Volunteer at a Centre for Street Children

This project aims to help children, youth and adults who live on the streets of Quito. The main objective is to give people hope for their future, supporting them by providing a place to eat, a change of clothes, and a shower. Younger children are encouraged to go to school and get support with their homework at the project in the afternoons. This project offers training courses, health care, nutritional support, sex education and is always in need of volunteers to assist with their many activities.

Sinsoluka is a non-profit organization for children who live or have lived on the streets of Quito. The name Sinsoluka means ´without glue´, derived from the fact that a lot of people living on the streets of Quito are addicted to drugs and/or sniff glue because it is the cheapest drug they can afford. The project was created by two psychologists whose aim is not only to help the children but also their parents. This project has helped a lot of families get off the streets, find somewhere to live and when possible a job. And most importantly the project is now in its second phase of working with the children of the original street dwellers.

Today the center helps over 250 children and their families, although they do not all come to the center at the same time. In the morning around 30 children in the ages 10 till 15 come to Sinsoluka and in the afternoon another 70 children in the ages 4 till 12 come to the center. All children receive a nutritious lunch at the center and they have to brush their teeth afterwards. Many of these children have had a bad start to life such as being born to drug addicted parents, living on the streets, subjected to violence, abuse or neglect, made to work selling sweets in the street etc. The aim is to stress the importance of education as a way of breaking the circle and ensuring that these children do not fall for the same way of life and temptations that their parents did before them. With the help of funding and sponsors, the project pays to send the children to school and help out with any costs that the family may not be able to cover like school uniforms, books, materials etc.

It also provides help and support to the children’s families who come from poor, vulnerable and often broken backgrounds. One of the main problems facing those who have left behind their addictions and life on the street is finding employment due to their lack of education and skills. As a result, the project has created a carpentry work shop as well as a bakery that young people and adults can come and receive training and various courses.