Special Education in Ecuador. Kelly's first month!

In one day from now we will have all been in Ecuador for a month. It seems crazy to think we have been here that long, because the time is flying by really quickly! We are all in the immersion stage of our volunteering placements, and getting the opportunity to learn about what our roles and responsibilities in Ecuador are for the three month volunteering period.
The placements that we are completing fall into four main categories: Medical assistance, early childhood care, teaching and special education.Each placement incorporates different expectations and levels of teaching for all volunteers who are participating. Although it took about a week for us all to choose our placements (some members of the group rotated around the placements for a few days to find the one that they were most comfortable completing) we are all enjoying the roles that we have been given. The placements occur primarily at primary schools, but also at medical clinics and day care centres. The placements so far are:

• Teaching: Edwina, Tess, Samantha, Alex, Olivia, Emily
• Early Childhood: Melissa, Garigarra, Bec
• Medical Assistance: Jess, Chloe, Katelan
• Special Education: Kelly, Steph, Klara, Katy, Erin, Caroline

More information on personal experiences of each placement will come through in later blogs. I know that for the special education placement at the Insitituto Insfidim por los ninos discapacidad, we are all being exposed to different disabilities. The exposure to different disabilities makes it more difficult to plan lessons (what you teach to a class of physically disabled young people is different to a class of mentally disabled children, and again different when there is a combination of abilities under your care). Although it is sometimes difficult to accommodate these varying abilities, when the lesson plans work out well it makes it all the more worthwhile and special ☺

Also in the last week Ecuador has made the news with another round of political instability. This occurred whilst we were at our placements on Thursday the 30th of September. Due to the quick thinking and telephone abilities of Alex, Caroline and Marcelo, all volunteers left their placements early to return to their apartments (in the safer part of Quito). We were informed that riots had broken out within Quito city regarding new government laws in relation to the financial benefits given the police force and the military.

During the day on Thursday we were informed that the main airports in Ecuador were seized, the national assembly was stormed and the president was held captive in the police hospital. On Thursday night the president was freed by the military (unfortunately 8 people died in the attempt) and since then the situation has changed completely. I have never seen a political situation change from one extreme to another extreme in such a short period of time! On Friday you could barely tell that anything had occurred the day previously. The only difference was the higher military presence on the streets of Quito.

Our group of volunteers had intended to travel to the town of Banos on the weekend of the riots, but were unable to go due to the traffic blocks that had been put in place. Instead we remained in Quito for the weekend, sticking close to our houses and spending time with the volunteers that live within a close proximity to ourselves. This was a bit of a change of birthday plans for Melissa, who celebrated her 19th birthday in the midst of political instability. The majority of our group will be travelling to Banos on the 8th of October instead, as it has become a lot safer to travel outside of the city now.

Another blog coming soon!

Kelly