Conaie and banana growers plan Monday protests; Campaign takes aim at child labor, begging; Student population declines; Azuay Covid-19 case update

Jueves, 9/6/2022

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

En talleres enseñarán el tejido de la toquilla (Workshops to teach toquilla (straw) weaving) – The Dirección de Cultura del Municipio de Cuenca is organizing a course in weaving paja toquilla with 2 dates. The first starts el 13/6 and runs to 3/9. The second starts el 5/9 and runs until 29/11. Classes will be 3 days a week in the morning and evening. There will be a maximum of 15 students with personalized attention from 3 master artisans of the canton. If you’re interested, go to the Ecomuseo (calles Rafael María Arízago y Luis Cordero). The classes are directed to the general public and are free.

Titular –

The number of students in Ecuador’s k -12 schools is dropping, according to statistics. (El Mercurio)

No pueden viajar dos en motocicleta (Two cannot ride together on a motorcycle) – See today’s (Thursday) article in CHL for story.

Cuenca –

Hay menos estudiantes y profesores (Fewer students and teachers) – Since 2009, the number of students, teachers, and administrators in initial, basic, and high school levels has dropped. The budget the Gobierno Nacional has for education has also dropped. Peak enrollment in the 3 levels was in the 2014-2015 school year, and from 2009-2010 to 2021-2022, the percentage of kids in private institutions dropped from 24% to 16% with fiscales (public) schools picking up the 8%. <Is the birthrate in Ecuador declining as well? Fewer babies would mean fewer school kids.>

CONAIE y bananeros anuncian un paro (CONAIE and banana growers announce a strike) – The Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador >(CONAIE) and the Federación Nacional de Bananeros del Ecuador (FENABE) announced a national strike which will start este lunes, 13/6. CONAIE is hoping that other social groups such as the Frente Unitario de Trabajadores (FUT) and the Unión Nacional de Educadores (UNE) willl join the protest. The directors of FENABE have denounced that the agreements with the government have not been carried out. They pointed out that weekly losses in the banana sector are close to $19 million and 60,000 jobs have disappeared. They are also asking for the immediate moratorium on loan payments, garnishments, and levies by public institutions such as IESS and SRI, and by private banks, financiers and cooperatives. <I don’t think of these two striking groups as having a whole lot of common interests other than dissatisfaction with the Government.>

Varias entidades cumplen acciones para erradicar trabajo infantil (Several entities carry out actions to eradicate child labor) – June 12 is the Día Mundial contra el Trabajo Infantil, and a series of events has been planned, including races at the track in Miraflores to raise awareness of the problem. 900 children in Zone 6 are working or begging in the streets. 3 groups working with the children in Oña, Nabón, y Cuenca are Rafalex, Alianza en el Desarrollo y Casa Aurora. The children study in the morning and go to these foundations in the afternoon to do their homework. The groups also provide counseling to parents and children. <How much good can counseling do if the parents have no alternatives but to keep their children with them as they work or beg.> Diana González, director of Acción Social Municipal, said that child labor increased during the pandemic. Before there were about 360,000 children who worked, and this number has increased by 100,000 which is the same number of kids who don’t go to school. Poverty in the country increased and Azuay is in 6th place with 15% of children who work, especially in rural areas.

181 casos positivos más en Cuenca que la semana anterior (181 more positive cases in Cuenca than the previous week) – Julio Molina, executive director of the Consejo de Salud de Cuenca, gave an update on the state of the Covid pandemic in Cuenca. There were 438 positive cases in the last week, 181 more than the week before. In Cuenca, the average number of cases in the last 10 weeks was 216 , which is a significant increase. In Azuay, there were 479 cases compared with 207 the week before. The peak was the week of 6-13/2 which saw 1,624 cases. Currently there is a rise in the demand for services with 5 new hospitalized patients. There was a decrease in the number of ICU beds when hospitals reconfigured to satisfy the demand of patients with other pathologies. The total number of ICU beds in Cuenca cantón is 30 with one occupied.

And that´s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne