The Quito Project established its social work programs in 2006. Social work, as with all areas of The Quito Project, has two goals: to improve the health and well-being of the San Martin community, and to provide a meaningful educational experience for the students who participate.

2007 Social Work & Public Health Summary

The Project's social work component has grown substantially; in 2007 a team of seven social work and psychology graduate students spent four months implementing new projects and building upon the ongoing programs that were established in 2006. Social work team members brought with them years of experience working in diverse communities in the U.S. and abroad, developing and establishing prevention and intervention programs, and working with individuals and groups on a variety of health and social issues.

New projects implemented in 2007 were based upon an assessment of the needs, strengths, and interests of San Martin community members and consultation with La Fundacion de San Martin, with the overall goal of unifying, educating, and empowering community members and increasing their overall health and well-being.

Social Work Team Summer 2007 projects are summarized below:

Assessment of Community Needs and Resources
In order to adequately address the community’s issues and needs, it is important to determine them through the voice and views of the community members themselves. The goal of this project is to assess and document the community’s existing resources and remaining needs in order to develop and implement appropriate, worthwhile projects.

2007 Accomplishments:

Interviewed 150 households.
Gathered and analyzed information on the community in the areas of: demographics, social support, health, education, and youth support.
Conducted several focus groups with youth, women, and men to gather information on how the residents envision addressing the issues they see in their community.

Educational Workshops:
One of the most important factors in the well-being of children and families is the amount of social support and educational resources available to the parents. The Quito Project’s talleres, or workshops, were developed to provide a forum in which parents can gather together to learn about important topics for maintaining the health and well-being of their families while gaining social support from their fellow community members. The workshops are steadily attended by 20-30 community members and are continued year-round by Fundacion San Martin.

2007 Accomplishments:

Developed workshops in accordance to the needs and values of the participants.
Facilitated weekly interactive workshops with 20-30 men and women from the community.
Educated participants on a variety of health related topics, including: nutrition, hygiene, positive parenting techniques, domestic violence, family planning, and self esteem.

Youth Empowerment: Photovoice
Photovoice is an interactive method that allows participants to use photography to identify, represent, and enhance a specific aspect of their community. Thirty-five youth ages 10-16 participated in Photovoice, a project created to empower youth to gain health knowledge and transform their knowledge into community action.

2007 Accomplishments:

35 youth attended Photovoice, a 12-week learning- and service-based youth empowerment program.
Youth formed a network of supportive peers with whom they share common, positive interests.
Youth gained knowledge about health and specific strategies to improve the health and well-being of themselves and their community.
Youth planned and implemented two events to share their knowledge and promote healthy living in their community:
- Community Health Day, a day of events and education focused on healthy activities, foods, and lifestyle practices, attended by over 250 community members.
- Public exposition of youth photo projects, attended by over 100 community residents.

Community Garden:
The Community Garden was designed to work in conjunction with the existing education and tutoring programs. The goal was to create an additional space for learning and developing social relationships beyond the traditional academic framework. Gardening activities are multi-purpose. They develop children’s understanding of and capacity to care for living things and relate this process to the care of relationships with their friends and family. Core academic skills such as science knowledge and writing ability are exercised and developed through observation and care of the garden and recordings of its progress.

2007 Accomplishments:

Constructed a permanent garden space for year-round use.
Facilitated a twice-weekly garden program with children ages 4-10.
Engaged children in the observation and measurement of plant growth; the care and maintenance of the plants and garden area; and the recording of daily progress and activities.
Facilitated children’s educational development through writing, drawing, recording and reflection of ideas in project journals.

Medical Clinic Patient Survey:
Medical clinical patients were surveyed in order to gain deeper knowledge of typical year-round patient use of health services. The primary goals were to gather health behavioral data and demographic data to learn more about the patients we serve and tailor health programming to our patient population in future years.

2007 Accomplishments:

Completed 281 patient surveys.
Obtained demographic data on age, gender, neighborhood of residence, income and employment.
Obtained data on patient usage of health care services.
Obtained data on patient behaviors and attitudes related to smoking and alcohol.
Provided patients with an opportunity to voice opinions about local health services.
Increased patient familiarity with other programs offered by The Quito Project and Fundación San Martin.

Past projects

To date, social work volunteers have implemented several projects in San Martin.

In collaboration with the Project's public health students, the social work team conducted a door-to-door community needs assessment. Spending several days talking with community members gave students the opportunity to understand the issues as residents see them and to inform all community members of the services and programs offered by The Quito Project and La Fundacion San Martin.
In response to community members' expressed interest, a series of weekly health and nutrition classes was established for women in the community. Classes cover topics such as: providing a balanced diet for all family members, cooking nutritious meals on a limited budget, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle to prevent serious health problems. These classes continue year-round.
Partnered with the neighborhood school to establish a children's library, where previously there were very few books for students, The Quito Project provided benches, tables, bookshelves, and over 300 encyclopedias, dictionaries, and children's literature books. All students now have a one-hour library period each school day, in which the donated materials are used for class literacy instruction and pleasure reading.
The team worked individually and in small groups with children with special educational and emotional needs. Just as in the United States, some children benefit from individual attention, and with that attention are able to show their true abilities.
Brief individual psychosocial interventions were offered to individuals and families expressing a variety of mental health concerns. Mental health resources are rare in Quito, and often a listening ear and a few simple interventions from a trained social worker can help to ease some of these concerns. Quito Project social workers worked with these individuals and linked them with La Fundacion San Martin, from whom they can receive continued support in their programs throughout the year.

Educating University of Michigan Students

The social work team also engages in many activities that meet The Quito Project's goal of educating University of Michigan students and the university community. The Quito Project is an official internship site for students in the University of Michigan School of Social Work, allowing social work students to earn academic credit as they apply their skills and knowledge to develop socially responsible, culturally sensitive, sustainable programs. Through their participation, students learn to interact in a culturally sensitive manner with Ecuadorian citizens and to implement programs that empower community members to make positive change in self-identified areas of need in their community.

In addition, students on the social work team share their knowledge of social issues with all project participants. Social work students facilitate activities and trainings on cultural sensitivity, mental health awareness, and sustainable development for all Quito Project participants during pre-departure meetings. The goal of these trainings is to provide all members with the knowledge and skills that will make The Quito Project's work effective and meaningful for both the students and the members of the San Martin community.

Finally, following the completion of their projects in Quito, social work team members will document all project activities and deliver presentations at events hosted by the university's School of Social Work, the Ginsberg Center for Student Community Service, and Rackham Graduate School. At these presentations, students will share the knowledge they gained from their experiences abroad and display the results of the projects they implemented. This will allow other members of the university community to learn from the experiences of The Quito Project's students and to gain greater awareness of the challenges and benefits of international community development.