studies.  They told me that they would help me, when suddenly Jennifer (In-Country Representative for The Starfish Foundation, Inc.) appeared and she encouraged us.  She offered me one of the scholarships.  This made me feel very proud because now it wasn’t just the support of my aunt and uncle, but also the support of one more person that I could count on.  Now I am very happy because I am going to study again.  Thank you for your support and now I am happy!

Samantha and Arelisa, another Starfish Scholar.

Samantha in her house in Flor de Bastion.

--Samantha, a Starfish Scholar in Flor de Bastion

Social Entrepreneurship at Villanova!

We've been so blessed to have such great support, particularly from Villanova University. As a Villanova alum, this past fall I was able to connect with Dr. Jim Klingler in the Villanova School of Business. Dr. Klingler has been an invaluable resource to Jenn and I, lending insight on multiple occasions from his experience with international non-profits. He reommended I read Forces for Good, by Leslie Crutchfield, to learn some of the most important findings from a study on impactful non-profit organizations. Crutchfield highlights themes such as forming partnerships, advocating for a cause, inspiring evangelists, adapting, sharing leadership and networking.

This past spring, Dr. K offered us the opportunity to propose a project to his Social Entrepreneurship class. Jenn and I first Skyped the class from Guayaquil in January, when I was visiting and Jenn had just arrived. We proposed for a group to design sustainable fund-raising ideas for  our organization. Two weeks later, I met with Martin, Erin, Jay, James, Ayyoub, and Ashia to discuss ideas.

The Starfish team at their final presentation!

Photo by Dr. Jim Klingler

The group spent a semester learning about impactful social entrepreneurship endeavors, culminating in a final presentation about ideas for sustainable funding for Starfish. I don't want to spoil the surprises, but let me say that the four ideas presented were great! One in particular was quite original, and it provides a great avenue for Starfish Scholars to collaborate in our program. Another included some stellar planning for our benefit dinner this fall - appropriately named "Dinner Under the Brightest Stars." The third project detailed ideas for some website revamping, and the fourth project assists in grant research. A HUGE thanks to the Starfish Team for all of their hard work this semester!!

Martin, Peter, Ayyoub, Ashia, Jay, Beth, James and Erin at the final presentation!

Photo by Dr. Jim Klingler

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

Ecuador's President on Education

In a March 31 press conference, Ecuadorian President Rafeal Correa said, “There will not be development without education.

Correa is one of the most respected and well-liked Ecaudorian presidents of recent times, especially among the poorer population.  Correa was not born into a particularly wealthy family and as a child, he also had to overcome his situation in order to rise to the position of power and influence he holds today.  One of his major initiatives has been to improve the education system in Ecuador.  In his March 31 press conference televised on all public channels in Ecuador, he spoke of a plan to create incentives such as paying a minimum salary for those university students who choose to study education in order to become teachers.  He believes that this is the most important major one can choose.  He remarked that often times good students who are looking for quick money choose to study medicine for financial reasons, but he stresses that these elite students are the ones that Ecuador needs in teaching positions.  With the elite teaching its citizens, Correa and the Ministry of Education believe that their country can progress and develop.

Another interesting fact that Correa noted: According to university entrance exams – there is no difference in the aptitude of students coming from rich and poor families.  Sometimes there is a difference in knowledge if more economically fortunate students have had more access to resources, but in aptitude rich and poor students alike scored the same.  He believes there is hope for all to succeed, to help Ecuador and to help themselves break the cycle of poverty.

Source: Televised March 31 press conference

The struggle to obtain a registration spot.

Guayaquil has never heard of school districts. Not only must all students – at both public and private schools – pay to take public transportation to and from school every day, but these high schools could be 1.5-2 hours away from their homes! Most high schools are located in the center of the city. What does this mean for students like those with whom Starfish works who live in the peripheries of the city? High transportation costs, and long commutes.

Another effect of no school districting – you’re not guaranteed a spot anywhere. March 15 marked the first official day for signs up for the 2012 school year that begins April 2. Meet Lili, the 15 year old sister of two Starfish scholars – Pamela and Arelisa.  Lili and Pamela recently finished the equivalent of 9th grade at a school that only goes through 9th grade. This means they have to start at a new school. As if starting new wasn’t hard enough, it was 11 days before the start of classes and they still didn’t know where they would study or if they would even be accepted anywhere. Tuesday, March 20 Lili woke up at 4am to be at one high school by 6am. Luckily, she was one of the first 10 people in line, because even waking up at dawn sometimes does not guarantee you a good spot. Once arriving at the school, all were forced to wait until a representative of the school informs the crowd of how the process would be. After a few hours, Lili was informed that the director would arrive at 6pm. She considered this lucky since sometimes people must camp out overnight in order to just get a spot in line to possibly sign up at a high school. After a few hours Lili’s older sister came to help her ask the right questions – what documents would be required, what time would she have to be there, etc. Luckily Lili was able to secure her spot in line and leave to get lunch. When she returned around 4pm she waited until the director finally arrived at 6:30pm. The director took note of everyone’s names and phone numbers and said – “Don’t call – we’ll call you”. The following week they were going to do a random drawing to pick the names of the students who would be given spots to study in the school. Those who were selected would receive a call the following Tuesday, March 27.

Lili and Pamela were in limbo. There was a possibility that only one, or neither of them would be selected in this random drawing, so in the meantime while both of her parents are at work, Lili had to look for other high schools that were accepting new students this year. Even after waiting all day and following all the regulations, she was still not guaranteed a spot and wouldn’t know for another week which is 6 days before classes were originally scheduled to start on April 2.

Update: Lili and Pamela never received a phone call, but in the meantime were able to enroll at a smaller high school closer to their house. It is not very well known, but they are hopeful that they will receive a good education at this new school. Their first day of school is tomorrow!

Note: Entering in the equivalent of U.S. 7th grade and U.S. 10th grade are the hardest to secure a spot since many schools go through 6th or 9th grade and afterward their students must switch schools. This is the first year that you only have to sign up if you are switching schools. Before this year, a process similar to that which Lili is in the middle of was necessary for ALL students, EVERY YEAR, regardless of whether they changed schools or not.


Read more about changing education laws in Guayaquil.
http://www.eluniverso.com/2012/03/13/1/1447/matricula-rapida-planteles-ocupados.html

--Jenn Zocco, The Starfish Foundation In-Country Representative

Arelisa and Pamela!

Lily (blue polo) taking the lead in a game with friends.