Back to School!

Educadora Jasmin & Volunteer Mirka helping Flor students set goals for the first semester!

Classes officially started back up last Monday, May 4 here in Guayaquil.  We are so proud of all of our students, new & old, who are making the commitment to one more year of education!  At Starfish tutoring is off to a great start.  We have 55 scholars and over 60 non-scholarship students already enrolled and participating in our daily sessions.  A growing wait list may mean even more exciting additions to our programs in the coming months!

Guasmo Scholars Mike, Sara & Briggitte during an icebreaker on the first day of class!

So far in the first few days of tutoring we have focused on getting to know each other a little better, as well as establishing guidelines for a great classroom environment and setting some SMART goals for the semester.  The educadores have done a great job planning ahead for a successful year and we are excited to see all of the exciting things our Scholars accomplish.  Next week our summer volunteers begin to arrive, so stay tuned for updates from them.  Our Scholars always enjoy learning from our visiting volunteers as well as sharing a bit about life in Ecuador.  

Arelisa in her new uniform at a brand new school!

It's Back to School season! 2014-2015

The new school year hasn't quite started yet here in Guayaquil, but we're already getting ready for the new school year here in Guayaquil.  As the students enjoy their last few weeks of vacation, they are also busy getting their new shoes & uniforms.  The "ayudantes" and I have already purchased new backpacks and notebooks for the year.  Both spaces are starting to look more like real classrooms and we even had our first parent & student meeting a couple of weeks ago.  

This year's scholars in Flor de Bastión!

Meet some of our Starfish families - both new and old!  And stay tuned for more exciting updates as we approach the start of classes on Monday, May 5!

Starfish Scholar Juliana, her sister and niece!

Starfish Scholars Anthony, Evelyn and Argenis, with their mom and sister,
and new addition - Domenica, Evelyn's daughter! 

Starfish Scholar Mirka with her mom and sister!

Third-year Starfish Scholar Joel with his mom and younger brother!

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 2

Just one week until the 2013-2014 school year starts here in Guayaquil.  What does that mean for our scholars?  "Matricula" started last week and continues into this week.  With only a week or two until classes start, this is first time you can officially sign up for school (even for the public schools our scholars attend).

If you're staying in the same school you're guaranteed a spot - but for those who have moved and must switch schools, or are just entering high school this is a very stressful time of year.  Once you have successfully matriculated in a school (if there are even any spots left!) just then you find out your schedule (morning or afternoon) and you can begin to buy your uniform and everything else you need for the school year.  Talk about last minute!

Pamela in her gym uniform with her professor!

Needless to say the uniform stores will be pretty busy in the coming days, as will our scholars as they prepare for classes after an extended break due to the rain.  Thanks to "Leon 2" and "Confecciones y Bordados Pincay" for making the uniform process easier for our students by providing times especially for Starfish and allowing us to purchase in bulk.  ¡Gracias!

Communicate Good with Beth Awalt!

Starfish co-founder Beth Awalt was recently featured in an interview with "Communicate Good" Thanks to Rich and Miriam for composing the interview!

Check out the interview with Beth here:
Talking Good with Beth Awalt

...and make sure to "like" it on facebook and share it with your friends.  Thanks to Communicate Good for giving a voice to great causes!

Beth with Starfish Scholar Maria during a visit to Maria's home in June 2012.

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.

The task of purchasing uniforms in Guayaquil

Remember how all students in Ecuador, even at public schools, must buy 2 or 3 costly uniforms?  Try figuring out where, and how to buy them at a fair price when the entire city is trying to do the same thing.  I had the opportunity to accompany Paola, mom of two of our Starfish scholars – Maria and Steve, on her trip to the center of the city to try to get uniforms.  

Paola, Maria and some of the other Bravo children.

We left that day with a complete uniform for one, with the hope of buying the other the coming week.  At one store, we bought pants and Paola was able to get us a $0.50 discount.  Next we found a shoe store where we were able to get a discount for buying both the regular shoes and physical education shoes at the same time.  Next we found socks.  Later we found a lady walking around on the sidewalk selling belts for $1.  We left the hardest part for the end.  For the biggest and most famous high schools in the city, finding shirts was easy.  However, Steve is going to a high school in Guasmo that isn’t as well known.  We went to several vendors before we found one man who was willing to go look for us.  After about a half an hour he finally came back with the shirt we needed and the physical education uniform specific to the high school that completed our set.  With Paola’s expertise, we spent about 2.5 hours and $62 to complete Steve’s uniform for this coming school year! 

Read more about uniform and school supplies demand and prices: http://www.eluniverso.com/2012/03/25/1/1445/demanda-utiles-uniformes-crece-antes-clases.html

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

Why do students need to purchase new uniforms yearly?

Hello everyone!


Thanks to some awesome mentors in Guayaquil, we were able to get a bit more information on why a student buys a new uniform (sometimes all three must be replaced!) yearly. 


1. Children grow :).


2. Boys, girls and adolescents damage their uniforms quickly. Since clean appearance is very important in Ecuadorian culture and educational institutions (noted by the immense amounts of students we met who didn’t attend school on random days because there wasn’t water to wash their uniforms), it is imperative the students have presentable clothing.


3. The schools invent many things to change the details on uniforms – often because these schools have deals with specific organizations / families that make uniforms.


4. The government does not sell the uniforms; in general, they are sold by businesses with the guidance of the educational staff.


Note: The government will occasionally offer training workshops for families to learn how to make uniforms, and the best families from the workshops will receive certification to do so. The government may subsidize uniform-makers, but in general the people who receive the financial benefit from uniforms are the producers of the uniforms.