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Issue 2 |
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Summer 1996 |
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The Little Prince - El Principito | |
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Night-time in Medellín | |
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Esta es mi Casa - This is my home! | |
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Why on the Streets? - Research results | |
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Eye Opener - Leanda Reed in Medellín | |
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Donations & Fund-raisers - Some of the ways in which money has been raised | |
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Scores of people have asked about the little
boy whose smiling face featured on the front of our first leaflets. To protect
his security we can't give his first name but his nick-name is El Principito
- The Little Prince. When Fr. Peter took his photograph on the rubbish dump
he was only six years old but was already living on the streets. Six years
later the streets were still his kingdom and the Little prince was the first
street-child that Let The Children Live!
Hon. Treasurer Michael Rear and his wife Cathy met on their fact-finding
visit to Colombia. Every day El Principito would run out to meet them, jump
up and cling like a limpet. light as a feather and tiny for his age, grubby
and affectionate. He looked much younger than twelve years old. Street life
with its glue and under-nourishment has exacted its terrible price.
During Michael's visit, El Principito had the chance to enter residential care in one of the homes supported by Let The Children Live! He went off to camp with 35 other candidates, and all looked set for him to leave life on the streets for ever. But when the great day came he had disappeared. Michael feared that he might have been attacked or even killed on the street, like 14 year old Nelson, just a step from safety.
No, Michael was told, El Principito had gone to Cartagena. 'Gone to Cartagena? How on earth could he have gone there, hundreds of miles away?' He had hitched a lift and run away. Having been so long on the streets he was unable to face the prospect of leaving the streets. The sad fact is that unless a child has really decided to break with street life he will not settle down in a home. On the streets a child is totally free; free to beg, free to play football all day, free to run and roam, no parents to restrict him, no teachers to tell him off or set him to work. And a child is free to inhale glue. The risks, the danger and the possibility of violence can all add up to a child's sense of adventure. This was the second time El Principito had run away on the eve of going into care. Happily, he turned up again, cheerful as ever, a few days later once the 'danger' had passed.
Provided he survives he will be given yet another chance. Maybe then he will be ready to seize it and make something of his life. This is the kind of disappointment that Fr. Peter and the other workers live with day by day. The hardest part of Fr. Peter's work is motivating the children to leave the streets and to resist the temptation to go back there.
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It is 6 p.m. in Medellín. From out of the door of the Patio del Gamines tumble groups of roughly dressed boys. Noisily, they make their way to the blue bus of Ciudad Don Bosco and line up, waiting to be searched - for glue - before they board. As the bus drives off, music beating out, some boys are sadly left behind, clutching glue bottles that bar them from the Night-Shelter. Driving through the busy city traffic we climb the mountain. Below lies the city, lights sparkling in the darkness. Here, overlooking the city, is the Night-Shelter - the Alburge. (The construction of the Alburge was partly paid for by Let The Children live!)
On the patio the boys head for the swimming pool and are soon splashing about happily. Dinner is being prepared, and noisily the line up. Quietening down, they file in. A simple, adequate meal - soup, a plate of rice with a little meat and vegetables. It's soon devoured and a few boys clear up while others play, watch TV, argue, read 'Tin-Tin' books that Fr. Peter has put out. At 8.15 it's time for the evening 'talk'. Then bedtime - they sleep in bunks - and by 8.45 all is still and the boys are safe for one more night.
One of the projects which we support is Esta es mi Casa in the city of Pereira. This vital home for street-children operates on a shoestring. Staff function under the most difficult of conditions - staff accommodation is a small room in the dormitory area of the one large room which doubles as the schoolroom. There's only bed space for one other adult staff member in a room seven feet by six - really, a cupboard - yet it houses a young woman, providing what little privacy is possible.
Conditions are extremely basic. The electric installation is so under-provided that light bulbs have to be taken out to get other things to work. There's an urgent need for another pre-fabricated building: the hole is dug ready to receive it. How much longer will it stay waiting?
These spartan conditions seem betrayed not just by the happiness of the children, but by the sheer commitment of the staff. To reduce costs, the children have created their own vegetable garden. The kitchen produces a miracle each mealtime in the most unbelievably primitive conditions: pioneer-type gas rings, bare electric wires hanging out of the walls, a 'fridge that has to be unplugged to allow something else to work - but it won't be the washing machine, as that has given up life's battle!
Each 'house' has a name to help create a more homely feel, but some softer furnishings would help. Bunk beds are made from welded, steel tube, painted with red-oxide paint as this is all the purse stretches to.
