Updates

New Desks at the Mission School

Thanks to your generosity, we are in the process of replacing and adding 500 new school desks at the mission school. This is a project that the mission school administration, teachers, and students have been requesting for some time now, and we are excited to help it become a reality. 

For years, the mission school students have been learning on right-handed only plastic desks. The desks are prone to breaking, creating a shortage in recent years. Due to mandated virtual learning caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the desk shortage did not become obviously problematic until recently when the students returned to the classroom. We have made it a priority to ensure that there is good quality, appropriate seating available for all students for the 2022 school year. 

One of our students, Marcela, shares her experience during these past few weeks of the school year. She is one of many students having to carry a plastic desk from classroom to classroom due to the desk shortage. She laughs as she carries her plastic desk across the mission school campus, able to stay so positive out of pure enthusiasm for being back to in-person learning at the school. But we know that this is not a positive or long-term solution. 

Marcela carries her desk from one class to the next. We will eliminate this desk shortage by the start of the 2022 school year so that students do not have to constantly move around desks!

After conducting research on classroom design and optimal learning environment, as well as receiving input from a few education experts, we have ordered a combination of individual student desks (both right and left handed), as well as tables and chairs to optimize group learning. A local Ecuadorian carpenter will be building the desks, tables, and chairs for us, thereby allowing us to support the local economy as well as complete a necessary project for the mission school. With the school year coming to an end next week, the new desks, tables and chairs will be ready for the beginning of the 2022 school year in May. Thank you for your generosity and helping create an effective learning environment for our students!