Community Service Projects by Sathya Sai Schools, Ecuador
The Sathya Sai Schools of Bahía de Caráquez and Guayaquil in Ecuador have adopted three service projects to serve local communities.
The Walk for Human Values is an activity organised and executed by the Sathya Sai Educational Unit of Guayaquil. The purpose of the Walk is to make the community of Bastion Popular, where the school is located, aware of and motivated to adopt human values in their lives. About 300 students, parents and teachers participated in the Walk. The programme began with a hymn, a prayer and a message from Sathya Sai Baba, followed by a musical programme by the students and an exercise on surrender, reflection, internalisation and family unity. Afterward, the Walk for Human Values commenced and progressed through the streets of Bastion Popular in the areas surrounding the school’s location. As the march wove through the streets and families chanted prayers, it attracted many bystanders, who became keenly curious and interested in the human values and inspirational messages displayed on the banners carried by each family. The walk ended at a school where a delicious drink of chocolate milk awaited each participant.
A handicraft workshop is another activity organised and executed by the Sathya Sai Educational Unit of Guayaquil. The main objective of the workshop is to provide an opportunity for the mothers of the Sathya Sai School students to develop skills that can generate income and help these mothers support their families financially. The handicraft workshop focuses on dressmaking and baking pastries and other confectionary items. Using these skills, the mothers are able to generate extra income to provide school supplies for the students. About 25 mothers meet every week and collaborate in this endeavour.
Kuyaraymi is an ancestral festival observed in the Andean countries in celebration of the fertility of the land. Fruit and many food items made lovingly by hand are offered to the Divine Creator. This year, about 280 participants, including the director, teachers and students of the Sathya Sai School of Bahia, participated in this activity. Students of each school level presented and delivered the harvest from the land and offerings of their own labour. The main beneficiaries of this activity were the 1,000 people in the community within 8 kilometres of the Sathya Sai School in Bahia.