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STREET KIDS
SALESIAN PROJECT
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A Brief History of the
Salesian "Children of the street" Project
Today, the Salesian
Street Kids Projects are working in Ambato, Quito, Santo Domingo de los
Colorados, Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, Cuenca and Machala.
These programs include human development,
education, vocational training,family
and community organization and support and crisis intervention.
Street Kids is a group
of social programs which spring directly from Ecuadorian reality, founded on
dedication of both Salesians and their secular colleagues to intervene
creatively and positively in the lives
of high risk children.
We are currently
focussing on an analysis of the process by which children from the San Patricio
Juvenile Center rejoin their communities and the labor market and the impact
that various strategies, like �timely intervention� can have on this
process.
As a result of this
analysis, we have realized that children who stay too long at our shelters run
the risk of becoming so adapted to
institutional life that they have a greater difficulty rejoining their families
and the outside world. We are now
trying to focus our efforts on preventing homelessness through efforts which
identify and support children before
they becomes homeless.
Given this focus and our
successes in reducing the incidence of homelessness, we have decided to reduce
the scope of our permanent shelters in favor of offering temporary shelter
while we attempt to resolve their problems, strengthen our educational programs
aimed at preventing homelessness and drop-in centers which provide social and
academic support, and work with community organizations, schools, local
businesses and governments to establish shared�
responsibility for street children.
The following is a brief
chronological overview of our development:
1977:El Galpon (The
Barn) � Quito: our first project.� The
Barn was a shelter and breakfast program for homeless children.
1980: Saint Patrick Juvenile Center -
Cumbay� (near Quito): a boarding school with basic
services, an alternative school and vocational training. It moved completely to
Quito in 1996.
1985:El S�tano: a food and shelter program which provides academic support and
encourage children to enter San Patricio.
1986: Action Guambras
(Action for Kids): educational/publicity programs designed to prevent
homelessness.
1987: Tespa (Saint
Patrick Vocational School):Vocational
training for graduates of Saint Patrick Juvenile Center
and other students 14 years or older.
1988: Mi Caleta (My Harbour).
Shelter and drop-in center for street children.
1988: PACES (Salesian
Project for Vocational Training).�First
project in Cuenca. PACES provides training in carpentry, industrial and
automotive mechanics, and bakery training.
1991: Operacion
Pandillas:First project in Guayaquil.
It finished two years later.
1992:Tadispa
and Taimespa (Micro-Credit Organizations).These organizations were created to provide credits so that graduates of
Salesian vocational programs could set up small businesses. They lasted until
1998.
1993:S.O.S.
Guambritos (SOS Kids): a program to patrol Quito streets at night, looking for
children sleeping on the streets and to take them to shelters.
1994: Buena Nota (Good News).Television program broadcast weekly to publicize the
situation of street children. It lasted until 1996.
1994:Albergue P. Antonio Amador -
Guayaquil (P. Antonio Amador Shelter). Shelter and drop-in center for street children.
1995:Patio �Mi
Pana� (The Garden) - Guayaquil. Drop-in center for street children.
1996:TESPA moved
to a new location, south of Quito.
1996:
Organic Farm Don Bosco: Salesian Project in Ambato
1997:Estaci�n 21
(Station 21). A micro-enterprise to
provide maintenance at the central bus station of Quito and created with street
children and their families.
1997: Salesian Project in Santo Domingo de los
Colorados and Esmeraldas. Educational/publicity programs designed to prevent
homelessness.
1998:�Salesian Gol.a.s.o.:
Salesian Sport School.
1998: Salesian
Project in Machala. After a
pause, begun again in 2000.This
project carries out educational campaigns and provides academic support and temporary
housing.
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