Breaking News: 2015-16 Scholars announced!

We are excited to announce that we have accepted 55 scholarship recipients for the 2015-16 school year.  Decisions were difficult this year as we received almost 90 applicants.  However, these 55 Scholars demonstrated excellence through their academic and personal achievements and motivation.  In order to be selected, applicants took part in a rigorous selection process which included application, interview, home visits and a review of their participation and academic advancement over the past school year.

Please join us in congratulating -

From Guasmo -
Returning scholars: Briggitte, Steve, Yesenia, Geovanny and Sofia!
New Scholars: Luis A, Sara, Joselin C, Kimberly, Ruddy, Angie F, Darwin, Luis G, Isis, Jesus, Genesis O, Melany, Jean Carlos, Jorggy and Mike!

From Flor de Bastión -
Returning Scholars: Dayana, Briggitte, Joselyn C, Miguel, Juliana, Gema, Jordy, Milena, Anthony, Julio, Arelisa, Michelle and Betsy!
New Scholars: Gabriela, Daniel, Jhon, María B, Alexander, Nayeli, Melissa, María L, Alexis, Itaty, Ericka, Michelle, Adolfo, Josue, Luiggi, Joselyn Q, Genesis R, Angie S, Ariana, Oscar, Lucy y Abraham

This past weekend we held the first official meeting with our new class of Scholars and their parents.  It was very successful and we hope this is a sign of many good things to come for this year!

Semana Santa en Ecuador = Holy Week in Ecuador

As you may know, it is Holy Week!  Christians around the world celebrate holy week beginning with Palm Sunday and all throughout the week leading up to Easter.  Here in Ecuador, traditions are similar to what a Christian in the U.S. may experience.  Many people attend extra daily masses, especially on Holy Thursday and a special service on Good Friday.

What's different about the celebration of Holy Week in Ecuador is the importance given to these days.  Generally, large community wide activities are planned, and many people participate in these gatherings.  It is a time for church communities to reflect and pray together.  One common tradition across many communities is the acting out of the Stations of the Cross.  As is common in many churches around the world, many faithful participate in the stations of the cross weekly throughout Lent.  In Ecuador, communities come together to act out the stations of the crosses, going from house to house or various locations for each station.  Pictured (above & below) are youth from a local youth group acting out the stations of the cross a few years ago.  Processions take over city streets and even those who might not regularly attend mass take some time out of the day to participate in these events.

Holy Week & the Easter season in Ecuador is also characterized by certain foods, traditionally only served at this time of year.  One such food is Fanesca (pictured below), a pumpkin based soup with various beans, grains and codfish or "bacalao".  It sometimes also contains plantains, eggs and other seasonings.  Many varieties specifically contain 12 different kinds of beans or grains to represent the 12 disciples.  Other traditional Easter foods included arroz con leche, humitas (prepared similarly to tamales), colada de maíz, and mashed potatoes.

Since Ecuador is predominantly Catholic, most of the country shuts down to take part.  Holy Week in Ecuador is truly something special and very powerful to experience.

Vacacionales and First Ever Starfish Open House!

Hola again from Guayaquil, Ecuador.  We've had a few really exciting weeks here.  Last week we shared about the graduations of our 6 seniors, but that's not all we've been up to!

For the last 3 weeks we've held vacacionales, sort of like day camp, for our students with a wide range of activities planned mainly by our educadores.

Some of our female students were able to participate in community service at a local shelter and school for young girls who either don't have families or have suffered some sort of abuse and have been removed from their homes.  Our students were able to share some activities and friendship with them several days during vacation.  We hope this partnership can continue so that our students can continue to give back to their community!

Other activities included spiritual retreats, teamwork activities, a treasure hunt, and more.  On the last day we also thought about our dreams for Starfish and created this poster (above, right) so that we may keep our dreams in mind always.

