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Esmeraldas
was chosen as the place
to implement the
Street Children´s Telecentre Project.
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Many
marginalized children and adolescents of Esmeraldas
live in poor neighbourhoods, with no access to basic
sanitary services or drinking water. In such an environment,
infections and contagious diseases are common.
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Esmeraldas
is a city with a growing population, offering few opportunities
for street children. The luckiest ones manage to find
some kind of job to make a living.
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THE PLACE
The
province of Esmeraldas
It is located in the north of Ecuador's Pacific coast. The
landscape consists mostly of plains, covering an area of 15,239
km², and intersected by two important water systems, the Esmeraldas
and Santiago rivers.
Climate varies according to the different zones of the province,
ranging from tropical to subtropical (i.e. very humid). The
average temperature is about 23°C.
The province is pided into 7 districts: Atacames, Esmeraldas,
Eloy Alfaro, Muisne, Quinindé, San Lorenzo and Rio Verde;
in turn, these districts consist of 56 rural counties, or
parishes.
Economic
information
Esmeraldas is home to a varied and rich range of resources.
Primary crops include African palm, cocoa, banana, and coffee,
while the most important coastal resources are fish and mangrove.
The province is also home to very beautiful beaches, including
Atacames, Tonsupa, Súa, Muisne, and Las Manchas. A variety
of landscapes are of ecological interest, such as the San
Lorenzo archipelago.
Threatened resources: The rainforests of Esmeraldas
Up until the 1960s forests covered more than 90% of the province's
area. Today, many of these forests have been devastated by
highway and building construction, and the transformation
of the forest for other uses. A rich biopersity of existing
flora and fauna is reflected in the presence of about 500
forest species, many of which exist only in this region. Certain
trees are highly prized in the market for wood and are now
facing extinction.
The relationship between devastation of forests and highway
construction is a direct one. The remaining forest is now
endangered because of two highways currently under construction:
Ibarra-San Lorenzo and Mataje-Maldonado-Borbón. This situation
also threatens the existence of forest resources useful to
the indigenous Chachi people and black communities living
in the region.
A
growing population with few opportunities
The population of Esmeraldas is about 500,000, with 50% living
in urban areas and the rest in the countryside. A majority
of the population is black.
Since 1950 the population has quadrupled, owing to immigration.
Emigrants go to cities like Guayaquil and Quito, and immigrants
come from Manabi, the border province to the south. The fertility
rate is 6.1, one of the highest in the country (the average
for Ecuador is 2.3).
While the infant mortality rate has dropped, it is still greater
than the national average (79 per 1,000 live births) due to
poor health and sanitation, which often results in severely
underweight children.
A
weak economy and slow growth
The workforce in Esmeraldas consists of approximately 300,000
people, half of whom live in urban areas. Some 20% work as
vehicle drivers, in graphic arts, the wood industry, or food
preparation; 17% are merchants or in sales; 16% work in agriculture,
forestry, and fishing; while 10% are professionals or technicians
(medical doctors, engineers, teachers etc.). The rest of the
people are either under or unemployed, a factor that contributes
to the many social problems.
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