Latin American Studies 87Q-Film Series

URBANIZATION, POVERTY, AND CHILDREN IN LATIN AMERICA

Mexico: Case Study 1999

Andres Small

CASE STUDY

COUNTRY: Mexico

PROGRAM: Fundacion Casa Alianza Mexico, I.A.P.

LOCATION: Mexico D.F. email: casa_alianza@compuserve.com

It is located in downtown Mexico City, which serves as a strategic center to have an open house, since the traffic congestion of the area naturally attracts street vendors and peddlers, who might as well be street children seeking a stable environment. SPONSORSHIP OF PROGRAM: Both national and internationally assisted, several corporations as well as private individuals fund Casa Alianza. For example, Bankers Association, E.U., Tupperware, and Asistencia Privada are among the few that lend a helping hand to this charitable foundation. HISTORY OF PROGRAM: Upon being asked by a student why he did not practice what he preached, Franciscan friar and professor at Manhattan University Bruce Ritter decided in 1969 to create Covenant House in New York. In 1972, the current organization was founded, and the name "Alianza" alludes to the Bible, in which men and women have an alliance with God. After establishing itself in Guatemala in 1981, Casa Alianza proceeded to other cities in the United States and Canada, Honduras in 1986, and Mexico in 1988. Panama also opened a branch in 1986, only to close it in 1992. APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF CHILDREN SERVED: Around 4,000 boys and girls in Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico take advantage of Casa Alianza every year. In Mexico, the street educator program reaches out to 1,500 boys and girls each year. The second stage of Casa Alianza, the Crisis Center, treats an average of 120 kids per day, providing at least housing, medical, psychological and nutritional care as well as drug detoxification, HIV-AIDS information, and legal support. The third stage, which seeks to smooth the transition to home and the children’s reintegration, deals with 50 children, offering education, apprenticeships, and incorporation of family members. Finally, Group Homes deal with 14 kids and two educators attempting to make these characters self-sufficient before they turn 18 years old. CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN SERVED: Casa Alianza constantly has contact with street children with drug addiction problems, total abandonment by biological parents, and stunted growth, besides the psychological toll to overcome the extreme poverty, family disintegration, parent alcoholism, sexual and physical abuse, and abandonment so many of them have gone through. Casa Alianza views poverty as the most common characteristic, since they blame family disruption on it. Usually, the children are 7-18 years old, and originate from rural misery. Primary schooling often lacks, and a 4:1 boy to girl ratio is found in the streets of Mexico. HOW CHILDREN ARE RECRUITED/SELECTED: Street educators constantly round the streets in an effort to find all the street children they can, and attempt to establish a relationship with and trust of the street children. The street educators propose alternatives to the street, and one of them includes the invitation to shelter in Casa Alianza. This institution emphasizes that all the children that choose to enter do so at their own will. PROGRAM SERVICES: Casa Alianza manages a four-stage program. The first stage takes place in the street, with the street educators. They establish a relationship with the children, trying to gain their trust, and when the time is right, they propose alternatives to the street as well as information about many of the problems the street children encounter. As one of the alternatives to the street, Casa Alianza is proposed. The second stage, the Crisis Center, provides housing, medical, psychological, and nutritional care to the children that voluntarily enter Casa Alianza. The priority is immediate attention, although workers intend to persuade the child to view this open house as a 24-hour home. Therefore, the resulting third stage is the Transition Homes, in which personal and academic development are prioritized. Responsibilities and an apprenticeship are given to the child, in an effort to make the kid self-sufficient as soon as possible, as well as able to reintegrate with his family. However, family integration is not always possible, and in that case the fourth stage is available. Group homes, in which 14 children will live along with two educators, emphasize harmonious co-existence and independent living. The goal of such programs is to integrate the children to a normal social life before they turn 18 years old. FINANCIAL BASIS OF PROGRAM: The budget for 1998-99 included in thousands of pesos:

Crisis Shelter $4,302

Group Homes $3,658

Transition Homes $1,758

Substance Abuse Programs $1,262

Family Reintegration $776

Outreach $451

HIV-AIDS $352

Girls Rescue from Prostitution $322

Psychology and Social Work $239

Crisis Phone Line $187

Research and Publishing $180

Legal Support $118

Currently, Casa Alianza is involved in at least two fundraising programs. The "financial campaign for 1998-2000 has the objective of raising 150 million pesos to build a trust. Its interest would guarantee the continuation of our work, starting by the year 2001, and covering the operational deficits of 1998-1999 and 2000." Labeled the Capital Funding Financial Campaign for 1998-2000, and often called "Open a Door to Hope," it has the goal of "building an alliance with society to guarantee the continuity of our institutional commitment with these less fortunate children."

Similarly, another fundraising campaign intends to gather 7 million dollars through donations. There are three stages to this campaign, the first involving 2.5 million dollars, and it will maintain and expand the Crisis Center of Casa Alianza so that the capacity increases from 45 to 110. The second stage also deals with another 2.5 million dollars, which will guarantee the running of the Crisis Center, and increase the number of group homes to 10, as well as aid the development of the 270 children involved in any of Casa Alianza’s programs and the programs themselves. The third and final stage involves 2 million dollars, which will fund a trust to finance the future costs of Casa Alianza. Like "Open a Door to Hope," this program appeals to private individuals and corporations in many countries.

PHILOSOPHY OR APPROACH: Along with love, faith, great perseverance, and commitment, this institution captures its philosophy in the mission statement: "We, whom recognize the providence and loyalty of God with His people, have dedicated our lives to alliance between ourselves and the children we serve, with utmost respect and unconditional love." Another pamphlet declares the mission of Casa Alianza to be the "answer to the most frequently seen problem in our city, the devastating images of street children, that is why, with full conviction and commitment, it opens its doors by offering these boys and girls a different life option."

The five principles of Casa Alianza are also essential to its philosophy. These are:

Urgencia y Acceso: Under which they provide immediate and unconditional assistance to street children, making sure they receive the basic necessities and perhaps even medical and legal support.
Santuario: In order to reestablish trust and confidence in street children, Casa Alianza guarantees safety and protection within its walls. It is a shelter.
Comunicacion de Valores: Through communication of values, interpersonal relationships will improve. However, it is essential that when something wrong is pointed out, alternatives are created, proposed and discussed.
Estructura: To counter the chaos in the street and avoid repression, coercion and promote flexibility, adaptation and congruence of philosophy, Casa Alianza has esablished a framework for its programs.
Opcion: Casa Alianza assumes that street children have the capacity to differentiate options and choose the most convenient. The institution believes these children have chosen to live on the street, and they have voluntarily joined Casa Alianza.

SPECIAL FEATURES: Casa Alianza recently won the Olof Palme Prize in 1996, given by the Queen of Sweden "as recognition of its work and dedication in helping the street children in Mexico in their search for a dignified life and for its struggle in defending children’s rights."

Casa Alianza’s accomplishments also include: "402 children reintegrated to their original families, 61 living independent lives, 50 in [their] transitional homes, 84 living in group homes and 110 at the Crisis Center. Casa Alianza reintegrates an average of 10 children a moth to their families.

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