Goodbye 2020, hello 2021!

We ended 2020, a year with a series of adaptations and learning, on this occasion, as every year, I would like to share a compilation of the activities carried out.

In the first quarter, we regularly run our programs, until March 15, which we had to go into quarantine as a result of an emergency, and close our doors. At the start of the quarantine, we were almost incommunicado with the outside, we had no idea how long the lockdown would last, but with the passing of days and weeks, we missed our encounters with the children and the readings.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the three volunteers who were in quarantine, made a plan, which worked very well, started live broadcasts of the Kids Club on Facebook Live, the children connected via a device, from their homes, to follow us on a screen, it was the only way that deserved our effort and energy, the transmissions were one of the most colorful and entertaining, we made challenges of different types so that children do not lose their reading routines, we started working at a distance, but with a lot of planning and dedication. In 2020, we had a total of 66 Virtual Children’s Club broadcasts, we concentrated on themes and authors, the children loved to meet Anthony Browne, Antonie de Saint-Exupéry, Roald Dalh, among others.

We had a total of 5 movie nights, the kids connected from their screens to share and talk more live and exchange ideas and opinions.

In adition, as part of the emergency, we had the opportunity to provide food to families in the community, we delivered about 100 baskets of first-necessity products, distributed between the urban and rural area of Puerto López.

The only group that managed to reactivate itself virtually for English lessons was Shark’s who continued their lessons through Zoom for two months. Language exchanges were also virtual, we had 30 opportunities to meet to practice languages with people from other parts of the world.

Also, with the Shark’s group, we began the implementation of the first community library in the canton, an ambitious project, which will open its doors in 2021, a project led by the Clara Luna group of adolescents.

In short, 2020 has been a different year, in which we have had many challenges, vicissitudes, hard moments but above all, moments of growth, in which our community has demonstrated its ability to adapt to the changes and conditions that the new normal implies. Moments like what we are living bring out the importance of having educational and meeting spaces to create resilient communities.

We would like to thank everyone who has passed, known and contributed to our projects and programs, and everyone who believes in our work and effort, for the distance support received in 2020.

 Thank you for your support! Happy Holidays!