  

In Flor, the main activity was learning how to make various things from recycled materials (above).  Spearheaded by educadora María, the students learned how to make many items using just plastic bottles, newspaper, empty toilet paper rolls, and other materials found around the home.  On the last day we held an open house where parents and other family members came to learn about the projects the students had been working so hard on over the past few weeks.  We concluded the open house with the first ever "Miss & Mr. Starfish" where students modeled various outfits - including their very own dresses & suits made from recycled material. Congrats to Oscar & Itaty for winning this year due to their hard work on their recycled outfits as well as their confidence in expressing themselves!

Towards the end of our camp, we also held our closing ceremony for the 2014-15 school year, recognizing our students, employees, and parents for their efforts during the year.  We started off with some inspiring words from Milena's mom, Mariana & Scholars Geovanny & Mirka.  Then we recognized all of our employees with some awesome Starfish hats and awards.  Educadores Tyrone from Flor and Cynthia from Guasmo were recognized by their co-workers as "Educador del Año" or Employee of the Year.  Jordy's mom Norma was recognized as "Parent of the Year" for always going above and beyond what is asked of her.  Yesenia from Guasmo and Jordy were recognized for earning the most stars on our star chart that tracks grades, attendance, behavior, community service and more.  Our 6 graduates also received framed graduation pictures as our special gift to them!

Scholars who have been with us since the first year!

Mariana, Milena's mom

Flor Scholars with their families!

All of our students acting a little loco to celebrate their hard work!

¡Felicidades Graduados!

¡Felicidades Graduados! - Congrats Grads!

Last week, 6 Starfish Scholars officially completed one of their goals - they are now high school graduates!! We are so proud of them; They've accomplished so much and have so much more to come.  

Graduates Pamela, Cristhian, Eddy & Lili with Co-Founder Jenn

Lili, Pamela & Cristhian are 3 of the inspirations for Starfish.  I first met them when I was a volunteer in 2010-2011 at Casa Don Bosco, a shelter for street kids that at that the time also ran an after-school program for neighborhood kids.  They were all in the equivalent of 8th grade, but already leaders.  Their perseverance in the face of challenges was part of my motivation for wanting to return to Ecuador and help educate more youth.  Eddy joined this group of inseparable friends 3 years ago when he met the others at school and then joined us at Starfish.  Watching all of them grow up over the years has been amazing.  Each one of them continues to inspire me and teach me new things every day.  

Graduates Joel, Pamela, Mirka, Lili, Cristhian & Eddy at our year-end celebration!

Now Lili is working as a seamstress and with hopes of completing a year of volunteer work in a different part of Ecuador through Casa Don Bosco.  Eddy dreams of studying communications and becoming a TV presenter.  Cristhian dreams of becoming a pilot, and Pamela a flight attendant.  Although they have graduated, Starfish continues to support all of them as they find out all of the options to achieve their dreams! Mirka is the last addition to the Flor de Bastión group of graduates.  Joining us just this past year, she quickly left a grand impression on all of us.  Her maturity is way beyond her years and for this reason our employees chose her to give the welcoming speech and reflection this year as a representation of the whole Flor de Bastión community in our closing ceremony.  Mirka will be continuing her studies this year at the state university where many of our employees study.

Joel and his mom with his acceptance letter to a prestigious college scholarship program!!

Last, but certainly not least, is our lone graduate from Guasmo this year - Joel.  Like some of the others, Joel has been a Starfish Scholar since our first days here in Guayaquil.  He has always shown us 100% effort to do his best in everything that is asked of him, and especially in his studies.  Joel is a natural leader, and a dedicated student.  We always knew Joel was special, and now someone else has recognized him too!  A few months ago we attended a talk about a scholarship open to any student achieving a 9 or higher average in school.  Joel sounded like a good fit and he applied.  After a rigorous application process complete with an interview, tutoring sessions, test and home visit, we found out that Joel was selected for a 100% scholarship!  He will be completing a business degree at the Tecnológico Espíritu Santo along with some of the country's best and brightest students.  Due to the high costs of the university, this privilege is usually reserved only for the country's wealthiest.  Thanks to his efforts, Joel now has an excellent opportunity to really break the cycle of poverty in his family and we are so excited to see where this journey will take him in the future!

