Rostro De Cristo Inc

Programs: Offering volunteer and retreat experiences to young adults from the usa while also managing and supporting various education, health, and other social service projects.

rostro de cristo volunteers from the us living with and serving the people of ecuador introduction in 2014 rostro de cristo (which means "the face of christ" in spanish) completed its 25th year of providing volunteer lay missionary experiences in ecuador and providing support to educational and medical projects in ecuador. Rostro de cristo (rdc) offers short-term and year-long opportunities to live simply and serve on the outskirts of ecuador's largest city, guayaquil, and in the municipality of durn which is across the river guayas from guayaquil. In addition to a faith-filled experience of reflection and prayer, rdc volunteers support local efforts to alleviate the poverty in these communities by serving in schools, medical clinics, day-care and after-school programs, soup kitchens, and community work projects. Guayaquil and durn form a sprawling urban center of almost 4 million people, most of whom are underemployed or unemployed and lacking most basic services. Rdc focuses its attention on the poorest of these by living among and serving in some of the underserved barrios that form the urban area. Rdc provides an extraordinary and unique opportunity for volunteers and retreat participants from the united states to interact with the people of ecuador to better understand both similarities as well as differences. This in turn promotes a better us-latin american understanding and solidarity, and also offers a profound view of how faith sustains the people of ecuador in their daily lives. Rdc fulfills its spiritual and educational mission in two ways: by offering volunteer and retreat experiences to young adults from the united states while also managing and supporting various educational, health and other social service projects. Rdc in 2014 the rdc community and outreach continued to make an impact in our neighborhoods in ecuador in 2014. While reducing to two volunteer communities in 2014, arbolito in duran and mt. Sinai on the outskirts of the city of guayaquil, we maintained the same number of volunteers (27). Additionally, we continued to run an after-school program in the veintiocho de agosto neighborhood on the other side of the city of duran and began serving at a home and school for at-risk youth run called casa don bosco in villa daule, guayaquil. Rdc volunteers are mostly recent college graduates that commit to one full year of service in durn or guayaquil, ecuador. They pledge to live in a christian community while serving the poor, and focus on the pillars of spirituality, service, hospitality, community, and simplicity on a daily basis. From august 2013 to august of 2014, rostro de cristo supported 14 one-year volunteers, and from august 2014 until the present rdc is supporting a new group of 15 one-year volunteers. The rdc mission is achieved by being, working, praying and sharing a common faith with the people of ecuador. Our longest running community is arbolito located on the fringes of duran since 2005. Here we have maintained 7 volunteers throughout 2014. In august of 2010 rostro de cristo began its full-time presence in the second neighborhood of monte sina (in english mount sinai) which is located in northwest guayaquil, about an hour by car from the house in arbolito, durn. Since then our presence in this neighborhood has grown from 4 volunteers to 7 beginning in august of 2013. And since july 2011, rostro de cristo has been hosting retreat-immersion groups in mt. Sinai. The local community and catholic church continues to be receptive and inclusive of the rdc volunteers, and the volunteers have increased our work and presence in the neighborhood. Rostro de cristo volunteer program 2014 the volunteers live and work in-country from august 2013 - august 2014, and then from august 2014- august 2015. List of rdc volunteers who served in 2014 the following names are those volunteers that served in ecuador, the months during 2013 in which they served, and the neighborhood in which they lived. January 2014- august 2014 (arrived in ecuador in august of 2013) stephanie allen(january-august)arbolito brian bayer(january-august)arbolito shannon considine(january-august)mt. Sinai margaret cunningham(january-august)arbolito jerome forget(january-august)arbolito david gaillardetz(january-august)mt. Sinai chelsea jaeger(january-august)mt. Sinai brittany jenney(january-august)arbolito michele kelley(january-august)mt. Sinai zachary koszyk(january-august)mt. Sinai jessica rangel(january-august)mt. Sinai maureen regan(january-august)arbolito gavin tisdale(january-august)arbolito ryan zadera(january-august)mt. Sinai august 2014 - january 2015 (completing yaer of service in august 2015) rosa altomare(august-january)mt. Sinai kaitlyn buehlmann(august-january)mt. Sinai elizabeth hejlek(august-january)mt. Sinai anie jamgochian(august-january)mt. Sinai emily kane(august-january)arbolito alyssa monteleone(august-january)arbolito tegan nelson(august-january)arbolito elizabeth pawlowski(august-january)mt. Sinai colleen putzel(august-january)arbolito scott pyzik(august-january)mt. Sinai rachel saunders(august-january)mt. Sinai cory steinmetz(august-january)arbolito jesus nunez(august-january)mt. Sinai eric vicens(august-january)arbolito bridget miller(august-january)arbolito education, health and social programs overview rostro de cristo supports a wide range of educational, health, and social service programs, both its own projects as well as those of other church- affiliated groups (archdiocese of guayaquil, society of st. James) and other non-profit organizations. Through the volunteer program, rostro de cristo contributes human resources. It also provides financial support to its own and several of these other programs. Rostro de cristo and its volunteers: ? Founded and manage three after-school programs serving over 125 children daily, serve on staff at five community schools, and work in a daycare center serving about sixty children ? Serve as teachers at fundacin nuevo mundo, a private bilingual school (k-12) for impoverished children from durn and guayaquil ? Assist in community soup kitchens which serve more than 200 people daily ? Provide staff support to a medical clinic in durn and to a hospital/nursing home for hansen's disease patients in guayaquil rostro de cristo volunteer supported projects and partners in durn and guayaquil semillas de mostoza (mustard seed) and manos abiertas (open hands) after school programs (asps) have for many years been a defining ministry of our community in durn. These programs provide a healthy, safe and positive learning environment for over 150 of durn's most impoverished children. They have also been a favorite place for our retreat groups to come to know our neighbors. In 2014 these two asps were supported by 5 volunteers and 3 rdc staff. Semillas de mostaza just a few blocks from the arbolito volunteer and retreat house while manos abiertas is located across durn in one of the city's most neglected communities, 28 de agosto. Each program provides tutoring and homework help, recreation, and a healthy snack. Centro de solidaridad santiago de apstol (st. James the apostle solidarity center) was founded in 2005 as a ministry of the christian life movement to serve children working on the streets and/or at risk youth. Santiago apstol provides these children with an accelerated remedial education program in hopes that they will be ready to continue their education after studying for four years at the foundation. Santiago apostol also works with the families of the students dealing with issues of abuse and neglect. In 2014 one rdc volunteer taught english and tutored. Hogar de cristo (christ's house) is one of the largest nonprofits in south america. It is jesuit organization that brings resources and training to impoverished and marginal communities, especially women and children. In mount sinai hogar de cristo offers a program to provide low income housing and a micro financing program that serves over 4000 women. In 2014 4 rdc volunteers served in various outreach projects including health care, community organizing, and womens formation groups. Fundacin nuevo mundo (the new world foundation) provides high quality bilingual education to some of the most impoverished children in the area. It is rostro de cristo longest running partner. In 2014 two rdc volunteers taught english and art at nuevo mundo. During school vacations the volunteers also tutored several students from arbolito who attend nuevo mundo. Casa padre damien (fr. Damien house) is a hospital for people who live with hansen's disease (leprosy). Another longstanding rdc partner 2 volunteers spent time visiting with patience and supporting the mission of damien house in various ways, including editing a newsletter and providing technical support. Escuela san felipe neri (st. Philip neri school) is a primary school opened in 2009 in mount sinai just a few blocks from the volunteer community. Run by st. Phillip neri sisters from colomb