Through the Manitoba to Ecuador project, one student from Ecuador is being given post-secondary opportunities.

Founder Mark Reimer says Josue Choez attended a semester at Steinbach Regional Secondary School through the project from August 2015 to January 2016 and, having completed high school, was looking to what the future would hold for him. Reimer notes when Choez first arrived in Steinbach his intention was to return to Ecuador and pursue a career playing soccer professionally, however, after a conversation with his father his decisions about the future shifted.

"Within a month of the time that he arrived here he came up to me and said he and his dad had a conversation and they decided or discovered that furthering his education would be a really valuable and worthwhile thing to do because soccer will only be there for a little while," notes Reimer. "He asked me if I knew anything about schools that might be willing to have him play soccer for them and where he would still be able to get an education."

Reimer says he has kept in touch with Gary Schellenberg from Providence University College over the past three years and notes Schellenberg had provided him with the opportunity of taking one Los Canarios Futbol Club member each year as a Providence student. He adds Choez will first need to pass his Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) test before he can start his education, a test he is planning to take in August. Reimer notes if Choez does not pass the TOEFL he will need to take one semester of English Language study before he can start his college study.

Once studying at Providence, Reimer says Choez will be studying business which will benefit him when he returns to Ecuador in helping his dad, who owns a tourism business.

"He will be able to return home and work with his dad and simply have a whole world of business connections and ideas that he wouldn't have or wouldn't have access to if he stayed in Ecuador. Number one, grow the business for his dad and then for himself as well because he will probably work with his dad for the foreseeable future. Then, additionally, because they have a business and have the opportunity to build more international connections, it will simply open the doors for him and his family beyond anything that exists presently."

When Choez came to Steinbach he was 17 but turned 18 in January before returning home, Reimer notes that's two to three years older than the other students who have come from Ecuador and he noticed how much of a difference those few years make. He says those few years bring maturity and a better sense of what this opportunity to learn English can mean in their life back home, noting those who still have a few years left of high school may not be using the English language skill for a little while. Reimer adds there are three more boys from Ecuador who are 18-years old coming in August to attend SRSS for a semester and is curious to see if they are as keen to study English as Choez has been.

"Josue learned more English while he was here than anyone has previously too because of that dedication and the knowledge and awareness that he had a very immediate goal. Whether that immediate goal was to go back to Ecuador and find a job, or whether it was to continue his schooling, he had immediate purpose for the English."

Reimer says he will be going to Ecuador again this summer and is excited to be working with Clara Luna, who has been facilitating earthquake relief efforts. He notes they will be providing alternative education programs for communities who's schools were destroyed during the earthquake.