Our educadoras write about leadership!

The past few weeks have been exciting for both the students and educadores of Starfish!
Our educadoras participated in a technology workshop, in which they refined communication skills, such as professional emailing and blogging. They divided into groups and composed blog posts about different topics. Here is what educadoras Cynthia and Lissette have to say about leadership!

Leadership and I

(( Examining the importance of leadership in our daily lives )) 

Implementing our leadership skills enables us to both achieve our aspirations and resolve our problems.

Asking the question, "what do the people want?" helps to guide us in being effective, efficient, and caring servant-leaders. Leadership plays an essential role in our lives. We know that if we use our talents, we will be able to endure any obstacles and effectively lead a group by incorporating everyone's different skills and gifts.

As a leader, one must have an intense internal drive to be able to motivate, inspire, and encourage others. Doing so will enable us to be effective in the workplace, to inspire others to work hard, and to ultimately reach our goals both in the workplace and our daily lives. Furthermore, we strive to continue to develop our communication skills in order to be a good leader (educator) at the Starfish Foundation, which has helped us acquire and refine our own leadership abilities.

Collaborating with others in a group makes completing tasks easier, since everyone is using their unique talents to work towards a common goal. Group work pushes us to make decisions, to delegate tasks, and integrate each group member's input.

"The success of a leader resides in understanding what the people desire and demand."

Lissette Loor, Guasmo educadora 

Cynthia Gurumendi, Guasmo educadora 

// be sure to check in next week, as we will be featuring blogs from two of our Starfish students who were nominated to be members of the Guayaquil Student Council //

en español: 

El liderazgo y yo

En un futuro podremos solventar más el liderazgo! 

~ Sabes lo que la gente quiere? ~

El liderazgo es muy importante porque nos conlleva a que nuestras habilidades las podremos sobrellevar y mantener a un grupo con la finalidad de tener capacidad de motivar, convocar promover e incentivar y evaluar para para que dicho trabajo sea eficaz y así lograr alcanzar las metas y objetivos propuestos en nuestra vida cotidiana. Por lo tanto, también desarrollamos mucha comunicación para poder ser un buen líder en la fundación.

Por lo que, el trabajo en equipo simplifica las cosas y aporta nuevos conocimientos que nos permite lograr la toma decisiones e integrar una propuesta para que los integrantes del equipo toman conciencia de sus tareas que deben cumplirlas en un tiempo determinado por su líder.

“La habilidad de un líder reside en entender fielmente lo que la gente quiere o demanda.”

      

First Ever Advisory Board Retreat

This past weekend, after our U.S. Advisory Board had the chance to meet in person for it's first-ever weekend Retreat.  During the weekend we worked on long-term objectives for Starfish.  

Don, Kathy, Ashley, Taylor, Beth, Melissa, Dave, Dr. Klingler, Jeff

Our Advisory Board serves to advise on all things Starfish and is comprised of people with a wide variety of expertise.  We are so blessed to have these people guide us as Starfish continues to grow exponentially.  Some of their exciting accomplishments include: Former CEO, Former Teacher, University Business Professor, Accountant, Teacher, Law Student, Former Starfish Volunteers, Former year-long volunteer in Paraguay, Former Fulbright in Honduras, and much more!

Beth, with mentor and Advisory Board member Dr. Klingler from Villanova University.

Stay tuned in the coming months to hear news about our 1-year and 5-year plans.  Get ready for big things!

Jenn got to join the fun from Ecuador via Google Hangout!

Starfish Incentives: Field Trip to the Pool!!!

Maria, Juliana and Dayanna

At the end of the first semester of school, we rewarded those students who achieved at least a "B" average with a field trip to the pool!

Pamela, Yuliana, Geovanny, Cynthia, Joel, Nagelhi and Genesis!

Our goal is that all Starfish scholars will achieve at least a B average by the end of their first year with Starfish.  Last year, 32% of of our scholars achieved at least a B average.  This year after the first semester, 54% of Starfish Scholars, and 61% of all of the students we work with are have a B average through the first semester.

Gema, Arelisa, Eddy, Abigail, Milena, Cristhian and Pamela

This increase in grades is due in large part to the help of our 6 part-time employees or "ayudantes".

Starfish Employees Jasmin and Karina

Check out some more pictures from the fun-filled day at the pool!

