Organization:

Center for the Working Girl, CENIT

Location:

Quito, Ecuador

CENIT is a non-profit NGO located in a marginalized urban area of Quito, Ecuador. Now in its 14th year, CENIT provides a variety of support services to working girls and their families to help them rise out of grinding poverty. CENIT works to improve the quality of life of whole communities.

Why they exist:

“Girls in the streets of Quito work as ambulatory vendors on in markets selling vegetables, fruit or candy. Like their brothers, girls spend an average of 10 hours each day on the street. In addition to their street work, however, girls have an additional six hours of work at home caring for their younger siblings and doing housework. Girls are also more vulnerable than their male siblings in terms of sexual abuse, incest, teenage pregnancy, physical abuse, a higher probability of being forced to work, discrimination at school and in the work place, and extremely low self-esteem.

Provoked by the debt crises of the 1980s, working children became a common sight on the streets of Quito and all over most Latin American cities. Since this phenomenon began, many programs and centers have been formed to assist these children focusing almost exclusively on male children. In 1989, frustrated by the lack of attention paid to the specific problems confronted by working girls, a group of concerned Ecuadorian citizens founded Centro de la Niña Trabajadora (CENIT).

Centro de la Niña Trabajadora (known by its initials in Spanish as CENIT) is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1991 by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. CENIT uses educational and vocational programs to help working girls and their families overcome grinding poverty and improve the quality of their lives. The result is generations of working women with the education and skills to form healthy families that contribute to a more just and productive society.

Every year CENIT serves 1,000 girls and family members directly and goes on to benefit an additional 4,000 individuals indirectly. CENIT maintains long-term follow-up with girls and families to ensure that girls spend less time on the street, enjoy a childhood free from abuse, and realize their educational dreams.”

Volunteer Opportunities:

“CENIT relies heavily on volunteers from all over the world in many of its various programs. As a CENIT volunteer, you will work in a team environment according to your interests. All of our programs accept volunteers, but placement depends on the amount of time you’ll be spending with us, whether your commitment is full or part-time, your Spanish level and your areas of interest.

Volunteer Inscription Fee As of February 1, 2003, all incoming volunteers will be asked to pay a one-time processing fee of $50. This inscription fee allows volunteers full-time supervision and written evaluation upon request. These funds are used to cover the volunteer coordinator’s salary, administrative expenses and program costs.

Visa Arrangements Due to the expense of international faxing, incoming volunteers requiring assistance with visa arrangements are charged $15 upon arrival.

Additional Services… Some of our incoming volunteers need assistance arranging airport pick up, homestay/accomodations, and language lessons. If you would like information regarding these services, please contact us.”

The minimum time commitment is one month. Exceptions are made in special cases, so please contact us if you’re interested. Volunteers tend to be from ages 18 to 26, but adults of all ages are welcome. Depending on your level of experience in a given areas, your responsibilities as a CENIT volunteer may vary widely.”

Contact Information:

http://www.cenitecuador.org