When September comes, parents know it is time to set things in order for children to start a new school year. Beyond the expectations children may have about meeting again with friends or dealing with those subjects they like less, going back to school puts a difficult matter on the table, particularly for people living in poverty: the lack of money.

In a country like Ecuador, where 7.5 is the average number of years of study, and 9% of the population is illiterate, it is definitely necessary to take action to support education. At Children International Quito Agency, we are proud to know we are helping about 19,600 children and youth go back to school this year by providing school supplies, keeping in mind that not having money to buy school supplies is one of the reasons that might make the difference between continuing to study and quitting school.

Sharon, a sponsored youth says: “This is very helpful for us because it helps our parents not to spend too much. I am very grateful because I have received this every year.” And she is happy to receive this benefit for her last year of high school, with the motivation to keep up with her university studies in IT engineering.

Little children are eager to receive the school supplies even if they do not really understand how much they mean for the family’s economy. Like Kerly, who wants to start using the notebooks and colors right away and is happily posing for the photo showing some of the supplies she received.

Meanwhile Carmen, Kerly’s mother, explains: “Everything is expensive and we have another child, the money we make is not enough, so it is a big help. I could not pay for everything Kerly needs for school, we have to pay for books, notebooks, uniforms and there are other needs; with this, I will not need to buy notebooks and supplies.”

It is uplifting to know that we are taking action to help thousands of children around the world pursue their education. Seeing Johan smile makes me think that it definitely must be heartwarming for parents to see their children set up with what they need for their new school year.

On behalf of those parents, I just want to say THANK YOU to every one of our sponsors, who make change possible for our sponsored children.