Hand in Hand (charity no. 1069976)

Mano & Mano (formerly La Fuente) is a new venture based in the village of El Tingo, around 20km from the capital Quito. It provides after school education support for local children livng in this very poor region of Ecuador.

El Tingo is one of many villages severely hit when the Ecuadorian economy collapsed in the late 1990's. Since then many community support projects have been forced to close and many of the local families are in situations of severe poverty.

Following an initial visit to the village in 2003 with a Hand in Hand Summer Mission Team, Dave & Ana Garlick returned with a second team in 2005 to renovate and prepare the buildings at the centre for the official opening of La Fuente in 2006.

Dave & Ana moved to El Tingo permanently in April 2006, and opened the education project in September of that year after a summer of community outreach. La Fuente currently provides educational support, a hot meal and other activities to around 20 children in need living in El Tingo. Through this initial outreach Dave & Ana have also been able to start parenting classes with support from the local school as well.