Flor grads with special gifts from their educadores!!

All of our grads have been invited back to continue to help us as role models and volunteers in the next school year, so we look forward to keeping you updated on their continued accomplishments!!

Luck O' the Ecuadorians

Greetings, Starfish supporters! This week, we'd like to share one of our current campaigns: Luck O' the Ecuadorians.

This St. Patrick's Day, we invite you to raise a glass to our students in Ecuador and contribute just $7 to their educations. Because it costs $1 per day to support a Starfish scholar, your $7 would pay for an entire week! $30 would cover them for a month--and so on.

We know that St. Patrick's Day is a time for fun and lively festivities. But we'd also like to offer it as a time to give back. We hope you will consider gifting the cost of one St. Patrick's Day drink (or any other item) to our students. It'll brighten their days as much as any leprechaun's pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

For more information, please visit our event page or website.

Our Annual Benefit Dinner: A Silent Auction Preview

Hello Starfish supporters! Today, I'm writing to tell you about our Evening for the Stars benefit dinner on Saturday, April 18. We're holding the event at St. Pius X Church in Baltimore at 7pm and we sincerely hope you will join us! The dinner will feature any number of delights including music, a raffle, door prizes, and delicious Ecuadorian food and wine. We will also have a silent auction which will feature a number of unique items including the following:

Peace birds!

Your much needed Starfish gear!

This Harold Feinstein umbrella and other donated items!

Paintings and other art from Ecuador!

This gorgeous alpaca shawl.

Tickets are $35 for adults and $25 for students and can be purchased here. Proceeds directly benefit our operations in Ecuador--including providing funding for our scholars!

Volunteer Reflections: 3 lessons (of many) from my time with Starfish

Today's post comes from Martin, our very first volunteer in Ecuador!

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Lesson 1: There is a universal language spoken through hugs, smiles, and laughter.

My favorite day with the Starfish Scholars was on our trip to the park. That day was great, except for one small thing. Up to that point I had always worn a polo or a t-shirt. That day was the first time I wore a cut-off shirt since we were suppose to be playing soccer. For some reason, the girls were laughing at me. At first I thought they were giggling because they were happy to see me. I asked why they were laughing and Ana responds by lifting my arm. Maria pointed to my armpit hair and broke out laughing. I immediately pulled down my arm. I felt embarrassed for a moment and they didn't care. They laughed and laughed and all I could do is laugh with them.

Lesson 2: The people you serve are always going to do more for you than you can do for them.

I can't believe how much the families cared about me. I was served food, asked if I needed anything, served more food, and even was taken on a family trip to the river. They threw me a party with tons of food and got me my favorite cake. I always felt that people were doing things for me, giving things to me, and wishing the best for me. It was always hard to go since they made me feel so at home. The hospitality and friendliness of the Starfish families are unparalleled, aside from my own family--and they kind of have to love and feed me. 

Lesson 3: Community can't be taught, it must be built with time, trust, and consistency.

If there is one thing I learned is that trust is something given to those you love. They loved me from the beginning and are so trusting that it was a little unsettling at first. Now I think about how beautiful that was. The reason they trusted me was because the people before me, Beth and Jenn, had already put in the time to develop, maintain, and improve upon their relationships with not just the families of the scholars, but the families in the communities where they lived as well. Beth and Jenn started something beautiful, a program for the kids that was both good and the right thing to do. They didn't make it easy, though. It had a status and becoming a scholar is something you earn through good grades and attendance at Starfish meetings, tutoring, and events. The scholars host events and activities, too. They even have leadership positions. All things they can take pride in and should as they deserve the opportunities the Starfish Foundation provides. They are the future of their communities and I am hopeful for the future.