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DEAF AND BLIND CHILDREN CARE
The “Instituto Especial Mariana de Jesús” is an institute that takes care of, educates, and hosts children with visual and hearing disabilities from all over the country.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The children need to stay in the Institute from Monday to Friday afternoon. During the weekends, they go back to their homes to be with their families.
The children come from families with limited resources and the Fundation “Amiga de los Ciegos”, a non-profit organization, doesn’t have enough resources to hire more people to live in the institute. Twenty-four people work in this institute. Approximately 39 children are present during the day and 24 stay to sleep there. More people are always needed to work with disabled children and, more particularly, to take care of them during the night.

VOLUNTEER WORK ACTIVITIES
The volunteers can organize recreational activities, help the children to do their homework, go with them to the museum, zoo, or swimming pool. They could also elaborate didactical material, transcript to the Braille, ect. If the volunteer sleeps in the institution, he/she can help to supervise the cleaning work of the boarding school.
To produce more efficient work, the volunteer who will stay more than 3 months will receive training.

VOLUNTEER PROFILE
We need people who are eager to help. If possible, we need people who know how to paint, play music, dance or do manual work to organize activities during the children’s free time - in the evening and the night. We are looking for women who are 20 to 30 years old.

ACCOMMODATION
The Institute is localized in the North of Quito. We offer the accommodation in a dorm with private bathroom, located between the children’s bedrooms. You will have a phone and access to Internet. The Institute is close to restaurants and clinics. We offer the alimentation - including breakfast, snacks, lunch, and dinner.

NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS
2 people during the night and 3 during the day.

VOLUNTEER TIME
The Institute is open from September to the end of June. We have one week of holidays at the end of each trimester.

REQUIREMENTS
- An intermediate level of Spanish is required. If the volunteer is not at this level, Ecuador Volunteer could help him/her to find the best program to improve their Spanish skills before starting the project.
- If the volunteer knows sign language they will be perfect for this project, but it is not necessary.

COSTS:
Inscription Fee: 200 USD
Lodging and meals: FREE

If you are interested in this volunteer position please contact Francisco Pastor at info@ecuadorvolunteer.org or call ++ 593 2 2557749 or ++593 2 2226544 (Fax). You can also visit our webpage, http://www.ecuadorvolunteer.org.