The school year has not even started yet but the kids from Bahía de Caráquez are already rehearsing, more motivated than ever, eager to learn and to get back to work! Soon they will all play in their new music classroom which will be inaugurated on May 10th.
Field Trip: A sweet surprise
Before the girls left, a surprise awaited them, especially made for their farewell by their hosts - and godfathers of Alison - Doris and Guido. We reach out to thank them for their generosity, engagement and support of this project.
Field Trip: Alison and Fiorella are back in Ecuador
Alison and Fiorella arrived safely last night in Guayaquil, greeted by family and friends who missed them a lot during their two weeks abroad. We would like to thank Alfredo and Chantal (in the picture) and Rosita without whom this adventure would not have been possible.
Field Trip: Meeting Friends and Godfathers in Zürich
To finish the Field Trip, we invited our Madrinas and Padrinos as well as friends to an apéro. They had the unique opportunity to meet Alison and Fiorella and hear first-hand from their experience in Switzerland and also about their lives and school in Ecuador.
Field Trip: Our new Ambassadors
After two weeks in Switzerland, Alison and Fiorella are getting ready to return home. Besides packing their suitcases, they are also working on a presentation about their experience here that they will hold in the school back home. Furthermore, they have agreed to become Ventus Spei's Ambassadors and in this role will help us with our projects in the future.
Field Trip: From Horses to Ceviche!
Today we went horseback riding in Gstaad. As this was also a first for Fiorella and Alison, we started with the basics: cleaning the horses and saddling them properly. Our teacher Natalia was very impressed how well the girls did. They enjoyed their ride very much and to thank us, they cooked a wonderful ceviche for dinner...mmmhhh!
Field Trip: Ecuador Ski Team!
Fiorella and Alison discovered snow for the first time of their lives in Les Diablerets (1'800m). The ski teachers Sylvain and Bibi were amazed by their natural skills on skis. After only two hours of class, they were able to use the T-bar alone, mastering blue slopes! We would like to thank our sponsors Isabelle Fontanaz and Jacky Sport for offering the equipment for this wonderful day!
Field Trip: Back to school
We were all really excited about the opportunity we were given by Esther Eicher, who welcomed our girls in her class during three days. The school is located in the heart of Switzerland, in the beautiful Entlebuch region. The class had kindly prepared various activities for the exchange students. They were greeted with a breakfast, watched an English movie, visited a farm, joined gym class, cooked together, and last but not least, Fiorella and Alison held a presentation about Ecuador. Ms. Camenzind, the school's director, was happy to be able to give the students an opportunity to learn about different cultures. A big thank you to Reni Soguel-dit-Piquard, the school's social worker, who organized this project for us.
Field Trip: Sightseeing in Luzern
We started the second week with sightseeing in Lucerne as this is the city where we are kindly hosted by Fabienne and Reni during the time Fiorella and Alison go to school.
Field Trip: Making New Friends
Fiorella and Alison visited Geneva over the weekend where they made a new friend; Camille, our Secretary's niece, was very proud to guide them through her city and to get to know them better. After exchanging their phone numbers and facebook address, they promised each other that they would meet again very soon, this time in Ecuador. We might have found here our next volunteer!
Field Trip: Meeting the Mummy at St. Gallen Library
On the weekend, Alison's Godfather, Guido Seiler, took us to St. Gallen where he grew up. There we visited the Abbey Library which is one the world's oldest and most beautiful libraries. It contains more than 1'600 incunabulum (books printed before 1500) and a 2'700 year old Egyptian mummy! It was made a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1983. A must see if you are traveling in the region!
Field Trip: In the OR!
One of the objectives of the Field Trip is to give our students the opportunity to meet with professionals and learn more about the work they do. Today, Dr. Olivia Wild not only let us in on the work of an anesthetist, but actually gave us a tour of an OR - in fluent Spanish! We would like to warmly thank her and all the other professionals who support our project.
Field Trip: Visiting Swiss Science Center Technorama
We visited today the Swiss Science Center Technorama in Winterthur. This interactive museum invites you to discover, explore and experience hundreds of different phenomena. For all Star Wars fan, you can plunge with your face and hands into a 2 by 4 meter sea of nails; the result is mesmerizing... feeling like Hans Solo being carbonated!
Field Trip: Discovering Zürich from above
For their first day in Zürich, Fiorella and Alison visited the old town. They were very impressed with the 360° view from the churchtower of Grossmünster, built some 800 years ago.
Field Trip: Our students arrived safely in Zürich
Yesterday the adventure started as Alison and Fiorella boarded an airplane for the first time in their life! Because of that we organized that the students be accompanied by a member of the staff at all times on their flight from Guayaquil to Zürich via Madrid. We talked to the crew in the arrival hall; they were all very impressed and thought that girls were frequent flyers!
Educational Field Trip 2017
We are happy to announce that Fiorella and Alison from our school in Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador will visit us in March for a two week Educational Field Trip. The girls have gone through intensive preparation, which had already started in December when our volunteers held extracurricular classes with them every afternoon (see picture). The final important step has been taken two days ago when we received the visas from the Swiss Embassy in Quito. Let the journey begin! Follow us here for full coverage of this exceptional experience.
Are you our next volunteer?
Has our volunteers' work sparked your interest? If you want to learn more or would like to apply for a volunteering position, please contact us at info@ventus-spei.ch.
Thank you to our volunteers
Christine and Stephan have completed their voluntary service at the school and are leaving Bahía now. What they have accomplished is impressive. In addition to the activities they shared with us through the posts, they were working on two projects that we will launch next year. More information will follow here shortly. We would like to warmly thank Christine and Stephan for their hard work and dedication for our project. They will be missed by the kids, the teachers and especially their godson.
Christmas performance
A big day for the kids: Every class presented their Christmas performance such as a dance, theater, story telling etc. The kids, supported by their teachers, have been practicing for a month and the results where fabulous!
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support throughout the year and wish you all a Merry Christmas!