Fundación
El Arenal
We want every marginalized child in Cuenca, Ecuador to be able to realize their full potential.
Mission
Our mission is to provide free access to academic support, nutritious diet, and family support to marginalized children in Cuenca, Ecuador.
Vision
Children and youth from Cuenca breaking their cycle of poverty and becoming empowered change-makers in their own communities.
Theory of Change (TOC)
For El Arenal, “success” means being able to engage and support every child from marginalized communities in Cuenca through our local network of community members. We believe we must help these children develop their full potential despite the many obstacles they face because every child deserves all conditions necessary to develop. In addition, we see an improvement in our community when we are able to support our children.
We believe we are working to create a cycle of achievement by supporting the development of our children and families, investing in the future of our community, and supporting those in most need. Below is a description of how each of the programs we offer supports the success of our Theory of Change.
After-School Program
By providing after-school sessions, we are working to bridge the educational gap for marginalized children in our community and ensuring they make the most of their academic opportunities.
Nutritional Program
Keeping children healthy is of primary importance to our community, which is why we have several volunteers working every day to cook balanced meals to our children and teenagers. This way, children do not go hungry to school and are able to perform better. In addition, children are able to connect with each other and socialize during the meals - a key part of their day.
Family Counseling
A healthy household is essential to a child’s development. With our in-house psychologist, we offer family counseling to parents and children. This could include mediating conflicts between children and/or teenagers, addressing psychological traumas, restructuring family dynamics to support the children’s development, emotional intelligence development, and mediation of family issues.
Extracurricular Activities
Our extracurricular activities are essential to expose the children to culture while also helping them develop socialization skills. For example, with our camping days, holiday celebrations, and cultural trips, our kids are able to explore the world without having to leave Cuenca. We also see an improvement in our community when children are engaged.
Structure
The foundation depends on donations and local government budget to serve the kids. Most donations come from Germany as the organization was a German initiative and was founded with the help of German volunteers that support El Arenal until today. Additionally, the organization has seven full-time workers:
Maribel Barreto, Director
María Augusta Durán, Psychologist
María Dolores Caiza, Social Worker
María Rosario Carrión, Maintenance
Susana Patricia Quezada, Accountant
Chunchi, Teacher
Irvin Guamán, Teacher
Verónica Guiñansaca, Teacher
More information about them can be found below. In addition, El Arenal runs its nutritional program with the help of two friends and local women - María del Auxilio Coraisaca and María Rosario Carrión - who cook lunch for the 75+ kids and adolescents every day. They have been working with El Arenal since 2016.
Besides the monetary support, El Arenal has the support of Hearts of Gold Foundation, which is a registered Ecuadorian non-profit with over 10 years of experience working to boost the capacities of local nonprofits so that they can reach their unique goals. Hearts of Gold has worked with El Arenal since 2013 and provides training to El Arenal staff in leadership, communication, and teamwork.
Additionally, Hearts of Gold is a verified member of Global Giving and manages a Global Giving platform to raise money from its network of donors for several causes to support various non-profit organizations in Ecuador, including El Arenal. Hearts of Gold wants to expand this initiative and support El Arenal with its own campaign. For more information about Hearts of Gold, you can visit their webpage here.
Meet Our Staff
Maribel
Director
Maribel joined El Arenal in 2015 enthusiastic to help the kids in the organization. She is now the director and responsible for managing El Arenal, including responsibilities such as budgeting, running the payroll, organizing activities, contacting families, buying supplies, and others. She is very excited about the new fundraising project because it will help to finance activities, and looks forward to making El Arenal a better place for the kids.
María Dolores
Social Worker
Maria Dolores joined Fundación El Arenal with the vision and drive to improve El Arenal's services and developing the organization with experience and integrity. She joined El Arenal in 2014 and has over 15 years of experience as a Social Worker. She oversees all the activities and services offered, and makes sure the children and youth are able to explore and grow in a safe, enriching environment.
María Augusta
Psychologist
Maria Augusta is El Arenal's in-house psychologist who joined the organization in 2015. She works with the families to track their kids' development and is responsible for the family counseling program. Additionally, she is the point of contact for any health-related issue.
María Rosario
Concierge
Maria Rosario is the mother of one of the kids that attends the organization. She got inspired by the social service El Arenal provides to the kids and decided to join the organization in 2016. Now, she is not only the mother of one of the kids but also the nani of all the children at El Arenal.
Chunchi
Educator
Chunchi joined the family in 2016 with the enthusiasm to help the kids and expand the impact El Arenal has in her community. She is in charge of the workshop of art and brings years of experience of working with kids to the forefront in helping El Arenal grow and succeed.
Irvin
Educator
Fun, enthusiastic, and energetic are some of the words kids would use to describe Irvin. He loves to play with the kids and they enjoy being around. Irvin embodies El Arenal's mission and leads many of its projects. Irvin teaches the communication workshop.
Verónica
Educator
Veronica joined the organization in 2014 and has supported the organization ever since. Veronica is an invaluable member of El Arenal, she is constantly innovating and finding better ways to teach the kids and reinforce their education. She is in charge of the Logic and Mathematics workshop.