El Centro de la Niña Trabajadora

Introduction

CENIT, El Centro de la Niña Trabajadora or Centre for the Working Girl, is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation in Quito, devoted to helping working children (especially girls) & their families overcome grinding poverty & improve their quality of lives through education & training, health & social services & recreation.

Types of Projects

Street Outreach: educational and play activities, children aged 3-5

CEA: tutoring centre, pupils aged 6-16

Clinic & Psychological Services

ESTAR: primary school, accelerated learning for working children

Colegio RV: high school & vocational training

Mi Fami: workshops & courses for parents

Locations

CENIT headquarters are located in El Camal in southern Quito. Our projects either take place here or, in the case of Street Outreach and the School Support Centre, in one of the markets of southern Quito (El Camal, Chiriyacu or San Roque). We are located in the poorer zones of Quito as this is where the children and families who most need our help live and work.

Timeline

CENIT´s required time commitment varies between programs; please see our website for further details. Generally the minimum is a 2 month period, although in the case of volunteers with special medical, psychological or social work skills this can be flexible; contact us for more information. Volunteers wishing to work in our schools are required to stay for at least a year.

Accommodations

Due to economic constraints, CENIT is unable to provide its volunteers with free housing, although it does allow volunteers to eat lunch for free at its school cafeteria. We can also provide volunteers with a list of possible housing options in Quito.

Prerequisites

Potential volunteers must be 18+ and commit to CENIT for at least 2 months, although certain programs require longer. Volunteers should ideally speak Spanish, at least at a level that is sufficient to hold and understand a conversation. If this is not the case they must have a specific skill that compensates for their lack of Spanish.

Costs

CENIT asks volunteers for one-off inscription fee of $75 which does not vary with the amount of time you choose to volunteer. This $75 goes to pay for administrative costs in the volunteer office (internet, electricity, paper and so on), for the t-shirt and identification you will receive as a volunteer, and towards staff salaries.

To Apply

Please contact us at volunteer-office@cenitecuador.org; we will then send you an Interest form for Prospective Volunteers. Please send us this form only after you have thoroughly read the entire website and have a clear understanding of what it means to volunteer at CENIT.