Minadores de Sueños
Integral care to children and teenagers
This report is meant to show the development of our various projects, and above all the complementary aspect which is contained in our work, which is to provide the children with integral care. With two examples, one child and one teenager, we want to show how our work involves providing a service of education, but also recreation, nutrition and health.
In the year 2009, one of our main objectives was to finish building the second classroom in order to offer the children and teenagers who take part in our project a better service and better conditions of work. In the last twelve months, the children and teenagers themslves were as usual the main focus of our work.
Educational support- camping trips and summer camp - extra support and leveling up - economical support - exams - ‘canteen’
Since the beginning of this school year, we have been working in two classrooms. The children have been divided in two groups of twenty four in each classroom. This enabled to optimize the management and attention provided to each group. Foreign volunteers have been delivering English lessons on a daily basis. To conclude the school year, we organised a two days camping trip to the hacienda ‘Ilado’, in which thirty children took part. In Jaunary 2009, we started to provide children with particular difficulties a service of extra support and leveling up. This support was personalized and the activity took place every satuday. It was usually completed by practical and manual tasks. Sixteen children have been taking part. The summer camp lasted two weeks, in July. 120 children aged 5 to 12 took part. The main themes dealt with were health and hygiene. This year, there have been some cases of families in great economical difficulties. When necessary, economical help was provided to the children of these families, in order for them to pay for stationary, school uniforms and school fees. Some of the help provided was coordinated with the INFA (governmental organisation). This year, 9 children were given such economical help. We coordinated with other institutions in order to offer children who needed it a variety of services such as visual, auditive and psychological exams. Moreover, we have maintained the accident insurance that covers all of our chidren all year, 24 hours a day.This year, we have also put in place a small canteen for 10 children who for various socio-economical reasons were not guaranteed daily meals in their families. The lunches offered are complete and very nutritious.
Example 1 - Benito (7 years old): Due to his particular family situation, Benito has been taking part in the activities of the fundation for several years. He lives with his father who is more than 70 years old. Benito receives full support and attention from us. Every day, Benito comes to lunch at the fundation after school. In the afternoon, he takes part in the directed tasks. Benito particularly loves the English classes. Since November, Benito has surprised us with the sudden development of his language skills. From one week to the other, Benito was able to read and understand what he was reading. We still don’t know exactly how he acquired thi ability. Benito undertook some visual and auditory exams this year because he has some serious visual and motricity deficiencies.We have also financed part of his stationary and his schol uniform, constantly negociating with his father so he would assume his responsabilities. During the holidays, Benito spent more time with his father. He also enjoyed taking part in the summer camp. There, he was told about some general important values, he completed a variety of tasks, and he had the opportunity to vwalk around and enjoy nature. This year, he has learnt to bathe alone, to wash him hands and teeth, and to feed himself properly in order to prevent illness.
Teenager zone - guides - vacation – volunteering
From January until June, in the ‘teenager zone’, we realized a variety of monthly projects in which participated fifteen teenagers.The motivation and participation of the group was not satisfying. For this reason, we changed the concept and from September,the ‘teenager zone’ took place on Saturdays, under a different format. In July, eight teenagers from the area, who had been taking part in a teenager project at some point offered themselves as guides for the summer camp. All July was spent evaluating and planning the summer camp ‘Ran-pi Sur 2009′in coordination with these teenagers and foreign and national volunteers.In august, thirty teenagers took part in a week of activities adapted to their age and interest. The theme of the vacation was sexuality. The activities consisted in some walks, various practical tasks, and educative discussions on the theme of sexuality. The final outing took place in a Spa, where the participants performed some tasks of corpoal expression in order to acquire more confidence. From September and for several weeks, a puppet workshop was offered to the teenagers. Their task was to elaborate and manage the presentation of their own puppet show. In this workshop, some important values such as group work and self-esteem were reinforced. We now have a stronger and more motivated group. Next year, we are hoping for this group to be willing to take part in the other activities of the foundation as ‘teenage volunteers from the area’. Also, we would like to offer them their own working space.
Example 2 - Catherine (16 years old): Catherine, a teenager from the neighbourhood, started getting involved with the work of the foundation at the very beginning of the ‘teenager zone’ project. She integrated the group of teenager then present, and she took part in the workshops and activities proposed. During the holidays, Catherine offered herself, along with other teenagers to be a guide in the summer camp. In coordination with a switz volunteer, she planified and leaded a variety of activities for a group of children aged 10 to 11. Finally, she could relax and enjoy herself on the ‘guides outing’ to the Peguche waterfall.Later in the summer, Catherine also took part in the vacation week offered to the tenagers. During that week, she participated in workshops about sexuality, which main focus was prevention against unwanted pregnancy and illness. The use of condoms was the constant theme of the week. After this activity, Catherine continued to support and give volunteer help in the activies of the foundation.