BANGOR – A 24-year-old Bangor woman has spent six months in Ecuador coordinating volunteers who go into the streets of Quito to help “working children” and their families. And she’s going to extend her stay.

“I am currently working as a volunteer, and having the time of my life,” writes Sarah Guerette, the daughter of Dan and Phyllis Guerette.

Guerette went to Ecuador on her own and became affiliated with CENIT, Centro de la Nina Trabajadora – Center for the Working Girl.

CENIT was founded after a study in the 1970s showed that there were more than 6,000 children – some as young as 4 years old – selling gum, shining shoes or accompanying their parents to work at fruit stands in South Quito.

In addition to the street outreach program, CENIT offers a kindergarten, secondary school, vocational high school, medical clinic, social workers, English classes and tutoring services.

“I came down here in October 2004 with the intention to stay for only six months. However, now that I am here, I would really like to extend my stay. I am just beginning to understand how CENIT works, and how I can most effectively do my job.

“By staying longer, I feel that I can really make a significant difference in people’s lives, do some amazing work and provide some stability for an organization where volunteers come and go on a monthly basis,” Guerette wrote.

This month, Guerette became volunteer services coordinator for CENIT. She raised her own money to stay a year longer in Ecuador and also teaches English classes there, though she makes only $1.50 an hour doing so.

Guerette is a 1999 graduate of Bangor High School and a 2003 high honors graduate of the University of Maine, where she studied child development and family relations. She’s worked as a raft guide, sea-kayak guide, ropes course facilitator and substitute teacher.

In Quito, “part of our program is market outreach,” Guerette explained. “Groups of volunteers go out daily to six markets in the south of Quito. They are there for two hours every day, and do activities working with the market children.

“Working children, for my organization, are defined either as those who are selling goods themselves, or who accompany their parents – who work in the market – to work all day,” she wrote.

“Many of the children are not currently enrolled in school. Our volunteers try to have a structured program every day, so that they will be used to some sort of structure should they start school. The program consists of a circle game or song to start, educational activities, hygiene activities such as washing hands and faces and brushing teeth, reading time, play time and a closing activity.

“The markets are where we meet the kids and their families, develop relationships with them and get them involved in our other programs,” Guerette added.

All of the money that supports CENIT activities comes from donations, she pointed out. Currently on the priority list are:

. A new teacher for the drop-in tutoring center that helps market children with their homework. There are currently 40 pupils to one teacher.

. A street outreach educator to help get the working children and their families enrolled in schools, to help them find health care and non-street jobs, and to enroll the mothers in literacy programs. Currently there is one educator for six markets serving more than 400 people.

. A new roof for the high school. “It is an old tin roof, and absolutely impossible to hear when it rains, even with a megaphone,” Guerette said. “It usually pours in Quito every afternoon, so this is quite a problem.”

Those with questions about her volunteer work or the CENIT program may e-mail her at sarahguerette@yahoo.com. More information is also available at www.cenitecuador.org.

Because the mail system in Ecuador is unreliable, Guerette says that it’s not a good idea for those who want to help CENIT to send contributions to her there. However, she does welcome donations to the program, and suggests they be sent to Sarah Guerette, CENIT, in care of Dan and Phyllis Guerette, 192 Webster Ave., Bangor, ME 04401.