CETAP-Lucy Child Sponsorship Program

CETAP-Lucy is an educational-support organization in Chilcapamba, Ecuador. It provides technical support, speech therapy, psychological counseling, and tutoring for disadvantaged children and families. With the financial support from Hearts of Gold and individual sponsors, CETAP-Lucy has been able to keep its doors open through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we enter a new year, CETAP-LUCY has a lot to celebrate! In spite of the challenges of virtual learning and COVID protocols, all of our children were promoted to the next grade and received good grades. A better and more expensive internet capability was installed, which has resulted in fewer connection disturbances and faster service. All of the program’s donated computers are old and suffer frequent issues. A volunteer technician has been performing upkeep and repairs, but obtaining new computers is a pressing need this year.

The English-language course scholarships provided by the California-based Children of the Night program has been renewed. Seven more children will receive one-on-one virtual classes three days a week. Also, three Ecuadorian university students now regularly volunteer to teach English in person. English opens so many opportunities for our children, so we feel very blessed. Many university classes in Ecuador are taught in English, so the special help these children receive will make it much easier for them to enter universities and will increase their ability to get good-paying jobs. We are blessed by this gift.

CETAP-Lucy works in conjunction with Hearts of Gold and the Cuenca Soup Kitchen to distribute weekly food kits to eight large families. The temporary bakery that had been operating in the program’s psychologist’s office finally moved into its new location in the Lucy Bakery and Grill, a few doors down from CETAP-Lucy. It continues to provide work for poor families as well as to distribute fresh bread to the community. The restaurant space can be used for fundraising events and community meetings. The first fundraiser held there raised enough money to provide a Christmas meal to 45 children. A second fundraiser is planned to help the father of one of our young students. The father suffered a terrible accident that resulted in the amputation of his leg. He needs a prosthetic device in order to return to work, but this is not a covered item under the national health insurance and will cost more than $5,000. CETAP-Lucy students have raised money through the sale of BINGO cards, and an American comedian has offered to perform in order to raise the remaining $1,500 toward this life-changing goal.

CETAP-Lucy enjoys the support of the expat community. Volunteers help with homework and provide art materials and projects for the children. They donate uniforms and school supplies. The martial arts classes taught by one of our students benefit the children physically as well as building confidence, and has provided a healthy outlet for COVID stress.

One of our pre-school teachers, Mayra Quito, finished her university program and is now a certified child psychologist. We are very proud of her and we know her expertise will continue to help our students!

We cannot appropriately express our gratitude to GlobalGiving and Hearts of Gold for your support. We are proud of our ability to be flexible and to respond to changing circumstances. We strive to take the best advantage of the services and assistance offered to us. We thank you every day!