Sucre Charities
The very excellent Centro Nanta and the many working children it helps to support.
This group is not involved in politics or religion. The organisation was started in 1996 by the Church giving out milk on Sundays. Now the Commodore feeds the kids every day and gives them snacks. They are not considered street kids but working kids by Centro Nanta. This organisation helps kids with homework, teaches them how to bake bread, gives sex education, and a social worker visits the parents to try and get them on their side as it is generally the parents who have sent the Children out to work and need to be convinced that it is Ok for these Children to go to School and that the valuable money making opportunities are not lost. Centro Nanta have organised a Doctor to visit the children three times week (with an agreement with an institution for health). The kids have to pay a small fee to appreciate the meals 0.50 Bolivianos (There are 10 in a £). There is anything from a hundred to one hundred and fifty children to feed on Saturdays as that is the day they come in from the countryside. During the week there are normal fifty to seventy Children to feed. They are allowed into dining hall ten at a time and the queues on a Saturday are enormous. Mothers come with kids. Sometimes employees and volunteers do not get fed if there are too many kids looking for food. There is a Pub called Amsterdam which supports Ñanta and works together with Ñanta.
A Dutch couple take the kids swimming on a daily basis. This is organised by rote. Centro Nanta has a dormitory for Children from age 9 to 18. The dormitory can be for Children at risk or homeless Children. Often Children are sent to the city by their parents and it is too far to go home so they sleep on the streets. They too can use the dormitory. The children who stay in the dormitory are responsible for the cleanliness of the place. Every so often there is a meeting where the Children of the dormitory can have their say about the running of the dormitory and suggestions are made.
The interesting thing about this organisation is that the responsibility of the Centro-Nanta is in the hands of a committee and the committee includes the Children so that the Children who are being helped have an input.
There are three types of scholarships that the organisation is trying to promote:
1. Good behaviour and Studious 120 Bolivianos a month
2. University 150 Bolivianos a month
3. Technical (good with hands). 120 Bolivianos (£12) a month.
This covers School, Food and Accommodation for these pupils.
The organisation has worked out that it costs approximately 6,000 Bolivianos (£600) (These are the costs of the dormitory children)per person, per year.
The kids learn how to make things like Jewellery with their hands. The Jewellery is sold in Holland and other European countries to get a better price although some is sold in Sucre. The organisation has ten employees (director, coordinator, social worker, music teacher, teacher of artesania, 3 in homework, 1 computer activities and a mother in the kitchen). Three Employees work in the kitchen and they have some of the children as helpers during AM or PM (the shifts are arranged in order not to disrupt homework).
The kids learn a useful skill and get paid to help. This also means that they do not need to be on the streets as well as working there.
Of the other two employees one works in the computer room. One employee is a social educator. A local pub ´café Amsterdam´supports the organisation. One ex shoe shine kids is now full time staff at the pub. Two ex working kids from Ñanta are working part-time in the pub. All profits from the pub go to the organisation and help to fund everything. Also donations from other parts of the world like Holland, Spain and the United States help Ñanta to continue with their work for the working children. But also other donations are required to keep this organisation going either in the form of sponsorship or pure funding.
I found this a very good and well planned organisation and had I stayed longer I would certainly have worked there. There did not seem to be any hidden snags. It was run on a committee basis and the Children, it was committed to help, had a fair say in running the Centre. There are no costs to volunteer just a commitment to stay for a few months. They will also help to organise accommodation if this is required. I found about five volunteers while I was there. Two were helping with the computers and setting up a system for donations and three were making furniture for the organisation. I took some photographs while I was there with the idea that the web site might like to use them as it did not appear to be up to date. They seem to rely on Facebook more.
Ideas: Old cameras for a photography section: They would like to have a photography section and as many people are changing their cameras due to better and better digital cameras it might be an idea to raise a camera campaign…..
Hogar de Tatu de San Juan de Dios
The orphanage was a Catholic organisation and was run by nuns in the charge of Sister Clementina, who is from Argentina. They did not ask what religion I was and were happy to accept help.
The Orphanage seems very well run and the children have a good selection of toys but very few permanent staff as the Orphanage relies on volunteers. One woman employee will look after at least ten children.
I worked there every morning except Sunday and loved it. I helped with the terrible twos and threes and they were fun even though I constantly had to break up minor battles as with any children around the world. They loved simple Jigsaw puzzles although they destroyed them if they were not sturdy enough. Imagine 20 little pairs of hands on one or two Jigsaws. At times the noise could be manic with everyone crying or asking for something at the same time. There was one full time staff and usually two helpers (including me). It was just enough, as the full time lady took the children to the toilet while we broke up any fights or played with the kids. Washing hands was an occasion for the children to run taps and have water everywhere. You had to have eyes at the back of your head at all times. Eating time was manic as the children absolutely had to clear their plates, no waste was allowed, and many needed help or would not clear their plates. Extreme patience was required to feed the kids who did not want anything or wanted to feed themselves but could not. Often food would be over me, the table and the child! Then it was time for toilet and bed for the afternoon nap. As soon as you put one child to bed he/she would climb over the cot and be out of bed. Very rarely would a child settle down to sleep on first try. Then it was time to change the older kids out of school uniform and get them ready, hands washed, to feed. This sounds easy but they were strong minded little individuals who liked to play tricks on you and it could take some time to settle them after a morning of school . Then they also went down, eventually, for an afternoon nap. These mornings were great fun and also very exhausting.
The Orphanage is sponsored by a School in Norway and I met some of the pupils who had come over to help. The kids have very little opportunity of being adopted except by childless couples as you are not allowed to adopt unless you live in Bolivia. So Madonna has no chance here!
Fox Academy
looked for volunteers to teach English. In return they taught the shoe shine boys and street children English for less or for nothing. I went along and was offered my own class or I could shadow a teacher there and be his helper. I chose the latter route as my teaching skills were only a TEFL course and a TESL course and I had no practical experience. The school is extremely run down, with a playground that is positively dangerous and has lots of broken windows. For some reason they padlock the rooms but I cannot imagine what could be stolen they have so little – no books or wall hangings or anything! I did not find out who got the free lessons as the girls I taught came from rich families. They were friendly and very keen to learn. I took this experience as a learning experience and was very impressed with the teacher Jose who not only taught by reading, writing and listening but also by action. In one lesson about directions (left right straight on), the kids took us out of the school and they had to follow written directions and guide us taking us left, right, round the corner and go straight on. We ended up in an ice cream shop which was a lovely reward for us all!