Sofia, Briggette and Andreina

Cristhian and Pamela

Scholars Joel and Geovanny with Employees Yuliana, Cynthia and Marcos

Learning to Lead at our October Meeting

This month at our October monthly meeting we focused on leadership.  We learned about teamwork, communication, setting goals and working towards those goals in a group setting by completing various activities and reflecting on our experiences.  It was a blast!  See all of these fun activities and more, below!

Setting up for our first icebreaker in Guasmo!

"Dinámica" or IceBreaker where we we had to work together creatively to get everyone's feet
 on a sheet of paper when the music stopped...each time with less sheets of paper!

It was easy when there were a lot of papers on the ground still,
here our students try to figure out what to do now with less paper.

Group work solving some riddles.  Our students had quite the creative responses!

Lili presenting to the parents what we did during our meeting.

After the becado (scholarship student) meeting, we also had a parent meeting and the parents did some icebreakers as well.  It was great to see the parents uniting and forming new friendships as well.  This year has been a great year of growth for Starfish and we're excited for the possibilities when students and parents alike unite for the success of their families and Starfish!  While the parents met, our students prepared a delicious, healthy snack and then served it to their parents for an great end to a fantastic day.

Starfish moms Maria and Adelaida participating in our parent activity.

Preparing snack with new Starfish Employee, Karina (pink shirt).

Geovanny helping out with snack in Guasmo.

Flor de Bastión students united after preparing a wonderful snack for the Starfish group!

The perfect end to a perfect day - lots of smiles!

Visiting Schools in Guayaquil

I have spent the past few weeks visiting all of the schools that the Starfish Scholars attend.  Out of all the youth we work with, 28 are Starfish Scholars.  These 28 scholars attend 18 different schools.

On each visit, a parent and a Starfish Employee accompanied me so that we could find the correct person to talk to.  In the visit we explained more about Starfish, what we provide for the students, and found out more about their school life.  The teachers told us about each students' behavior, grades, test scores, missing work and any other concerns they may have had.

The visits were eye-opening for me.  From working with the students, I had some ideas about their school life, but seeing it first hand was an entirely different story.  Most schools I visited were huge, with an average of 40-50 students per classroom.  With class sizes so large, it often seemed like the students were in control, rather than the teacher.  It was also rare the teacher who had the time to seek out a personal relationship with a student to help them succeed, again due to these class sizes.  Often times teachers had to pull out folders or notebooks, or call the student over to see who he/she was.  However, I was pleasantly surprised that despite all of these challenging realities, many teachers were able to easily recall the Starfish scholars as they are stepping up to be leaders in their classroom.

Milena is the Presidenta (President) of her class. Danny is part of the student council.  Joel is on a committee that studies human rights.  Arelisa is also Presidenta of her class - and up for election of President of the whole high school!

Tutoring in Flor

We hope that these visits allowed the teachers to see the help that some of their students receive, and open up the door to better future communication with their families and with us.  When we all work together, we can help the students achieve their maximum potential.  With the grades and comments we received this week we are having parent conferences when necessary, as well as an employee meeting to discuss specific areas that need strengthening for each student.


Unfortunately, there aren't any pictures of these visits, so enjoy these other pictures from August!!

One of the groups we took to visit Damien House.

Don Leon working hard on his hamaca (hammock).

Yessenia, helping one of the patients fix his radio.

Starfish scholars learning how to play dominos at Damien House.

Congratulations Danny!

Danny was recently elected to his Student Council as one of 2 people to represent each class.  He was elected by his classmates, what an honor - Congrats Danny!

Danny, working hard on a presentation for Social Studies.

"They chose me for Student Council first by calling all the Presidents of all the different classes and all the representatives from each class.  Then they gave us a talk about what our responsibilities would be.  Then all the representatives of each class had to pick 2 students for the Presidency in each class and they picked me and a friend who is the sports representative.  The next day we had a meeting for all those chosen for the student council and the guidance counselor explained that we wouldn't have the power of President or Vice-President, but that we could be representatives for the class."

~Danny Zambrano, Guasmo

Danny and the rest of his Starfish friends - the morning group in Guasmo!

"Me cogieron en el consejo estudiantil de la forma que llamaron a los presidentes de cada curso y a los otros vocales de cada presidente de cada curso.  Luego nos dieron la charla de como deberían ser nuestras responsabilidades.  Después cada undo de los vocales de cada curso deberían de coger dos alumnos de la Presidencia de cada curso y de ahi me cogió a mí y a un amigo que es vocal de deportes.  El siguiente día tuvimos una reunión de los escogidos para el consejo estudiantil y el profesor de orientación dijo que no pudimos tener los cargos de Presidente y Vice-Presidente, solo pudimos ser los vocales."

