Extreme Kids » Quito Dump Program
Extreme Response actually grew out of a small kids’ club in the garbage dump of Quito, Ecuador (also known as the Zámbiza Dump). In June of 1997 the Extreme Response founders began working with the 300+ people that lived and worked right there in the trash. These people gleaned their living by digging through the garbage that flows out of the back of garbage trucks. They also lived in small shacks made from pallets and other building materials they found in the trash. They survived on what they found to use, eat and sell.
The very first Christmas Party in the Quito Dump was held in December of 1997 with more than 300 people in attendance.
The dump has changed drastically since 1997, but the people have not. The Zámbiza location was permanently closed as a dumping site in 2005 because the landfill was full. The site then became a transfer station. Garbage is now trucked in, dumped in a roofed area, sorted through and then reloaded back into trucks to be taken to a location outside of the city.
In March of 2006, ER opened the Zámbiza Daycare Center & Preschool - over 40 children ages newborn through 5 years now attend. In December, 2006 a medical clinic opened to serve the needs of these families and children.
ER also provides family counseling, hygiene classes, education assistance, a weekly kids’ club and mom’s club, weekly feeding for night workers and is involved in helping to build permanent homes for these families.
The Extreme Kids’ Fund will provide for the children in the dump.
Feature Story
Vanessa’s story
Vanessa was one of the first little girls to enter the daycare. She came six years ago, when she was just a year old. Now she is in school, but after classes she spends her time practically alone, because her mother must work, as she is the only source of support for the household. Before Vanessa can leave for school, she must prepare her own breakfast, because her mother leaves for work at 6 in the morning, and does not return until 6 at night, in order to earn just a little bit to feed the children. For this reason, Vanessa also must prepare her lunch, and oftentimes her own dinner. This is difficult, because obviously, a child Vanessa’s age cannot prepare a nutritionally sound meal for herself. For this reason, when she is on vacation from school, Vanessa loves to visit us in the daycare. It is here that she is the happiest, because she feels loved, cared for and protected, and above all she loves to listen to the stories that the tias tell the children.
Vanessa is only 8 years old, yet she has assumed the responsibilities of an adult. It is so hard to see her sad little face and the tears in her eyes when she tells us what she must do in her household, however, when she gives and receives the hugs from the tias, she is happy and content. She has two little brothers, ages 3 and 8 months. She often tells us that she wishes she could be little like her brothers so that she could come to the daycare.
Vanessa’s mother says that it makes her sad that Vanessa is alone so much of the time however; she says that Vanessa is very responsible. She completes all of her homework, and the other things that she must do, and she has never forgotten what she learned at the daycare. Her favorite song, which she sings all day, is “I Have a Friend Who Loves Me”.
