Offering the Promise of a New Day

Signature See N° 600

It’s 10am and time for breakfast in Yaykuna, a day centre for streetkids. But before breakfast there is always an activity. Bernardo, one of Yaykunas’ educators, turns on the radio, “everbody get up and dance” he says “and when the music stops grab a partner and share a problem with them”. The music blasts out, there’s frenetic dancing and much laughter. However, when the music stops it’s a different story.

“My dad gets drunk and beats my mum. It upsets me and my brother”.

“My parents left me with my Aunt and now I don’t know where they are. My Aunt beats me and I don’t want to live with her anymore”.

“I can’t give up Clefa (glue)”. The activity ends when one child breaks down in tears.

AMANECER (Spanish for “dawn”) was founded on 24 April 1981 by Sister Stephanie Murray and is today the biggest voluntary organization in Cochabamba. On its’ first night it gave shelter to 14 children, today AMANECER reaches out to somewhere in the region of 2000. There are now a total of eleven centres offering assistance to the street population. All ages and social situations are catered for, from newborn babies to abandoned night and day. Violence and drugs are not tolerated in any level of the programme. Children have a place to detoxify, if they so desire, and are offered counseling and also help with their studies, if indeed they ever started school. The domestic problems and abuse that so often lead them to run away from home also results in their dropping out of school. In order to facilmothers. AMANECER offers a five-step rehabilitation programme and its’ rehabilitation process is an adaption of the “Maxwell Jones Therapeutic Community”. The children benefit from both individual and group therapy sessions. “The central philosophy of the democratic therapeutic community is that patients are empowered to be active participants in their own and others’ treatment.” “Offering the promise of a new day” is AMANECER’s motto.

The first level is Centre Yaykuna (“entrance” in the local dialect, Quechua). “The centre is only a point of reference” explains Sister Carol Donohue, Director of Yaykuna “the main focus of our work is on the streets”. Other activities include working groups and neighborhood visits. Yaykuna strives to prevent children from leaving home, it also fights to prevent those who are already working and living in the street from falling into a life of drugs, delinquency and exploitation. Sayaricuy (“rise up”), the second level of the programme, offers shelteritate the kids’ reinsertion back into society, complementary components have been added to the programme. Once the vicious circle of street-life has been broken a follow-up is essential, the kids need a fair chance at obtaining an education and learning a profession to support themselves. “Kids who are fresh off the street and in the initial stages of therapy have a hard time dealing with aggression, if they are out here with me at the COMPLEJO they will be too tired at the end of an honest day’s work to put up a fight.” Rianne Van Steen, a Dutch volunteer, is responsible for the agricultural programme at the complejo, a place where the children can also gain valuable work experience in carpentry, electricity, plumbing, metalwork and in the AMANECER bakery.

Casa Nazareth and Albergue San Martin/San Vicente form the third level. Casa Nazareth houses children between the ages of 3-10 years. Upon arrival, each child is given a diary and time is set aside each day for the children to write. Only the educators have access to the diaries, using them to chart the children’s progress. The theory being that it is often easier for a child to put down his or her feelings on paper rather than tell someone face to face. The diary system is also used in San Martin/San Vicente. Albergue San Martin/San Vicente is for boys aged between 11-15 who have already detoxified successfully and are showing greater signs of stability. Casa Ana Maria is the fourth level and welcomes boys who are preparing their reinsertion back into society. A lot of emphasis is given to building the boys’ confidence, the confidence they need to live outside the programme. Casa Jerusalen is the fifth and final level of the programme, taking boys between the ages of 16-19. It’s also a point of contact for boys who have left the programme, as many return or use Casa Jerusalen as a safety net. Currently 8 of AMANECER’s former residents are working within the programme, something that the founder, Sister Stephanie Murray, is extremely proud of.