~Danny Zambrano, Guasmo

New opportunities, New Hope

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has funded some new schools in some of the most vulnerable areas.  When Cristhian & Eddy found out that their were still a few spots left and that Eddy knew one of the directors, they decided to try their luck at getting two of those spots even though they are already two months into the school year.  Normally this is not allowed in Ecuador.  There are no school districts, so even if you move you're out of luck and probably in for a very long commute for the rest of the year.  Also most families probably would not be able to afford to buy new supplies and uniforms.  Luckily the boys are able to use the same uniform and we were able to help them out with some of the supplies!

Eddy & Cristhian spending time with Starfish volunteer, Andrew!

Today Cristhian & Eddy share with us about their decision and their awesome new high school!

"We changed schools for a better future because at the high school where we were there wasn't any hope for a better future.  The difference now is that our new high school is really big.  There are labs for physics, biology and English.  There are computers for each student in each lab.  There is a cafeteria.  There are 3 soccer fields and they're going to make another grass soccer field.  The teachers are cool.  We have electricity workshops too.  Next week they are going to take us to ElectroGuayas (the electric company) so that we can learn more.  What we learn in this high school is going to help us get ahead and help others!"

~Cristhian and Eddy, Flor de Bastión

*Note* This school is not typical of the schools where our Starfish scholars study, but we are excited about new opportunities in the near future if the government continues these initiatives next year!

UPDATE: Starfish Scholars (& sisters!) Pamela & Lili have also switched to this new school.  We feel very fortunate that our scholars have sought out this great opportunity for a better education!!

Singing partners Jordan & Eddy at June's Integration Day.

"Nos cambiamos de colegio por un mejor futuro porque en el colegio donde estábamos no había esperanza para un mejor futuro.  La diferencia es que el nuevo colegio es grandísimo.  Hay laboratorios para física, biología y ingles.  Hay computadoras para cada alumno en cada laboratorio.  Hay un comedor.  Hay 3 canchas y van a hacer otra cancha de césped.  Los profesores son cheveres.  Hay talleres para electricidad también.  Nos van a llevar a la empresa ElectroGuayas para aprender mas también. Lo que aprendemos en este colegio nos va a ayudar a salir adelante y ayudar a los demás!"

~Cristhian y Eddy, Flor de Bastión

Cristhian with some of his Starfish friends & family.
(L to R: Dulce, Melani, Cristhian, Arelisa, Pamela, Tyrone)

Check out our new space!

Backpacks, shoes & uniforms ready to be distributed!

Backpacks, uniforms, and notebooks are bought and our students are getting ready to go back to school.  Starfish programming started back up Monday April 29 and school classes start today for most schools!  We can't wait to see what this new year has in store for our students in their schools.

Guasmo Scholars with Jenn and new employee Marcos!

Flor de Bastión Scholars with new employees Jasmin and Tyrone!

For Starfish a new year means a full year of tutoring, monthly meetings and community service.  This year one of our biggest community service initiatives will involve a few fundraising projects.  In Guasmo we will be in a new space - a move initiated by our students who were ready to have a safe space to call their own.  To pay the rent for our new classroom, the students suggested we raise the money through opening up a small store to sell snacks and planning a bingo in the neighborhood to raise money.  Stay tuned throughout the year as we work toward our goal and in the meantime check out our new space!

New classroom in Guasmo!

Back to School Adventures, Part 1

As we get ready to start up the 2013 school year, the first step is the back-to-school shopping.  The first thing on the Starfish list this year - backpacks!  Three returning Starfish scholars, Betsabeth, Genesis, and Marlon accompanied me to buy 28 new backpacks for our 28 deserving scholars.

Genesis and Betsabeth during the 2012-2013 school year.

We met up in the center around 10AM to scout out all the options.  After visiting 8 or so various shops we decided on two that met our standards of quality and design.  By Noon we were on our way with 28 new backpacks, carefully selected by three excellent scholars.  We celebrated the success with a U.S.-style treat for lunch - pizza!

Marlon and Genesis in one of the stores where we bought backpacks!

Thank you Genesis, Betsabeth and Marlon for your dedication to making Starfish successful!

Some of the backpacks for 2013-2014!

