“My name is Valentina Hernandez and I am an Amor y Esperanza School alumni. A while ago they asked me what Amor y Esperanza meant to me. I have been all day thinking about this question because I cannot describe it so easily. I arrived at Amor y Esperanza when I was only 12 years old and it was an incredible experience to arrive at a school where we practice tons of English. I learned many things. All the teachers were extremely caring. The Director and his wife were to me like having ants and uncles, like I was adopted but in a school. The truth is, I miss the school greatly and I believe the day that I had to leave because at that time the school didn’t have high school education, it was extremely hard to say good-bye to everyone, not only to my classmates and teachers, the director. It was hard because I started comparing Amor y Esperanza with my new school and I was no longer important or noticed by anyone. I was just another student and no one loved me or appreciated me. It was hard because all those things I received at Amor y Esperanza, the would give a lot of love, attention. Any teacher, aside from the psychologist, if they saw me downcast  or was late in an assignment, would ask what happened or if there was a problem I was facing at the time. In the new school, if I didn’t submit an assignment, they would just give you a zero and that’s it. No one can imagine or think that you can have an issue in your life or that you just need to talk to someone other than your family.  I believe all those things I received at Amor y Esperanza. They gave me so much attention, it was unbelievable all the love they gave me. That was the best quality of the school and what I missed the most. They were obviously hard in all issues related to academics. I remember the time when the Director was teaching Math and he was strict, he had to learn no matter what. I even missed that strictness. I never believed the teachers when they would say that I was going to miss the school and the funniest thing is that only a couple of months later, I returned to Amor y Esperanza almost in tears, telling them how much I missed them and that they should add my grade to the curriculum so I can come back. The truth is that Amor y Esperanza taught me what it means to be close to God and that there are people that believe in him. They taught me that problems become lighter when you believe in God and this is something that other schools will not teach.  That’s all I have to say about Amor y Esperanza. Thank God at this time I’m 19yo and currently working at an auditing company as the assistant controller.  I’m also studying online at the Universidad Tecnologica de Loja. All the learning institutions I have attended have marked my life but no one like Amor y Esperanza. I’m grateful for the investments they made in my life.”