AMANECER works on an “open door” policy. The fact that the children are free to leave whenever they wish can be extremely disruptive to the rehabilitation process. The safe environment, free board and lodging, presence of caring adults and stimulating activities are, in a lot of cases, still not enough to keep some of the children from returning to their clefa-fuelled existence on the streets. For the ones that manage to steal enough money the alternative to sleeping under the stars is the “telo”. The location of a telo can often be identified by the groups of shabby looking kids who are found skulking around in the shadows sniffing their glue, waiting to get in and claim their bed for the night. The fat landlady sitting in the doorway charges 3 bolivianos for a bed and a blanket and another boliviano for a candle if you want light. The clandestine lodging is nothing but a roof of corrugated steel bridging the gap between two neighboring buildings. About fifty bunk beds are crammed between provisory brick walls and the remnants of what was once a chicheria (drinking den). It is dark inside and although you can only just make out the silhouettes of the guests the ever-present white plastic containers of glue almost glow in the darkness and are clear to see. A closer look reveals loose pieces of metal lying on the floor covering large holes. The stench is suffocating, a mixture of excrement from the roofless toilets that are situated in the middle of the building and the chemical odor of the glue. The walls are covered with crass hand painted advertisements for coca-cola and fanta and in one of the makeshift rooms a group of kids, who apparently have money, are peeling potatoes with razorblades. Probably the very same razorblades that were to used slit a hole in the fabric of the oblivious tourist’s backpack, the very tourist who is now financing this meal. Not far away a very young couple are “making out”. At the back of the telo in his private quarters Moises, the leader of the pack, is distributing glue to some of his clan. You can feel a family atmosphere here, albeit a very strange one.

REENCUENTRO is one of five staterun shelters for street kids in Cochabamba. On entering the programme the kids are obliged to stay a minimum of one month. With a capacity for 60 there are currently only 3 kids in the centre. “We cannot force the kids to stay, that would be illegal” explains psychologist Hugo Aranda Alarcon, Director of REENCUENTRO. For him, the ideal initial solution would be a sixmonth rehabilitation programme in a closed facility. “This would give the kids a chance to detoxify and at least allow them to think with a clear head. It would also give us psychologists optimum time to work and make progress with them. Furthermore they would be shown that there is an alternative way of life available to them.” A lot of the kids have absolutely no self esteem. “Clefa made me feel strong and gave me self confidence” says Oscar, a kid who is currently working on building up his self confidence without the help of solvents. “If at the end of the six months the kids do not want to stay then at least theirdecision has been made with a clear head and not under the influence of clefa” believes Hugo. “ As it is, the kids are constantly “volando” (high on glue) and therefore cannot think straight”. Not everyone is in agreement with this though. The Director of the Cochabamba branch of Defensor del Nino Internacional (DNI) is opposed to the idea of a closed facility, arguing that the kids have the right to be free to do as they wish, even if it is seriously jeopardizing their lives and leading them towards an early death. “After so much suffering these kids are finally able to enjoy the gift of freedom” she believes.

Since AMANECER opened its doors 20 years ago the situation on the streets of Cochabamba has changed drastically and today the lives of the street children are more at risk than ever. In March 2001 a street kid was caught stealing in the market. Taken by surprise, the child whipped out a knife and stabbed the stall holder, who fortunately survived. Within seconds surrounding stall holders joined in the melee and set the kid alight. At the last minute the police intervened and saved him. Although he was extremely badly burnt he survived. The week before Easter another child, also suspected of stealing, wasn’t so lucky and was burnt to death. The situation has reached crisis point and, fed up with police indifference, the Cochabambinos have started to take the law into their own hands.

Article 6.2 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that; “ State Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child”. The continuing attempts that are being made to open a closed facility are constantly being jeopardized by the Cochabamba branch of Defensor del Nino Internacional, which is fighting to protect the kids’ right to choose a life on the streets. “I would rather the centre be empty than have the kids laying down their rules and coming in with their clefa” says Hugo Aranda talking about REENCUENTRO. “If we let them enter the centre with clefa and on their terms we’re just giving in and pushing them even faster towards the edge. We have sufficient resources to deal with the problem but as there is a total absence of co-operation between the different organizations we feel that our hands are tied.”

The street kids are not only confronted with the problem of their addiction to solvents , equally addictive is the fast adventurous life of the streets, a life free of rules and obligations. The kids have created a world for themselves in which they look after each other, and adults are not welcome here. “If we leave them “free” to choose to live in a life-threatening situation our indifference is a contributing factor to their self destruction or their death at the hands of others” argues Sister Carol Donohue, Director of Yaykuna. The conflict in Cochabamba continues and the only ones who are suffering are the very children whose best interests are being fought for.

Bruce Harris of Casa Alianza, who has been successful in battling for stricter legislation in Central America, likes to use the following example. “ People argue that we cannot do anything for these kids. If a person starts to hang himself in front of us or slit their wrists, then we would immediately rush to stop them doing it. We would not say that these kids have the right to take their own lives. So why should the decision of the cleferos be any different? We all know they’re committing suicide, it’s only taking them a little longer.”

“State parties recognize that every child has the inherent right to life”. Article 6.1 of the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child.

If you wish to contribute to the work of AMANECER by making a donation please contact Jane Drake for further details.

Email – janedrake100@hotmail.com.