“Every Monday in Fertisa there is a morning workshop with the adolescents and an afternoon workshop with the niños.

The adolescents have been working on a photography project. They have made visual short stories, and have been exploring ideas of identity through photography, drawing, drama and games. A few weeks ago they went on a trip to the Museum of Art and Anthropology in the centre of town. This was the first time any of them had been to a museum before… and for some the first time they had seen the river Guayas whish flows through the centre of Guayaquil. This group has had its ups and downs with attendance, as it has been a mix of kids referred from the JUCONI foundation and young people from the community. One of the group members, Carlos Julio is presently making a personal photo project about himself and his family. This will hopefully be posted on the website soon along with an oral narration.

The niñ@s are a much bigger and more consistent group of about 15 to 20 kids. They are all referred from JUCONI; this group is made up of the children from two families. They are a really energetic group with strong personalities and a love of dancing…. singing… shouting and playing! This term has been centered around working on issues of respect, non-violence and team work through playing lots of games and creating art work based on a local folk story. The term culminated in a trip on a pirate boat along the river, again this was a new experience for most of them. Although many of them were initially quite scared of being on the boat they all had a great time, and ended up dancing and singing along to the Reggaeton from the boats stereo!”

Emily Wood, Artist project leader, 2007