Gracias Victor's Vision and Hogar del Niño!

Two weeks ago I had the exciting opportunity to travel to Chulucanas, Peru to visit Victor's Vision - a non-profit started by Villanova alum and friend of Starfish co-founder Beth Awalt -  Emily Felsenthal.  Victor's Vision is a non-profit that provides students with the resources, support and guidance necessary to pursue higher education as a means to escape poverty.  They do this through after-school academic classes in the core subjects everyday with certified teachers.  Students start Victor's Vision in 2nd grade and continue through college - a goal that was only a dream for most students before they entered Victor's Vision.  In the province where Victor's Vision works, only 37% of finish primary school, and a mere 4% complete university.  All Victor's Visions students are on a path to making university a dream come true!

The four main programs at Victor's Vision are academic classes, field trips, nutrition and parent workshops.  Overall it was a wonderful experience and we aspire to accomplish much of what they have accomplished!

While in Chulucanas, I also had the opportunity to visit a shelter for children and teens who were either abandoned by their families or in a dangerous home situation.  The shelter is doing a lot of great work with very limited resources and personel.  Below are some pictures from the shelter.

Check out Victor's Vision website and like them on Facebook to learn more about this great initiative in the neighboring country of Peru!  Also check out Hogar del Niño Alto Piurano on Facebook!  Thank you to both organizations for being such wonderful hosts and teaching us about Peru and your work!

Lunch time at the shelter.

Sally, 4 years old, a new arrival at the shelter.  

For 4 days straight that beautiful and contagious smile never left her face! 

Hermana Maria Luisa, director of Hogar del Niño Alto Piurano with Starfish Co-Founder Jenn, and Starfish Volunteer, Angelo.

A hungry child can't study!

Last week we talked about how the rain is affecting the families of Guayaquil and the whole coastal region of Ecuador.  Not only are houses and streets flooding, causing damages to homes and bringing new illness - but the alimentación (nutrition) of already marginalized families may be taking a hit as well.  As reported in Ecuador's newspaper "El Universo" many rice plantations and the areas surrounding them are currently flooded, cutting off access and driving up prices.  Rice is a staple food in Ecuador, eaten 2 or 3 times a day - and sometimes the only thing a family could afford at what was a mere 30 cents a pound.  As of March 3 rice was at 37 cents a pound, a 23% increase and a huge burden for many families.

Other food hit by rising prices due to the flooding include tomatoes, berries, fish and beans.  These prices are reportedly rising as much as 40%.

Find out at more at: http://www.eluniverso.com/2013/03/05/1/1356/miden-impacto-fuerte-lluvia-zonas-arroceras.html

As part of our 2013-2014 programming Starfish will be providing a healthy snack at all tutoring sessions and monthly meetings as well as providing educational charlas (talks) throughout the year about healthy eating & living habits!  With this new initiative we hope to instill healthy habits and increase the ability of our students to study effectively without the pangs of hunger as a distraction.

Flor de Bastión students enjoying a healthy snack of yogurt, fruit and granola at the October 2012 monthly meeting.

Bienvenidos - Welcome to Starfish 2013-2014!

The new class of 2013-2014 Starfish Scholars has been selected - with many familiar faces, and a few new ones!  Once again we will be working in the 2 neighborhoods of Guasmo and Flor de Bastion.  Stay tuned in the coming weeks to meet our new scholars!

Congratulations to Ana, Anthony, Arelisa, Argenis, Betsabeth, Briggette, Carlos, Cristhian, Dayanna, Eddy, Elian, Evelyn, Genesis, Geovanny, Jerson, Joel, Karolayn, Lili, Maria, Maria Belen, Marlon, Milena, Pamela, Samantha, Solange, Steve & William!

We look forward to working with them in the 2013-2014 school year, however this year the President of Ecuador has decided to start school one month later - in May - to accomodate the many schools that often open late due to flooding in the rainy season.

Want to learn more about rainy season? Check out this picture I took last year and for our spanish readers - read how many parts of Guayaquil have been declared in a state of emergency of last Saturday's torrential rains.
http://www.eluniverso.com/2013/03/03/1/1445/coe-cantonal-provincial-guayaquil-activan-lluvia-sabado.html

Center of Guayaquil, April 2012. 

The neighborhoods in which Starfish works are not blessed to have paved roads in all areas, making rainy season an even messier scene than the one above.

Be a Shooting Star!

