Summer School in Ecuador

Another summer in Otavalo and, yep, you guessed it – another summer school! For a period of ten weeks only, the GVI Phoenix Ecuador childcare project is handed total control of school activities in each of the four schools in which we operate, with no local teachers.

This allows us, with close consultation with the local teachers, to set the timetable, syllabus and lunch menu for the entirety of summer school, a challenge which is really relished by everyone here on the project.





Each week has seen us teach three days of normal school to the younger kids (4-12 year olds) and two days of English to the colegio students, and to anyone else who wants to rock up and learn some English.

The idea behind classes with the younger children has been to recap and explore much of the material from the previous year, giving them a vital boost before September.


We have, therefore, been in charge of planning for, and delivering classes to, each of the six grades in all of our schools. Needless to say, this is a task which has required huge amounts of enthusiasm and commitment from all of the volunteers, and they haven’t disappointed; there have been some excellent lessons in evidence across the board.

As well as this formal teaching, the final hour of each day with the younger kids has been reserved for non-academic activities which have included, amongst other things, art, crafts, P.E., music and drama.

These sessions have allowed the children to tap into their often under-exploited creativity, and we’ve seen everything from kites to paper fish emerging from the classrooms. As if that wasn’t enough, one afternoon even resulted in a drama class which produced a rare sighting of Larcacunga´s three headed monster – a man-eating beast which comprises Jhordi, Franklin, Brayan and a plastic poncho.

At Muenala, much rhythm was in evidence when the kids painted water bottles and filled them with pebbles to form an amazing percussion orchestra…well, ok, so what was lacking in rhythm was more than compensated for in noise!!

Meanwhile in Huayrapungo, the kids learnt lots of great energizing songs and after their energy was spent, they loved the chance in the afternoons for story sessions, often making the volunteers read books over and over again….in the same afternoon!

A big thank you goes out to all the volunteers and staff who contributed so much effort, enthusiasm and energy (and great cooking skills!!) to the kids and Summer School – you made Summer School the success it was and gave the kids from all the schools such great memories.

And, everything went so well that we decided to make the final week into a ‘fun’ week – an excuse to paint, create and run around, all day, every day!! News from the final week will be appearing on the blog shortly!!

Summer School in Ecuador