Representative Achievements of Projects Galapagos

Representative Achievements: Projects Galapagos Association

Foreword

Projects Galapagos has been working with Projects Abroad volunteers since 2010. Because of COVID and lockdowns, we have had very few international volunteers working with us since 2019. We are slowly getting back to normal and hope to increase our visitors this year.

When you are here for a short time, pulling out weeds or counting iguanas, for example, it may be difficult to understand what the long term effects of your work will be, but our reports help the Galapagos National Park with their statistics and reports, and the long term effect of your hours in the classroom might be that a child becomes fairly fluent in English and is able to study at a university or gain employment in the future because of his or her knowledge of English. Huge trees grow from tiny seeds.

We would like to thank all the volunteers who have worked with us and had such an impact on the island, the community, the fauna, the flora, and our students.

William Puga Director Projects Galapagos Association

San Cristobal Island

Galapagos

Ecuador

200150

Office: 593-(0)52-520745

Cell: +593-968236167

https://www.projectsgalapagos.org/

https://www.projectsgalapagos.org/what-we-do

https://issuu.com/projectsgalapagos

Galapagos Islands’ Conservation Activities’ Report from 2017 to 2019

I

From2016to2019,wehavecontrolledapproximately10hectaresofplantsintroducedintodifferentsectors oftheisland.

Pedro

Junco:

III City, Beaches, and Island Cleaning

Correspondingtogarbagecollectiononbeaches,sectorsofthecityandaroundtheislandhavealsobeen cleaned.

IV Control of Introduced Species

Wehaveimprovedthecontrolofblackrats,especiallyinpetrelnestingsites. Becausewehave already decreasedcontrolstoonceamonth,wehavefoundnew,fairlyshallownests,withbirdsinthem.

V Amount of Rat Poison Used

Year Kilos

2015 200

2016 200

2017 180

2018 120

2019 80

V Species Monitoring

We conduct species monitoring to support the work of the Galapagos National Park and send our reports to the rangers.

A Sea lions Found on Beaches near City in 2018

Note:Theparkrangerscountedapproximately3,000individualsonSanCristobalIsland.

Breakdown of Garbage Collected from 2013 to 2019.

Breakdown of Garbage Collected from August 2022 to January 2023

With funding from Galapagos Conservancy and Team Seas, we were able to run beach clean ups on local beaches.

Breakdown of Garbage Collected from January 2023

Care Project Goals and Achievements

No Care Project Goals

1 Improve English with simple instructions and communication

2 Improve children’s behaviour

3 Improve learning environment, e.g. place pictures on walls, decorate classroom, improve atmosphere in classroom, add new resources

4 Improve support for children with learning disabilities, help diagnose particular problems and set goals for the children

5 Help develop extra-curricular activities for the children

6 Improve classroom support by helping classroom teacher with teaching and tasks

Teaching Goals in Schools and PA Centre 26th January 2017 (Updated January 2023)

No Goal Checklist

1 Improve English – follow Ministry of Education syllabus. Listening, speaking, reading, writing

2 Improve learning environment, e.g. place pictures on walls, decorate classroom, rearrange desks, if possible, improve atmosphere in classroom, and provide new resources for teaching and learning English

3 Help students improve their English pronunciation

4 Provide opportunities for students to practise their English with native and non-native speakers

5 Provide more opportunities for students to have individual attention

6 Improve support for children who are slow learners, help diagnose particular problems and set goals for the children, when volunteers are working in the schools or leading a class at the centre

Follow instructions from the class teacher or by yourself if you are running a class. Administer suitable quizzes and exams.

Select, copy and place worksheets and pictures on the walls. Provide new resources for the teachers and students.

Make sure they can pronounce all the English letters and read words and sentences correctly

Select interesting topics for them to talk about and learn vocabulary for

Make sure that every child is engaged in activities in the classroom

Make sure the children can cope with their classwork.

Provide one to one support when the schools or centre have enough volunteers

We have helped thousands of students in all the schools on the island since 1993.

Projects Galapagos Achievements (All Projects, 2016 – 2017)

No Achievement Notes

1 Care Project

The volunteers worked at Alejandro Alvear Kindergarden with 138 kids, supporting the classes and 6 teachers. Also they improved hygiene standards in the Care Project, for example how to clean the teeth and why it is important to clean them

2 Sports Project (Football)

3 English Project in San Cristobal High School

4 Art Project in San Cristobal High School

5 English classes in the PG centre

The volunteers supported 2 local football coaches and taught 55 local young people.

Supported 2 English teachers and prepared English classes for 200 students.

Created 10 murals at the High School with subjects such as nature and climate change.

Volunteers taught 80 children community students

6 Galapagos National Park Helped rangers to clear land of invasive species and plant endemic plants. Worked in GNP nursery

7 PG Nursery Cleared land of invasive species and tidied up area around new conservation centre

8 Garbage Collection and Recycling

Cleared rubbish from local beaches, marine areas and other areas. Collected and recycled approximately XXX bags of garbage

9 Monitoring Local Fauna Volunteers continued to monitor local sea lions, iguanas and birds

10 Giant Tortoise Breeding Centre Volunteers helped clean giant tortoises’ pens and GTBC. Collected otoy for animals.

11 Local Community Helped raise the standard of living of the local community, including people owning volunteer accommodation and tour companies, by spending much needed money on the island.

12 Employment Opportunities

Apart from employing local people in the PG Centre, PG also helps the local community to find employment by providing services for the volunteers, e.g. Spanish, diving and Samba lessons

Eco English and Galapagos Conservancy 19th

November 2022

We started working with Galapagos Conservancy last year, running special English for Conservation courses at our teaching centre. The organisation supported our projects by providing funding for the trips and renting the centre for the courses. With its help, we have managed to develop our own teaching resources, which are also based on other projects that have been active in the Galapagos. We also provided necessary materials, such as garbage bags, litter picks and gloves. We taught them in the classroom and went on field trips to local beaches, where we were involved in beach clean ups. Our classroom activities focused on topics that are relevant to life in the Galapagos, such as the problem of plastic and other garbage, and their effects on our fauna.

Dates September 2022 to December 2023

No of Students

61 students, divided into 4 levels

Levels 4, from beginners to intermediate

Ages 6 to 17

Location of Classes PG classroom

Conservation Activities Beach clean ups

Trip to Giant Tortoise Breeding Centre

Achievements for January 2017

1. During the month of January, more than one class and more than 6 teachers were supported by our volunteers. One of our students was specifically helped with his learning and behaviour problems, which include difficulties with his attitude towards his classmates and a lack of desire to learn, i.e. with his motivation, and staying inside the classroom. It was a challenge this month for his volunteers and teachers to change his attitude and his way of life. All the volunteers worked a lot with this case, specializing in changing his behavior and learning patterns, both in the classroom and at home. Today the child enjoys being with his classmates more than before and he has more confidence in himself to be able to complete his classwork.