When you explore Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands with Collette, you’ll get to see where the true stars of Quito, Ecuador spend time: the Children International community center.
The center serves as a haven for local children by working to end the cycle of poverty through educational opportunities, health and nutritional services, and after-school programs.
One of those children is Domenica, who was so anemic and weak that she couldn’t attend school or go out to play with her friends. Her mother always thought that the family couldn’t afford expensive healthy foods, and ate a diet based around processed foods.
Eventually, Domenica and her mother found the community center at Children International in Quito. Through the Nutrition Program, Domenica received a full checkup and evaluation, and her mother enrolled in nutrition workshops and cooking classes.
Now, their meals include plenty of vegetables, fruit, and proteins. After a month, Domenica went back for a follow-up appointment and had finally gained a healthy amount of weight, and her anaemia was cured. She had enough energy to attend school – and her grades reflected that.
There are thousands of sponsored children like Domenica, who have benefited from the Nutrition Program at Children International community centres in Quito.
Here at Collette, we believe in supporting the people and the places we travel to. Collette provided a grant to support the creation of a clinic that distributes supplements and nutritional information to malnourished children.
In Ecuador, at least 1 in 4 people were living below the poverty line in 2018. Many of the kids at Children International are dealing with the challenges of poverty, such as hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and health care, and gun violence.
In the Nutrition Program of Children International in Quito, the staff cares for children with at-risk, moderate, and severe malnourishment. They provide medical and nutritional checkups, therapeutic food treatments to help them gain weight as needed, and nutritional training workshops and cooking classes for parents.
We’ve been able to help Children International help more than 1,000 kids and 1,600 parents in Quito with nutritional treatments, education, and resources since 2015. Without Children International’s Quito community center, many of these children wouldn’t have a safe, clean place to spend time in. It’s a beacon of hope for the community, and a symbol that its kids and families are cared for.
Children deserve the chance to thrive; and to have access to nutritious food, education, and love. Our goal is to make this possible for every child, everywhere. We’re working on it in Ecuador, India, Costa Rica, South Africa, Cambodia, and here in the U.S. And we aren’t done yet.