Ecuador-Scotland Schools

May 2008

Some schools have the world in their classroom but the schools involved with the Ecuador-Scotland Global Citizenship Project schools have gone one step further – they’ve made their classroom the world!

The schools took part in an expedition, funded in part by SCIAF, to the farthest reaches of Latin America. The group included pupils and staff from St Roch’s Secondary [Glasgow], Plockton High School, St Paul’s Secondary [Glasgow] and Kibble Education and Care Centre.

The destination for the group was the Guayaquil slum community in the capital city of Ecuador. The slum is home to some 60,000 inhabitants. It was a powerful introduction to global poverty and many of the group were taken aback by the desperate living conditions that many families had to cope with. The schools all pitched in though and left a great legacy of their visit – a wall of beautiful cartoon murals for the children’s project to enjoy.

The group is now back in Scotland but the impact has been lasting - as is the determination of the students to make a difference. Recently, Plockton High School hosted a visit by Fairtrade producers who were visiting the Scottish Highlands and more follow-on activities are planned for the future.