FACES … Fighting Child Labor in Ecuador

Tamitha — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:17:58 +0000

The Faces Ministry was founded in 2003 by Church of God Missionaries, Teresa & Dan Susong. Teresa began talking to the shoe shine boys and child candy sellers wandering the streets in Quito, Ecuador, and soon discovered they were working simply to help their poor Indian families survive. Most had dropped out of school due to lack of funds and the stigma of being from Ecuador’s lowest class, the Quichua Indians. With no budget to begin a project, the Susongs, along with two other families, began meeting with the children to feed them a hot meal, teach them the word of God, and show them love and respect.

Child labor in Ecuador is is no small problem. The Ecuadorian government say’s that out of a country population of 13 million 1 million are working children.

Currently, the Ministry Center offers a full range of services to children and adolescents who have immigrated to the city to work, teaching them about children’s rights, and offering them hope through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Service Areas:

Physical: Hot nutritious meals, Rest and play area, Hot showers, Clothing and Shoes, Medical and dental services

Emotional: Spiritual counseling, Psychological Services, Ministry to the entire family

Spiritual: Daily devotional and prayer, Worship service each Saturday

Intellectual: Reinsertion into the educational system

Social: Fun, games, and a safe place to come off the streets and “ just be a child…”

Visit their Site

COGWM Project #102-4038

Boss for a Day

Tamitha — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:18:52 +0000

In Ecuador we celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day just like in the United States. But Ecuador has also designated June 1 as the “Dia del Nino” which means “Children’s Day.” June 6 has also become a red-letter day as the World Day Against Child Labor.

A few years ago, the Lord gave us a creative idea for a way to celebrate Children’s Day and the World Day Against Child Labor in Ecuador. Young people from area middle class Hispanic churches, who have never had to go to work in the streets the way the FACES children have done, volunteer to change places with a working child.

This June, 70 volunteers came out to our ministry center to meet their assigned partner for the day. The FACES kids bring their shoe shine kits or boxes of candy and turn them over to their volunteer “buddy.” Then the volunteer teens hit the street shining shoes and selling candy and gum, while the FACES children go on a field trip, play, and relax all day. The Christian teens compete informally among themselves to see who can earn more money for their child worker buddy, which they turn over to them at the end of the work day at a special ceremony.

All the excitement serves to draw attention to the problem of child labor. The volunteers wear bright yellow tee shirts that say “Childhood is for studying and playing, not working.” We invite the area media to come out and do stories featuring the event. We have found that it is one day in the year where “everyone wins”. The young people learn a little of what the life of a working child is really like. The child workers get to really relax, knowing that even though they are taking a time off, at the end of the day they will get as much or more earnings that they need for their essentials such as rent and food. And the public is reminded once again that child labor must not be the norm and that as a society we must work together to eradicate child labor once and for all in Ecuador.

“Boy, I never knew how hard shining shoes could be,” said one teen. “My back is killing me.” One teen came back to the center. “Can I change my shoe shine kit for a box of candy? This shoe polish is getting me dirty.” “Wow, the public is so rude to you when you try to sell them something,” said one. “I’m never going to be rude to the street kids again.”

Visit the FACES website

COGWM Project # 1024038071