This has been a year of great commitment for AMU activities in Ecuador. With the S unrise project we are accompanying the communities of Sálima, 10 de Agosto and Macará (in the province of Esmeraldas) on a path of psycho-social and economic reconstruction. This is one of the areas with the highest poverty rate in the country. Here we have started work and training activities . We have involved adults and children. We have gradually rebuilt the fabric of community spirit. It is a path that is bearing fruit. And there are many stories – and people – that we are meeting. It often happens that stories intertwine and that from one story others emerge. We were working on the participatory development of a new project: it was on this occasion that we met Sandro, a member of the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment, who told us the story of an eleven-year-old boy he met during an ecological workshop. When Sandro heard the little boy tell about his life, he found his own childhood in those stories: taking care of his many younger siblings, studying, helping his mother. One point in particular caught Sandro’s attention: the child was no longer attending school because the family did not have enough money. 
Sandro got to work right away. He found the resources to pay for the registration and to buy the necessary school supplies, even though he himself was already having difficulty covering the same expenses for his children’s school. It was an act of great generosity and courage on his part. In agreement with the mother and the school director, Sandro was appointed to be the little boy’s representative for school matters. When asked why he was so generous, Sandro replied: “I love him as if he were my little brother. That child needs us to feel happy next to his family and his schoolmates”. In the province of Esmeraldas, in Ecuador, where AMU is present with the Sunrise project, situations of economic difficulty like this are very common. But Sandro believes deeply in community spirit and in the educational paths of the children: “When we go further, we can be of service to those in need, to give hope that leads to a brighter future.”
