HEALTH
Within the communities we work, medical, dental, and social services are very limited. This lack of access causes many treatable health issues to go unchecked and untreated.
Medical
In addition to regular health and hygiene training, each school has a medical clinic that is open to the community for two hours per week. These clinics host approximately 3,000 patient-doctor consultations annually and are provided by EYC’s medical team and partners, comprised of part-time medical professionals and medical student volunteers.
Dental
Through a partner organization, all EYC students have access to dental services. Roughly 2,000 appointments occur annually, and appointments range from cleanings to fillings to extractions to root canals.
Family Planning
Working with clinics supported by partner organizations, we help women access much-needed family planning methods and information. Our team teaches and promotes birth control for the women in our communities, as well as other locations where people have been displaced or relocated.
SOCIAL WORK
Our staff and teachers do more than teach English. They work closely with the communities to help address the challenges of slum life that our students face on a daily basis, including pressure to drop out of school, eviction/loss of housing, hygiene, and drugs/violence.
EYC’s Social Work Program identifies the vulnerable and at-risk students at each school and develops a targeted support plan for those students. Plans include:
- One-on-one counseling support for at-risk students
- Regular home visits to assess the family situation
- Intervention plans focused on conflict resolution, positive parenting, and problem-solving
- Outreach to the communities
COMMUNITY SERVICE
To develop a sense of responsibility along with a culture of giving back, our students organize and attend various community service projects. These include community cleanups, awareness campaigns on environmental and social issues, school painting days, and end of year celebration parties.
These community service activities provide a meaningful way for our high school and university students to develop important leadership and life skills.
HUMANITARIAN SUPPORT
While EYC is a development organization, at times we are called upon to provide humanitarian support to the communities we serve. These communities are already marginalized and lacking in basic social safety nets meaning that they have little to rely on when faced by fires, pandemics, or other disasters. When challenges arise for the communities, EYC’s social work team will conduct a needs assessment, identifying those most vulnerable as well as the resources most needed. Resources, whether they be food, rent support, school fees, or small loans, will then be deployed. For a crisis like COVID-19, ongoing support may be needed.