Our students may be on break, but we certainly aren't!  During summer break we are busy working on grants, updating our social media and selecting a new group of scholars among many other tasks.  Want to get involved?  Why not volunteer for Starfish!

We have several virtual volunteer positions available in Grant Writing, Social Media, Website Design as well as positions in Ecuador for a Before & After School Program Coordinator, Music Teacher or other project suited to your interests and skills.  Past and current volunteers have worked on projects in fundraising, database management, grant writing and social media in the U.S. as well as photography, before & after school program help, nutrition & gardening and English in Ecuador.

Our volunteer positions are great for recent grads, summer interns and anyone looking to put in a few hours of volunteer work for a great cause.  If you're passionate about making a difference in the education and lives of young people in Ecuador, this is for you!

Review our website http://www.thestarfishchange.org/volunteer.html and then contact Jenn & Beth at thestarfishchange@gmail.com if interested in getting involved!

Our top "battle star" winner in Flor: ARELISA!

Arelisa is a ball of energy. She is the first to speak up when decisions need to be made or responsibilities need to be completed. Measuring in at a good 6 inches shorter than most of the other Scholars does not stop her from asserting her opinions. She consistently brought in the best grades all year out of all Flor de Bastión Scholars. She is a great leader from head to toe. She can take charge of a meeting, quiet a crowd, and knows when to take a step back.

Arelisa, working on nutrition activities at a Starfish meeting in November, with a healthy bowl of yogurt for a snack.

One of my favorite leadership moments with Arelisa all year was when we were electing officers for our tutoring program - President, VP, etc. The obvious choice would have had her in one of these top roles. But she pulled me aside first..."Jenn, don't you think Milena would make a great President? I know she's quiet but I think we need new leaders." 

Milena, working on some homework.

Wow! Milena ended up being elected President by her peers based on Arelisa's campaign to elect someone new with lots of potential. Arelisa was able to recognize in her peer a quiet potential for leadership that has blossomed into a great balance of leadership within our Flor de Bastion Starfish Scholars. These are the kinds of skills we wish to see in our Scholars. With more leadership like Arelisa's I have lots of faith that our scholars will help transform their families, their communities and the world!

Evelyn, Samantha, Milena, Lili and Arelisa at the September Starfish "Integration" Day -- an event focused on building community between Scholars in both neighborhoods!

Our top "battle star" winner in Guasmo: STEVE!

In our most recent survey, one of the questions we asked Scholars was: What are two things you like best about the tutoring program? Steve had a very unique answer - going to buy snack.

Steve, with the view of Guasmo behind him.

You see, part of our Scholars' community service promise is to help me out with various projects. When we started giving a small snack a few months ago I asked for a volunteer on the first day to go buy $1 worth of mandarin oranges. Steve jumped out of his seat to help - every single day that week. After a while I didn't have to ask for volunteers - Steve just went and bought the oranges, even when I was out for two weeks.

Steve (right) and Geovanny at the front of the Starfish meeting. They are always willing to help!

This is the perfect example of Steve's good nature and passion to help others. He plays around like any 12 year old boy, and more than once I've had to remind him to be quiet during homework time - but when it comes to lending a helping hand, Steve is always the first to the gate.

Steve, working on a project at a Starfish monthly meeting.

Steve is a great teacher for me too. If I have to go buy something in the neighborhood, I often take him with me. He knows how to fix things and where to go to buy the materials - or better yet how to fix them without the materials. He knows where you can get milk for 50 cents per liter instead of the 80 or 90 cents you pay in most other stores. He is resourceful and street-smart - and only 12 years old.

Steve, getting creative on a craft project after tutoring.

Steve also comes from the most economically impoverished family we have in our Guasmo neighborhood. It is for students like Steve that Starfish exists. He could easily drop out of school to work to support his family - earning a few bucks here and there helping his father in construction. In his free time he could hang out with the other kids and fall into the temptations of the street in a process callejización.

Steve in his modest home in Guasmo.

But instead he goes to Starfish. His mother is a full-time stay at home mom of 6 kids, while his father works occasional jobs in construction when available, bringing home about $180/month or less than 2/3 of the current minimum wage. Sometimes he doesn't eat 3 meals a day...or sometimes he doesn't even eat 1 meal a day. But you can be sure he'll be at Starfish bright and early with a smile and a hand ready to help!

Genesis and Steve at a Starfish meeting this past summer!

-Jenn Zocco, Director of Ecuador Programs