Support Our Youth (Soy!) Project
Flavio's Story
"If I had a magic wand, I would give my Mother a three-story house with a swimming pool. But, how would we even fill in the pool like those I see on TV? Sometimes it makes me sad when my Papa complains that the money he makes in the banana plantation doesn't go very far. I have told him to let me work, but he gets very sad and tells me that I couldn't do much with the little money I'd make; and on the other hand, I would be as dumb as a donkey without education. Now, I can't work but, when I am able, I want to be a mechanic to fix everything that is broken, and make money. It seems that when you earn a lot, the sadness disappears and people are happier. But, without money —just look at my sister suffering from malaria — she's always sick. If we could, like my Papa says, we'd take her to the health center.
Flavio is one of the few boys in Naranjal who doesn't work on the banana plantations of the province. He is an exception. Of his 33 classmates, more than half lose complete weeks from school during the high production seasons on the banana plantations.
"For any jobs, you need at least an elementary education, says my Papa. So if I want to work, I have to study. However, the bad thing about our school is that it doesn't have a cement floor, and during the rainy season everything turns to mud, and you can't play soccer during recess. If I could, I'd make a soccer field because that's what we most like to play. We play with whatever kind of ball...we make do."
Flavio thinks that weeding isn't hard, when he goes with his father on weekends to work in the banana plantation. His father, in spite of the difficult financial situation, has not given in to his son's request to let him work during school days. But, he is the exception among 80 percent of the children who end their elementary education and do not return to school because they prefer to work, even though they only earn $0.50 or $1.00 for a day's work. This figure contrasts to the more than $1 billion dollars that the country received from banana exports in 2004, Ecuador being the largest exporter worldwide. In spite of the low "profit" that child labor represents, more than 50 percent of children drop out of school to work.
How Do We Do This Project and What Are Our Accomplishments to Date?
To accomplish the project objective, CRS is helping individuals and institutions, private enterprise and communities to make significant contributions that assist in the implementation of quality education programs for child and adolescent workers at-risk. In addition, CRS encourages municipal governments in the intervention areas of the Support Our Youth (SOY!) Project to develop and implement plans, regulations and public policies which support education for child and adolescent workers and at-risk children. Finally, CRS supports centers and education programs in offering an inclusive quality education.
Strategies of the SOY! Project include the following:
- Mobilize key actors to promote quality in education and the elimination of the worst forms of child labor.
- Build national-regional-local alliances to promote policies and strategies for the integral protection of children and adolescents and to strengthen local management from an inter-sector perspective.
- Promote and provide a quality education in project intervention areas.
The project is currently benefiting 3,005 children and 134 teachers of the Provinces of Pichincha, Cotopaxi, Los Ríos, Guayas, El Oro. The total goal for the entire life of the project is to benefit 10,320 children, 500 teachers, 5000 parents and 126 schools in 136 rural communities of the five provinces.
Background of the Project
Ecuador has one of the highest incidences of child labor in all of Latin America. It is estimated that over 775,000 Ecuadorian children between the ages of 5 to 17 were working in 2001. Many children employed in the banana and flower industries are exposed to some of the most dangerous forms of employment. While many child laborers receive or have received some basic education, and approximately 92 percent of all 10-14 year old workers are functionally literate, by the time a child reaches age 14 more than a third of his cohort has dropped out of school, and approximately 60 percent of all 17-year-old child laborers have dropped out of school entirely.
The SOY! consortium led by CRS,and including Save the Children United Kingdom, CARE International, Fundación Wong and the Ecuadorian Catholic Episcopal Conference brings together five very strong organizations all of whom have experience in combating Child Labor, and promoting Education, Children's Rights, Advocacy/Civic Participation and Poverty Alleviation programming. Together SOY! consortium members implement program strategies, approaches and activities with local partners, and form strategic alliances with the objective of strengthening the capacity of local organizations and communities to respond to the issues of child labor.
