Impact: To create learning opportunities for street-children in Ecuador, offering them a safe place to spend their free time by reaching out to them where they are—on the street.

The project will set up and stock two Mobile Libraries in Quito, the capital, and Ibarra, a city in the North of the country, to be fully operational by September, the beginning of the school year. The Quito Library was established in 2009 and needs improvement; the Ibarra Library will be built. Our local implementing partner, Desarrollo Social y Habitat (DS&H), will oversee the two Libraries.

The project will buy books from national publishing companies, didactic materials, build the wagons (used to transport books), and purchase a tent (which serves as a "base station") for the Ibarra Mobile Library. The project will also buy books in Quechua (the language of American Indian people of South America) in addition to Spanish, and books that are suited for the generally older street-children of Ibarra, with a much higher functional illiteracy rate. The Libraries will also encourage children‟s parents (rarely exposed to reading) to visit the Library and check out books. The Libraries will invite local and national writers, illustrators, and storytellers to contribute their time and creativity to the street-children.