Salesian Project
The Salesian Fathers have been the pioneers and models for work with street kids in many Latin American countries, and the priests in Ecuador have taken the bold step of transforming even the Salesian model. After many years of work with shelters, the program saw that residential programs do not work in Quito, and that direct work with families would be much more successful. The experiment has become a great success, probably the best work on the street in the country. The Salesians work in every city in the country, but this essay will address their model in Quito, where Shine a light visited.
The most important figure in the Salesian Project is the street educator, so they are selected with great care. Most programs insist that a real connection with a child on the street takes time, but the Salesians have come to another conclusion: the first time that an educator meets a street child s/he offers -- almost demands -- that the child return with h/er to the child’s family. Surprisingly, almost all of these children get in the car with the priests and return home without a question.
This model works because the Salesians have a constant presence on the street. They know all of the kids who live on the street, so they know when someone new shows up. Like the ACJ-Bogotá, the Salesians discovered that if they can meet the child during h/er first days on the street, in the “initiation” phase, they can easily return the child to h/er family. The director admits that this model does not work for children that have spent years on the street.
The street educator’s work really begins when the child returns home. The educator must teach the family how to live together, how to solve its economic problems, and how to end family abuse and exploitation. Educators also give kids other options for their free time: instead of being on the street after school, the Salesians sponsor half a dozen “Information Centers” where kids can play, do homework, or take a shower.
Volunteers and parents help out in the Information Centers, helping with literacy or math, or just playing with the kids. There is no fixed schedule. The idea is to provide a “dignified space” where children can learn that they deserve respect. There are also schools for parents associated with the Centers, located in the shantytowns that send most kids onto the street.
As with all Salesian projects, the Ecuadorian Salesians offer marvelous vocational training. Because of the Ecuadorian emigration crisis (10% of the population has fled the country in the last two years), there are many jobs for well trained blue collar workers. Today, 80% of the program’s graduates are working in the field in which they trained.
The Salesians formalized their model in the book, Proyecto Educativo, Pastoral Salesiano.
Fundación Proyecto Salesiano “Chicos de la calle”
Tarqui 305 y 12 de Octubre
Quito, Ecuador
2221 247 2223 605 2228 331
fax 2228 330
Contacto: Padre Ivano Zanovello, proyecto@chicosdelacalle.org.ec
www.chicosdelacalle.org.ec