This is surely a project that schools could warmly embrace. If you can help in some way, please ask Let The Children Live! for information and possible ideas.
How many children are on the streets in Colombia, and why are they there? Gordon & Bec Buss recently published the results of their research mainly in Bogota.*
Rural violence dates from the 1940s. Since then, guerrilla and narcotic gangs have forced people from their lands - pouring into the cities, unskilled, without homes. Menfolk, compulsorily recruited into the gangs, leave wives and children without support. 92,000 children have been displaced over recent years and 43,000 are orphaned through violence each year according to Colombian newspaper El Tempo (09/01/94). Many find nowhere to live but the streets. Poverty drives parents to send children out to work.
Let The Children Live! is currently assessing the situation in Bello, on the outskirts of Medellín. Children are sent out to work, beg, or steal by desperate parents. In Angelopolis, the Salesians have been asked to assist the Colombian State Family Welfare Department (ICBF) working with children in coal mines, and Let The Children Live! is taking a close interest.
All, including the Colombian Government, would like to see children out of the mines, but without this income more families would disintegrate and more children would end up on the streets. So small children are found selling sweets, shoe cleaning, washing car windows, or working for 'Fagins'. If the children are beaten for not bringing home money, or if they tire of the work, they will soon be on the streets.
A mother finds a new partner, and children can be resented, abuse or driven out. 31,818 children were abandoned or in danger in 1992 say ICBF. A Government report said 70% of street-children were beaten when they lived at home. ICBF reckons 50,000 children suffer violence of all types, including being beaten, exploited and suffering sexual, physical and emotional abuse. They estimate this rises by 13% each year. Frequently girls leave home because of sexual and physical violation, and may become prostitutes, while the boys remain on the streets. A 1982 National Police report declared the sole reason why girls under 10 become prostitutes is violence in their homes. And the cause of most violence - is poverty.
*Street Children in Colombia, G & B Buss, 1995. Obtainable from JUBILEE, St. John's, Cranleigh Road, Wonersh, Surrey, England GU5 0X.
Leanda Reed volunteered to work for a year with Let The Children Live! at Ciudad Don Bosco (CDB) in Medellín. Her mother, Diana, writes about the visit she made to her daughter:
There was great activity at CDB, as they were preparing for the first International 3-day Seminar for agencies helping street-children. (Let The Children Live! had obtained some of the funding to make this possible from the UK's Overseas Development Agency through the Consortium for Street-children). Leanda acted as a translator for representatives from organisations in Indonesia and the UK. Well attended by Colombians, the talks, discussions and workshops allowed consultation with local representatives, extensive questioning on the allocation of funds to Street-children's needs, and work on educating local people and students to care for them. The Seminar was a great success and CDB were proud to be the first hosts. The next will be held this year in Indonesia.
Together with Indonesian delegates and a doctor from Honduras, Padre Dario drove us to the mining village of Angelopolis where CDB have set up a project to educate the young boys and give an alternative to spending all their time at the mines. Nearby is a Swiss project, where children are taught about coffee growing and agricultural skills.
We visited the Hogar, where children are prepared to attend the school full time. After morning lessons, the afternoon is taken up by art activities and football. We took the school bus down to the Patio, right in the centre of Medellín. The Patio is the very first stage of integration. Here they play football, watch videos and have art activities. If the boys show they want to learn, and attend regularly, there's a six-monthly intake into the Hogar. A lot of street-children don't even know about the Patio, so at night time volunteers go into the streets wearing distinctive waistcoats with 'Educadores - Ciudad Don Bosco' printed on them. They give sweets to the children, tell them about the Patio and invite them to come along and discover what it can offer.
I took home brightly coloured friendship bracelets made by the boys, and sold them in aid of Let The Children Live! I also took many memories of these lovely children and know that they benefit from all the great work Let The Children Live! offers them.
People often ask for lists of items needed by the Children which they could save for and provide. 'Esta es mi Casa' - home to 43 children in Pereira which we support, has responded to our request:
Costs per child:
Pyjamas £6.50; Underwear £3.00; Working boots £1.50; Towels £5.00; Overalls £2.60; Sports gear £8.00; Sports equipment £135; Books for school library £300; Filing cabinet £65; Curtains £2.50 pair; Domestic tools £200; Commercial washing machine £1500; Clothes cupboards £215; Teacher's desk £50; Telephones £29 each; Improvements to school buildings £1000; Window security bars £175; Volunteer worker accommodation £2500...
...the list is endless because the needs are!
It is impossible to list all our donors, but (when you supply a name and address!) we always thank you. Here are just a few of the ways in which people have raised money:
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