Fifth Grade
Worksheets
The Street Children of Ecuador
You might not think that one person can make much difference in the world. However, one young woman named Laura found out that one person could help a lot. When Laura heard about the street children in Ecuador, she wanted to do something. Because of Laura, the street children of Quito have a brand new roof on their building!
Laura traveled far from home to volunteer at the Sinsoluka project. She went to Quito, the capital city of Ecuador. Sinsoluka means "without glue." The project was designed to help street children who had an addiction. The children inhaled the fumes from a type of industrial glue to numb the pain that they felt about their lives. The goal of the project was to get the children off of the streets and away from sniffing glue.
Sinsoluka rescued children from the streets who often lived in underground tunnels, parks, or condemned buildings. These children came from extremely poor families. Some of these children had held part-time jobs since they were six years old. These children sold newspapers or candy. Sometimes, they recycled garbage or shined shoes. They often had little or no family support. They had no hope for the future. Many of them turned to drugs to ease their pain.
