Villa Ticca: Child care in Ecuador

In the poorer aereas of Quito, many adolescent pregnancies occur. Most of the young moms don't have a place to turn to for support and they are often incapable of taking good care of their children because of poverty, lack of education and lack of time. If they want to finish highschool, they often have no choice but to leave their children at home or on the streets. If they find a job, they take the kids with them and make them sit still and quietly. Growing up like that must be very hard for a child.

For this reason, Villa Ticca offers the moms the possibility to take their children to daycare. At Villa Ticca they get the chance to develop like every child deserves to: playing and making friends. The children are professionally taken care of by qualified staff and they get two healthy meals every day. They are checked medically on a regular basis. Villa Ticca is a safe place for them. It allows them to grow up as happy, self-confident kids with empathy, intelligence and a sense of humor.

The children are sorted by age in three groups and there is a fourth group for children who grew up in Villa Ticca but are now old enough to go to school. Many of them still attend Villa Ticca (now being adolescent!) where they have their own space, and get a good lunch and assistance with their homework.

Villa Ticca was founded in 2003 by Mariska Versteegh and Evelien Kremer. The daycare is located in El Camal, which is a neighbourhood in the (poor) south of Quito.