XICS Ecuador (Portoviejo)

XICS Ecuador (Portoviejo)

• Location
  The project is located in the neighbourhood of Las Cumbres in the city of Portoviejo in the province of Manabí. It is an area of geographically inaccessible settlements and that is incline to floods and landslides. Las Cumbres has grown chaotically with the rural exodus and has great deficiencies in basic infrastructures such as sanitation, electricity, education and health.
  
• Beneficiaries
  The 160 children registered in this centre belong to underprivileged families, the majority immersed in poverty who live with less than 2 $ a day. The parents are often involved in drug use and dealing, and the children are led to a world of social vulnerability. The violence within the family and of gender, alcoholism and drug trafficking are daily dramas suffered by the majority of families.
  
• Activities and results
  
  Professional training has been offered to youngsters and adults to allow their inclusion in resource-generating activities (RGA). Classes in IT, automatic embroidery, catering and Public Relations have been offered.
  
  Commitment and Community Work
  The community has been involved in all the activities organised by the centre, participating in teams of community clean up workers or preparing food in the centre’s kitchen. Furthermore, participation has been high in the workshops to raise awareness and health and hygiene issues.
  
  Project Impact
  In the neighbourhood of Las Cumbres, an area forgotten by the local and national urban planners that is renowned for its high rates of violence, poverty, drug addiction and alcoholism, improvements are being felt due to the work carried out by the XICS Centre.
  
• Co-executing entity
  Fe y Alegría Association
• Co-financing entities
  AECID
  City Council of Portoviejo
  Provincial Council of Manabí
  
• Collaborating entities
  Archdiocese of Manabi
  Handmaids of the Sacred Heart