The Cuenca Outreach Program
The needs of this community are multifaceted and The Cuenca Outreach Program addresses some of the other needs to enhance everyday life – providing assistance with education, hygiene, family celebrations, and physical comfort.
The Cuenca Outreach Program addresses these needs, and many others by:
- providing supplies needed for children to attend school.
- partnering with an Ecuadorian company that produces eco-friendly, reusable, and biodegradable diapers and feminine hygiene products.
- establishing The Birthday Abuelita project, which helps families maintain traditions by providing birthday cakes and gifts for their children.
- supporting the HeartStrings Knitting Circle which gifts hundreds of handcrafted hats and scarves to help people fend off the cold nights in the Andes.
- offering the Angel Tree Program, where each child selects an age-appropriate Christmas gift and each family receives additional food to help create celebrations at home.
Only 57% of primary-school-age children in Ecuador are enrolled in school.
This puts them at greater risk of being exploited, getting married early, and earning less future income (Starfish Foundation).
Every outreach effort is designed for maximum impact and long-lasting effect.
For example, the feminine hygiene kits are distributed at physician-led workshops so mothers and daughters can obtain accurate reproductive information with the hope of reducing the high rates of teen pregnancy. Each feminine hygiene kit lasts five to seven years and costs $50. Each diaper kit lasts approximately three years and costs $150.
Hygiene products are expensive and unobtainable by many.
Disposable diapers are often reused and during their menstrual cycles, girls and women often use rags and leaves.