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THE HAPPY CITY (La Ciudad Feliz)
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| Like any country, Ecuador
has its problems - poverty, drug abuse, violence within the family - and the consequences
of these common problems are made much worse by the lack of any effective state care
programme or Social Services. The authorities crack down hard on drug trafficking, sitting
as the country does between Peru and Colombia. Many poor people, seduced by the apparently
easy money available for running the errands of the drug cartels, become the victims. If
their parents are sent to jail, children are sent there with them to grow up amongst
criminals. The poor starve in the streets and their children starve with them. |
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Ramiro Vega and his wife Jenny live
high in the Andes, near Ambato in Ecuador, and had already taken into their home over 20
street-children. However, they wanted to address the causes of the problems rather than
just the symptoms, and to bring to life their vision to build a safe place for the young,
the poor and the elderly - all those most vulnerable and at risk in their society. |
| This vision takes the form of
‘La Ciudad Feliz’ - ‘The Happy City’. Ramiro and Jenny have launched
the project and have moved their extended family to live in the Happy City - their vision
is now becoming a reality. With the help of funds from the UK, they are building 50
homes and the infrastructure to form a community which will house young and old alike. Set against all the difficulties of their country -
including rampant inflation and volcanic eruptions - the Happy City has already become an
oasis of peace and safety. |
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They are self-sufficient, raising animals to
sell and growing their own crops. As an integrated community, they aim to restore family
values and to offer the support that all sectors of society can draw from each other. |
| Over time, the community will expand into a
true city, and there is evidence that if the ‘Happy City’ pilot is successful,
it may well provide the model for many similar communities countrywide. |
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| Each summer, ‘Soapbox
Expeditions’, a charity action organisation from Cranleigh in Surrey, sends a
25-strong team of volunteers to work in the ‘Happy City’ building further houses
and the infrastructure of this self-sustaining community. |
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| You can help support the building
of the Happy City by purchasing the 'Who Paints The Skies?' and 'Happy City' CDs. To order a copy of either album, simply print off the order form available at this web-site.
If you would like to hear more about the work of Soapbox
Expeditions, visit their web-site at http://www.soapboxtrust.com |
           
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