Canisius College

The Working Boys Center in Quito, Ecuador

Who are the shoeshine boys of Quito? An estimated 100,000 boys -- some as young as 6 -- ply their trade on the busy thoroughfares of this Andean metropolis. They are everywhere, their arms vibrating swiftly as they buff boots and loafers along Quito's boulevards and in its public squares. Darting between cars, they hawk newspapers, roses and a host of goods when cars pause for a red light. Some lug huge pots of water home to shacks that lack plumbing -- no easy task at elevations of 10,000 feet and higher.

For their efforts many of the boys earn up to 85 percent of their family's income. But they also forgo education.More than one-third of the city's working children do not attend school. Some are malnourished, none have medical or dental care, few grow up in stable families or get religious formation.

This is the need that Jesuit priest Fr. John Halligan saw in 1964 when he first began a mission to three dozen of these shoe shine boys in the attic of a church. This initial effort evolved into what is now called the Working Boys Center. The vision has always been to make sure that the boys—and their families—become skilled workers and find jobs capable of moving them out of poverty. Today, the Center operates two sites in Quito serving over 2,000 people each day and 400 families annually.

The goal of the Center today is to help the families of the working boys become stable, financially independent, have access to education, health and quality basic services, become agents of change for social justice and be committed to the Gospel values of respect for the dignity of all. The Center offers education to working boys, working girls and their parents. Parents who want their children to attend the center must make a commitment to work toward the alleviation of the family's poverty. No child can graduate from primary school unless his/her parents have attended and passed literacy classes.

View a power point about the International Service-Immersion Experiences here (.pdf).

For further information, contact Lu Firestone at x 2422 or firestol@canisius.edu.