On Friday 30th November, Sonrisa will be selling gifts from CENIT at the Canning House Ethical Christmas Fair, near Victoria station in Central London.

It’s a great event, giving you chance to stock up on all the fair trade products you could possibly shake a stick at.

While you browse Christmas ornaments, gifts and cards being sold by various South American charities you can listen to live music and eat some great food.

The fair is open from 12 noon to 8pm and entrance is £3. Hope to see you there!

Nearest Tube - Hyde Park Corner and Victoria station

Click here for a map

As the festive season approaches, how better to show your support for the underprivileged children of Ecuador than by purchasing hand-crafted cards made at the centre for the Working Girl (CENIT)?

The beautiful cards, made from 100% recycled paper and flower petals, have gone on sale in covent Garden, central London.

All the profits from the sale of the cards finance the health, education and social programmes CENIT runs to help underprivileged families in Quito, particularly working children.

Some of the high school children who attend classes at CENIT help to produce the cards at a highly successful card workshop run by an artist at the centre.

All the scrap paper from CENIT is recycled on site and processed into a beautiful, high-quality paper that is used to make the cards.

A selection of designs are available to buy at St Pauls Church in Covent Garden, which is in the main market area.

All Sonrisa supporters and their friends are invited to a fundraising event at the bar/club No.5 Cavendish Square, central London, on Friday 10th August. The nearest tube is Oxford Circus.

Entry to the luxury venue will be £15, of which £5 will go to Sonrisa. This will be a great fundraiser, not to mention a fab night out for all.

Entry is by guest list only but anyone can get on the list. If you think you might go (even if you’re not sure) please email your and your friends names to guestlist@alphaparties.com by 5pm on the day. Or you can email Sonrisa a few days before and we’ll put you and your friends on the list.

We hope you can make it - should be a great event.

All supporters of Sonrisa and ex-CENIT volunteers are invited to a Sonrisa reunion barbeque in London on Sunday 1st July.

We’ll be meeting from 4:30pm onwards near Waterloo and would love to see you there!

It will be a great opportunity to meet other people who have spent time in Ecuador, and to be involved in continuing to support CENIT back in the UK.

If you would like to come, please email info@sonrisa.org.uk and we’ll send you the address of the event.

Hope to see you there!

Thanks to all who attended the Sonrisa reunion on Saturday 31st March.

We enjoyed an authentic Ecuadorian dinner at El Rincón Quiteño - patacones, ceviche, churrasco the lot! It was great to see everyone and we hope more ex-volunteers will make it to our next reunion - details to follow!

Have you volunteered at the the Centre for the Working Girl (CENIT) in Quito? Would you like to catch up with other ex-volunteers, share memories of Quito and find out how you can become involved in UK fundraising efforts?

If so, please come along to the Sonrisa reunion in London on Saturday 31st March.

All ex-CENIT volunteers are welcome, as are other supporters of CENIT and Sonrisa.

We’ll be meeting at Highbury & Islington tube stop (Victoria Line) at 6:30pm on Saturday and the plan is to go for some food, then later drinks and dancing along Upper Street. If you’re running late you’ll find us in the Wetherspoons near the station (come out, turn right and it’s a few doors along) until 7pm. You can also join us later - send us an email if you need a contact telephone number so you can find us.

The more the merrier; if you’d like to come for dinner let us know so we can book a suitably-sized table.

See you there!

Representatives of Sonrisa were very pleased to received a cheque for £6,700 from Discovering Latin America (DLA) at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting.

The substantial donation was the result of a highly successful fundraising event - The Rhythms of Latin America Festival - held by DLA at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.

Supporters of Sonrisa (Hazel, Maya and Laura) receive a symbolic cheque from Mariangela of DLA.

DLA chose to donate the profits of the festival to Sonrisa so the money collected could go directly towards helping children at the Centre for the Working Girl (CENIT) in Quito.

A member of DLA had seen first hand the valuable work carried out at the centre, and was determined to offer aid to the charity.

The donation made by DLA will go largely towards the paying the salaries of the local teachers and support staff who work at CENIT.

Money will also go towards buying new resources for street outreach work and covering the costs of a nutrionist, so that the meals in the school canteen are as healthy as possible.

Sonrisa would like to take this opportunity to extend its heartfelt thanks to DLA for its most generous donation.

The Centre for the Working Girl (CENIT) provides opportunities and hope for hundreds of Quito’s working children every year.

Sadly, however, there are many more children in and around Quito who are forced to work long hours and in dangerous conditions to supplement their minimal income.

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Sonrisa has welcomed three new members to its Board of Trustees, all of whom are ex-volunteers at the Centre for the Working Girl (CENIT) in Quito.

The new members - Rina Sinha, Alex Iltchev and James Hall - will replace long-standing Trustees Keith Lawrey, Margaret Morris-Marsham and Penny Treadwell.

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Sonrisa is a UK registered charity (no. 1102369) that supports children working on the streets of Quito, Ecuador. It was formerly known as TECCWE.

This website is currently under construction. Please come back soon to find out more about Sonrisa and its fundraising activities.

In the meantime please visit the CENIT website where you can learn about the Centre for the Working Girl in Quito, a project which Sonrisa helps to fund.