Development through Empowerment, Empowerment through Education
Community Ascent Network is a registered Canadian Charity
PROJECT UPDATES
The communities we work with in Ecuador are always undergoing dynamic and exciting developments. Here are some of the biggest and latest updates from our projects and communities we've been working with.
A HUGE FUNDRAISING SUCCESS FOR OUR 2021 CROWDFUND
January 03, 2022
With a huge response from our supporters, our 2021 crowdfund successfully raised $15,953!
The campaign ran from Dec 3, 2021 to Jan 3, 2022. Over this time we saw overwhelming and consistent support throughout the entire month with contributions from 97 donors. Our call to action was answered by people from Ecuador, England, United States and Canada!
The donations collected from this campaign will allow us to fund programs for Piñán's high school students throughout 2022, such as pre-university courses, English classes, university visitations; all of which are essential for their graduation, for placement in universities and to pursue career paths. A portion of the funds will also be put toward our high school building project from this summer which will help us to finish setting the school up with classroom equipment and to cover some of the building costs.
The student programs which are being implemented during this school semester of 2022 have been designed with input from the students and their families with an immediate goal of creating access for all of the students in Piñán's graduating class to have access to continuing education and job opportunities. These programs also work toward Piñán's long-term goal of empowering the upcoming generations to create sustainable jobs and alternative livelihoods in their community.
We owe a huge thanks to all of our supporters for their part in helping this campaign reach as many people as it did and for allowing us to surpass our funding target!
We also have to thank Pokoloko and Cloud Forest Coffee for sponsoring this crowdfund with a beautiful raffle prize and making their own significant contributions from their own fundraisers.
(Photo by: Nikita Weippert)
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SCHOOL HOUSE ROCK FUNDRAISER CONNECTS ECUADOR AND LOCAL ARTS THROUGH CONCERT EVENT IN NELSON, BC
Dec 21, 2021
School House Rock - a fundraiser concert put on by the Community Ascent Network and some of Nelson's local musicians - put on a great show on Friday, Dec 17th at the impressively acoustic United Church.
The show featured three local song-writers and vocalist from Nelson: Veronique Trudel, Hannah Deboer Smith (AKA Kern), and Alyssa Arnason. All three put on a solo set featuring original songs, as well as playing out the last half of their set accompanied by the Commiseration Company House Band.
There was a great turn out in the pews of the church that night, with alot of members from the community excited to be enjoying live performances once again.
The concert was a fundraiser for the Community Ascent Network's latest project that supports the high school students in Piñán to graduate and have the opportunity to continue their studies and pursue career goals.
On top of this, the whole show was filmed and recorded and will be made available by donation through our 2021 crowdfund.
We all had a great time putting the show on that night and getting to present our work in Ecuador to our home community.
We can't forget to give a shout out to all of the volunteers that helped us out for this event. We couldn't have done it without you!
OUR FIRST STAY-IN VOLUNTEER TEACHES CLASSES IN PINAN
June 9, 2019
This is Nikita, our very first stay-in, volunteer English teacher who just spent the last 2 weeks in Piñán teaching daily classes to the high school students there.
Nikita had been back-packing through South America for the past year when she heard about our project and contacted us.
She'll be sharing some of her stories with us next week about her time working with the kids there and her experience volunteering in the remote community of Piñán.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAM KICKS OFF IN PINAN
June 9, 2019
The English language program for Piñán's high school classes has kicked off.
Thanks to our first volunteers Erika and Alex for initiating classes earlier this week and breaking the ice with the high school students. Amazing work! Check out this video edit they made of their experience.
If you're interested in becoming our next volunteer and spending time teaching in the community, be sure to reach out!
COMMUNITY STRENGTH THROUGH CULTURE WORKSHOP IN PIÑÁN
June 9, 2019
Our friends at Allipak Warmi Tantanakuy put on an amazing workshop in Piñán last weekend. The workshop was focused on capacitating participants in community communicatons, rights and defense.
These are obviously themes which the people of Piñán are well versed in, but this support comes a critical time as they are currently working as a community on the process on reclamation and developments of their ancestral lands.
COMPLETION OF PINAN'S HIGH SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
June 9, 2019
Since our founding in 2018, providing access to high school classes for Piñán's students has been our key mission and the center of all of our project activities. On September 25, 2021 the construction of Piñán's final classroom was completed.
The final touches were done late Friday night and the inauguration was held on on Saturday. The school was given a traditional Kichwa blessing with fruit thrown from the roof, along with a 24 hour celebration attended by other neighbouring communities. There were soccer and volleyball tournaments as well as traditional horse-skill competitions and a dance, all as a fundraiser for the graduating class to go visit and learn about local universities.
High school classes will now be running full time Piñán.
WARM WELCOME ARRIVING IN ECUADOR
June 9, 2019
This was about the warmest welcome anyone could receive!
Upon arriving in Piñán last week to pick up on the last weeks of our school construction project, the school and students surprised me with a welcoming ceremony including dances, speeches and a party. What an amazing day that was!
I'm so grateful to be working with such incredibly talented and hard-working students in this project and can't wait to see where graduation takes them!
Thank you so much to@UE Abelardo Morán Muñoz and to all of the students and families who organized this!
And all you project supporters.. this was for you too!!!
FOLK IN THE FOREST FUNDRAISER CONCERT KICKS OFF WITH SUCCESSFUL FIRST YEAR
June 9, 2019
Folk in the Forest - A mini outdoor folk festival for a good cause kicked off their first ever event in the village of Appleton, Ontario. The event was a huge success despite an evening of heavy rains. But, tarps were raised and local musicians Jamie Campbell, Serge Monette, and Jonas Barter took to the back-porch stage to entertain a stalwart crowd. The event was a huge success, raising over $3000 toward classroom-building funds. Thanks so much to all of the volunteers who came out and endured the weather to keep the concert up and running!
