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JUCONI
JUCONI began in Puebla, México, but after several years of success, the foundation resolved to implement the same model in Ecuador. After much research, JUCONI concluded that in Guayaquil there were many street kids but few services for them, so they created a new program there.
In Puebla, JUCONI works with children who live in the streets and those who work in city markets, but in Guayaquil, they saw that the greatest problem was with children who worked in the street but still lived with their families. Over the last half dozen years, JUCONI Ecuador has modified the JUCONI model to become a powerful tool to serve these children.
Work begins on the street, where educators come to know the working children. Over the course of a three month “Operation Friendship” the educators build a personal connection with the children; eventually, they ask the child to introduce the educators to his parents. At this point the most difficult work begins: gaining the families’ trust and helping them to change their lives.
JUCONI believes there are 7 fundamental aspects to work with families:
- Complete Respect. In spite of the circumstances in which they live and the fact that their children are working, educators must respect the strength and skills of the families. Any family that can survive through such suffering must have real strength.
- The family as actor. In general, American and European social work encourages the social worker to solve a family’s problems. JUCONI knows that this model only deepens the culture of poverty. Instead, JUCONI educators help families to develop their own tools for success. The program director told Shine a light, “If you’ve become the most important person in that family’s life, it is flattering. But it proves that you have failed.” The family must relieve the credit for its achievements and the educator must emphasize the families strengths.
- What do they do well? In even the most abusive and dysfunctional families, the parents do something right. Perhaps the father is good to play football with his children, or the mother cooks a great breakfast. Educators build on these virtues to create self esteem and respect. Most importantly, when parents learn that they are good at certain things, they are more likely to try something new.
- Look for the good in bad behavior. The educator will ask, “Why do you hit your children?” “I hit them when they are bad.” “Oh, well then, you want your children to do the right thing...” In this way, parents learn about the motivations behind their actions, and when an educator suggests that there may be a better way to achieve the same goal, parents are more prepared to try it.
- Reflect on the past and dream the future. Often, poor families remember the past as a series of failures, insults, and errors. Thus, they can’t imagine that the future will be different. Educators remind them of their previous successes and use those successes as the foundation for imagining a different life. This new attitude also allows the family to recognize its own strengths.
- The family is the expert. It doesn’t matter if the educator graduated from a great university -- the family always knows more about itself that anyone else does. The educator helps the family learn the truth about itself, but never imposes h/er own truth.
- Families are diverse. There is no perfect technique of discipline, communication, or childrearing. The educators and the families learn to ask whether what they are doing works, and not whether it conforms with some psychological model.
Educators continue to work with the same families for 3-4 years in order to guarantee service continuity. Educators always work in pairs, so that one can advocate for the parents and the other for the children. In this way, everyone feels as if s/he has someone “on h/er side”, and no one feels betrayed by the educators.
Family diagnosis begins with a family tree, where everyone sits together at a table to diagram family relations and to discuss family history. “Oh, so Grandma Tati, you say she made a great soup? And always smiled at the grandchildren? In this way, children can learn the strengths and virtues of their families. “Diagnosis is part of therapy,” JUCONI insists.
JUCONI also had created several excellent training modules and a strong evaluation and monitoring system, which they would like to publish. A book summarizing JUCONI’s work is available on the internet at www.iyfnet.org.
JUCONI
Av. C. J. Arosemena Km 2.5
Tras edificio Orquifa
Primer piso
Guayaquil
Ecuador
Tel: (93-4) 2208-093
Fax: (93-4) 2201-240
Contactos: Sylvia Reyes, sreyes@juconi.org.ec
aalvarez@juconi.org.ec
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