Latin American Studies 87Q-Film Series

URBANIZATION, POVERTY, AND CHILDREN IN LATIN AMERICA

Colombia: Demographic Profile and Case Study
Silvana Rodriguez

COUNTRY: Colombia

PROGRAM: Let the Children Live!

LOCATION: Medellin and Pereira, Colombia; also supports projects in Honduras

Mail can be sent to:

Let the Children Live!
P.O. Box 11
Medellin
Colombia
NR22 6EH
Email: lcl@LetTheChildrenLive.org
OR Father Peter Walters
AA 4842
Walsingham
Norfolk
England Email: funvini@epm.net.co

SPONSORSHIP OF PROGRAM:

Let The Children Live! is a UK Registered Charity (no. 1013634) through which people can respond to the needs of the Street-children in Colombia and beyond. The founder and driving force of the organization is Father Peter Walters; the Chairman is Rev. Michael Rear. Let The Children Live! financially and physically supports many other organizations, such as a pioneering project called "The Pelican Project" through their Colombian daughter charity Fundación ¡Vivan Los Niños! (FUNVINI) that cares for children who are just beginning to live on the streets. Another key organization supported is Ciudad Don Bosco where some 700 children are housed and cared for by the Salesian Fathers. Let the Children Live also works with Father Enrique Montes and Hogares Calasanz to house children in the Pereira area, as well as with Proyecto Alternativo in Honduras to train and feed street children. HISTORY OF PROGRAM:

The Charity was founded by Father Peter Walters who became involved with the Street-children in 1982 when they helped him after he became temporarily stranded in Colombia. Since then, he has gained first-hand knowledge of the problems of the
Gamines and of the work that is being done to help them.

APPROXIMATE # OF CHILDREN SERVED:

The only mentioned numbers noted Proyecto Alternativas, which feeds 120 children a day - over 30,000 meals each year! Also, Ciudad Don Bosco, where some 700 children are housed and cared for by the Salesian Fathers (45 children a night). However, a great number of children are also served through the other projects CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN SERVED: The children typically served are "gamines" of ages ranging from 6 years old through teenagers who typically live in the streets and the rubbish dumps of the cities of Colombia. Most of these are poor displaced children originally from rural areas around Medellin who are sent to beg or work in the streets; these children are often unloved, unwanted, beaten robbed, abused, raped and murdered. HOW CHILDREN ARE RECRUITED/SELECTED: Volunteers attempt to make contact with the children when they first arrive on the streets (recall that many are moving to the city from rural areas) and try to reintegrate them with their families and the school system before they break away completely and get lost in the world of real gamines in the city-centre.

In Operation Friendship, a program of Ciudad Don Bosco, Street-educators make contact with the children on the street and invite them to come to the Patio, a day-centre where they can eat, wash and play.

PROGRAM SERVICES: The program provides a range of services in conjunction with many other organizations.

The Pelican Project in Medellin provides street children with care in the areas of nutrition, education, recreation, training, health , personal development and human rights.

To support Operation Friendship, Let The Children Live! has provided funds to open a dormitory where up to 45 children in Medellin now spend the night in safety- warm, dry and free from drugs. Regular attenders at the Patio and the Night-Shelters move up to the Half-Way House where they are helped to make the difficult transition from life in the streets to residential care. The final stage is in Ciudad Don Bosco itself, where the children live whilst they receive their primary and secondary education. They are also able to learn a variety of trades in the workshop there, including carpentry, metal-working, tailoring and printing.

The Hogares Calasanz were opened in 1994 to to provide a refuge for boys and girls from the Pereira area, the zone with the most concentrated child-prostitution problem in the country. Father Enrique runs two small residential homes where children who have received intensive support at his centre are now able to live in a normal family atmosphere.

Proyecto Alternativas, located in the centre of Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras, is a project where teams, with some medical or first aid qualifications, run street-clinics, providing attention for street-children and street-workers. They also feed 120 children a day - over 30,000 meals each year!

Another key function served is raising and maintaining awareness of Colombia's street-children through presentations, School Packs, leaflets, collection boxes, and VIVANT!, the newsletter of Let the Children Live!

FINANCIAL BASIS OF PROGRAM: Donations are the life-blood of this charity. Contributions come from many sources, from Churches, from individuals searching their pockets, schools embarking on fund-raising ventures, from covenants, and from codicils to wills.

The only specifically mentioned cost involves Proyecto Alternativo; Let The Children Live! has committed itself to the food programme which costs about 25p per child per day, (£11,000 per annum).

PHILOSOPHY OR APPROACH: Let The Children Live! is a UK Registered Charity (no. 1013634) through which people can respond to the needs of the Street-children in Colombia and beyond. It aims both to safeguard the lives of children from the violence and poverty of the streets, and to make their lives worth living by giving them love, education and a future.

"Let The Children Live! is a charitable (not-for-profit) organisation and does not engage in political activity. We recognise that the phenomenon of the street-children is the product of complex social problems to which there are no easy answers. Our aim is to support the Colombian people as they take the initiative in caring for the most disadvantaged of their children.

We believe that no human-being is 'disposable' and that every person is precious to God. We are therefore concerned to ensure that each child is cared for as an individual, with his or her own special needs. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, the lives of many children have already been preserved and made worth living through the provision of love, care, education and training: but it is never-ending work, for whenever some children leave the streets, others take their place..."

SPECIAL FEATURES: The main notable feature is the number of organizations Let the Children Live! supports and the variety of projects this organization is involved in. Also, this organization works with Honduran children, as well as Colombian children.

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