Today is Wednesday. It's no Friday but it's not Monday, either.
To honor the fact that we are in the middle of week, I will tell you five facts of life, about me or someone else, faith, world and existence in general.
And what I want from you, my readers?
I want to know about you!
Leave me your facts, so I can enjoy reading them!
They can also be about you, your life or anything you find fascinating in this world or in the world beyond.
Today I want to share you facts about our work here in Ecuador.
1. I work in a developmental project called “The learning path for indigenous disabled children
and young people in district of Napo”. It is a mission by Finnish Free
Evangelical Church and its sister church Iglesia Pacto Evangélico del Ecuador
or Ecuadorian Covenant Church. The project is funded by Finnish Foreign Office
and its part of their developmental work in third world countries. Our local
partner here, the church, has a foundation called Fundación Adelanto
Comunitario Ecuatoriano or FACE that administrates the chuch’s diaconal work.
We are part of the local Covenant church’s diaconal branch. I know it’s long
and complicated and sometimes even I don’t who I actually work, LOL.
2. The projects started because the local
Bilingual Intercultural Education Department in Napo province in Ecuador, asked
for support to create an inclusive and special education program. There have
not been any special education schools in the bilingual system, ever, in
Ecuador. There are several indigenous groups in Ecuador but in Napo the biggest
group is Kichwa indigenous people and that is who we are working with.
3. Our goal here has been to develop a culturally
appropriate model for inclusive and special education in kichwa schools. It has
been a challenge and a blessing. On one side the disability is a huge taboo in
the culture and has made our work hard, on other side, there are no bad
educational practices to get rid of. The educational department has opened
their doors and, surprisingly, the communities and the people have opened their
hearts to the disabled students. It has been a struggle but they are, mostly,
receiving an education.
4. We provide training for the special education
teachers and regular teachers about inclusion and special education techniques
and methods. The foundation has a multiprofessional team that both educates the
teachers, administrative staff and parents and does evaluations, assessments
and helps the teachers to create personal learning plans for the inclusive and special education students. We also do rehabilitation to the students together with the teachers.
5. There are 37 schools involved in our program
with a total of 42 special education teachers. These are all regular schools
with a special education classroom. The students’ needs range from learning disabilities
to severe and multiple disabilities. In total there are 456 children and youth
with disabilities included in our program and in the different schools. Some of
them are in total inclusion; some are in a support program where they are drawn
out of the classroom for specific classes. There are students who study in a
special education classroom, students who are visited by a teacher at their
homes and as something brand new we have started a program that prepares youths
and young adults with disabilities to an adult life.
There are a lot of challenges, a lot of needs
but also a lot of will and love.
