How can we promote leadership in children and adolescents?

1. El Proyecto Meninos e Meninas de São Bernardo do Campo (São Paulo, Brasil), motivates street children and adolescents to become leaders in their communities by teaching courses in politics and community education in addition to the arts such as samba. Their secret seems to lie in the commitment of their educators to radical politics. The children study aspects of Marxism, Feminism and Liberation Theology in order to understand their lives and to struggle for their own liberation. Contact Edson, <pmmr-sbc@netstar.com.br>
   
   
2. ADEJUC (Alianza para el Desarrollo Juvenil Comunitario, Guatemala) is a leadership programme for children in which more than 4000 are educators. Local groups are formed in which the children lobby and present petitions to be included in the Convention on the Rights of Children. Older children teach subjects as diverse as improving cattle raising, constructing sewers, empowering women to confront domestic violence, and making Mayan children aware of the values in their own culture.
   Contact Mádel Rodríguez . adejucsc@guate.net
   
   
3. Transas do Corpo (Goiánia, Brasil)
   Because this is a leadership training programme for young people, its most outstanding educators are the children themselves who educate each other. Feminism and understanding one´s own body are integral parts of the curriculum. The programme promotes equality between the sexes and prepares children to be political leaders. In addition, Transas do Corpo works for women´s rights reproductive rights and against domestic violence.
   Contact Eliane Gonçalves <lilica@persogo.com.br>
   
   
4. O Movimiento Nacional de Meninos e Meninas de Rua (todo Brasil) involves and organizes street children on a national level. By putting pressure on the government, they have succeeded in getting many new laws in favour of children to be passed. The members of the Movimiento are part of the Consejos Tutelares- local committees composed of ordinary citizens and politicians working together to protect the rights of children.
   Contact Joseleno dos Santos <joseleno@brhs.com.br>
   or Eliena Francisca de Barros <mnmmrdf@mndh.org.br>
   
   
5. La Fundación de Organización Comunitaria (Buenos Aires, Argentina) organizes a large number of peer educators who want to get children off the streets. The foundation trains them in health, gender issues, politics and street education.
   Contact Elisa Pineda <foc@elsitio.net>
   
   
6. Taller de Vida (Bogotá, Colombia) trains young people as community researchers who use stories, music, theatre and video to explain the conditions in their communities. While they learn how to denounce violations of human rights, they also learn to appreciate those who are working for peace and co-existence. The results of their research are broadcast monthly on television. Along with the young people in the programme Benposta Nación de Muchachos, these children are working for peace in their communities by learning how to live together and how to peacefully resolve conflicts such as those between gang members.
   Contact Haidy Duque, taller@colnodo.apc.org
   Benposta, benposta@colnodo.apc.org
   
   
7. The young activists of MANTHOC (Lima, Perú) works to assure the right to decent and safe work. They also organise protests against exploitive entreprises and work with the police to enforce existing laws to protect workers.
   Contact Patricia Rivera, manthoc25@hotmail.com
   
   
8. El Congreso de Niños (Ecuador) organizes all young community leaders in the country to act in their communities and to put pressure on the government. Their leadership school- the Liceo de Líderes del Nuevo Milenio is most impressive.
   Contact César Cárdenas, micometa@on.net.ec
   
   
9. MAMA (Guadalajara, México) promotes the participation of children in charity projects including raising funds for vistims of hurricanes, earthquakes and famines.
   Contact Alfredo Castellanos alca10@hotmail.com
   
   
10. Semente de Amanhã (Recife, Brasil) has suceded in transforming the lives of people living in a very marginalised community by offering classes in dance and traditional music. Dance has been shown to motivate young people to participate both economically and politically in their communities. In addition, dance centers the community and provides a focus for cultural resistence.
    Contact Nino Josivão Batista da Silva, sementeamanha@bol.com.br
    
    
11. Pé no Chão (Recife, Brasil) uses “urban arts”-- grafiti,hip-hop, and breakdance -- as a way to integrate children into their communities and to empower them politically. They have shown that teaching urban arts along with politics motivates children to wish to return to school.
    Contact Jocimar Borges (Pé no Chão), penochao@terra.com.br
    
    
12. La Luciérnaga (Córdoba, Argentina) has 400 boys and girls who publish and sell 50,000 copies of a magazine (whose content concerns the lives of poor chidren) for US$1 each. They keep 75% of the receipts (a good job in this city) -- the remaining 25% goes for paying for printing, for the school run by La Luciérnaga, and for salaries for any professionals involved. Probably the most important result achieved in this project has been to change the public´s image of street children in Córdoba. People no longer view these children as a nuisance but rather as dedicated workers and as human beings.
    Uga Uga is also a magazine published by young people living in poor communities in Manaus (Brasil) the main purpose of which is similar to that of La Luciérnaga. Interestingly, themes from the magazine are used as discussion topics in schools.
    Contact Eliana Lacombe (La Luciérnaga) <elilacombe@yahoo.com>
    Eneida Marques, Diretora Executiva (Uga Uga), agencia@agenciaugauga.org