Idag var sista dagen innan jag åker hem tillbaka till Sverige. Vi var ute och besökte centret och har gått runt och sagt adjö till flera av barnen. Det är sorgligt och det känns konstigt att flyga tillbaka till Sverige imorgon och kanske aldrig träffa flera av barnen som jag har lärt känna igen. Jag känner mig också lite illa till mods när jag tänker på vilken situation som några/många av dem lever i och kommer att fortsätta att leva i när jag har åkt hem. Men jag antar att det är en vanlig tanke bland volontärer som likt mig bara spenderar ett par veckor på en plats och sedan kan åka hem igen. Man bör ju också komma ihåg att det finns positiva saker här och möjlighet till förändring.
Så vad har hänt de senaste dagarna? I fredags var vi, de anställda vid Vida Plena och andra volontärer på utflykt vid Ypacaraisjön. Alla barnen, cirka 55 stycken, verkade verkligen ha sett fram emot att bada. Efter en kort tid i vattnet började det såklart ösregna men det på verkade inte barnen särskilt mycket vilka glatt fortsatte att bada i säkert en timme medan jag stod och tittade på iklädd regnjacka. Jag antar att badet var så efterlängtat eftersom värmen i Asunción är tryckande men också kanske för att det är tid som kan ägnas bara åt lek och i ett helt annat element än normalt. Alla barn var rejält blöta, det spelade ingen roll om man hade handduk med sig det regnade för mycket, samt glada men trötta. Det slutade med att många av de yngre barnen somnade på vägen tillbaka.
I helgen var det fortsatt mycket bad. Jag, Philip och Ciara åkte under lördagen med fyra lite äldre killar till Villarica för att titta på staden, en univeristetstad, som enligt uppgift skall var en av de städer i Paraguay med högst ekonomisktillväxt. Det som drog till sig mest av killarnas uppmärksamhet var dock hotell poolen. De tillbringade säkert minst två timmar i den både under lördagen och söndagen. På kvällen gick vi in till centrum. Villarica är en stad som skiljer ut sig från Asunción, den är mindre, lugnare och renare. Vi hittade på vägen tillbaka till hotellet ett stånd som sålde kyckling kebab vilket några av barnen aldrig tidigare hade ätit. Självklart provade vi varsin. Dagen efter gick vi ner till stadens park. Där kunde man hyra trampbåtar som man fick köra i varv kring den lilla sjön i mitten av parken. Det fanns två trampbåtar med plats för två personer i varje, perfekt. Detta var nog en av höjdpunkterna för barnen. Jag vet inte om de prövat tidigare men de ville så gärna pröva ett varv till efter deras första. Mitt i all den här glädjen hade vi dock otur med kvinnan som hyrde ut båtarna. Hon skulle naturligtvis övervaka exakt vad pojkarna gjorde, hur många varv och se till så att de verkligen styrde båtarna i cirkel kring sjön. Hon är väl bara mån om att få exakt rätt betalning tänkte jag först, man betalar per varv, men sedan kom det fram att hon inte ville släppa ögonen från pojkarna eftersom hon såg dem, och andra barn, som tankelösa djur. En inställning som kanske inte är helt ovanlig runtom i världen men synen på barn och lek verkar hos de flesta här vara fundamentalt annorlunda än hemma. Det förändrar dock inte att barnen, liksom i Sverige, leker.
Till slut vill jag tacka Tamam för att jag har fått möjlighet att åka till Paraguay och lära känna landet, alla barnen jag har träffat och de andra volontärerna/lärarna på Vida Plena. Det har varit jätteroligt.
/Oskar
måndagen den 6:e februari 2012
lördagen den 14:e januari 2012
Rapport från Paraguay 2012-01-14
Hello! I am Ciara Albernaz, a Brazilian Tamam’s volunteer in Asunción, Paraguay, but the kids here call me ”professora” (teatcher) . In the last 10 days me and the other two volunteers have been concentrated in give our full attention and love to 70 children with age from 3 to 16, that have been assisted by Fundacion Vida Plena (FVP) this month. We have been busy visiting their families, speaking with the parents, helping at the FVP’ s Center with entertainment activities and studying with the ones that will do an special exam in February to try to recover the school year, but most of all taking the children to little tours and playing with them.
The Center is in a central market where agriculture products are sold, separated and distributed to the food shops. The market is a place full of very low educated men, trucks, trash on the floor, street dogs and lonely children - some searching for food, most of them working hard. The smell is almost unbearable, but the worst is the perception of the absence of perspective in the children eyes.
Our day here usually starts at 6 AM and ends at 11 PM. In the mornings we help the three “professores” at the Center and in the afternoon we hang around with the kids. Every day we take a group of children to do things that might seams usual for the most of children you know but for those little Paraguayans are really new and special, as: play in squares, make a picnic in a park, visit historical sites, watch a movie, and eat an ice cream. Last Wednesday we took 35 kids to the movie, for most was the first time in front of the big scream and I am afraid for some will be the unique as the families here are used to obey them to leave the school to start to work really young.
Yesterday we had the biggest event to the kids: the Tamam’s Vacation Excursion. They wait for this all the year. Together with the Center teachers, we took them to a Lake called Lago Azul, outside Asuncion. After one hour in a bus full of very excited kids, we get there. It was a rainy day but they didn’t care. We played in the water for hours and we were having so much fun that seamed the end of the day appeared suddenly. For me days like this has no price, are unique in a life time. I really would like to have had one of these days when I was a little girl in a poor Brazil.
Ciara Albernaz
The Center is in a central market where agriculture products are sold, separated and distributed to the food shops. The market is a place full of very low educated men, trucks, trash on the floor, street dogs and lonely children - some searching for food, most of them working hard. The smell is almost unbearable, but the worst is the perception of the absence of perspective in the children eyes.
Our day here usually starts at 6 AM and ends at 11 PM. In the mornings we help the three “professores” at the Center and in the afternoon we hang around with the kids. Every day we take a group of children to do things that might seams usual for the most of children you know but for those little Paraguayans are really new and special, as: play in squares, make a picnic in a park, visit historical sites, watch a movie, and eat an ice cream. Last Wednesday we took 35 kids to the movie, for most was the first time in front of the big scream and I am afraid for some will be the unique as the families here are used to obey them to leave the school to start to work really young.
Yesterday we had the biggest event to the kids: the Tamam’s Vacation Excursion. They wait for this all the year. Together with the Center teachers, we took them to a Lake called Lago Azul, outside Asuncion. After one hour in a bus full of very excited kids, we get there. It was a rainy day but they didn’t care. We played in the water for hours and we were having so much fun that seamed the end of the day appeared suddenly. For me days like this has no price, are unique in a life time. I really would like to have had one of these days when I was a little girl in a poor Brazil.
Ciara Albernaz
onsdagen den 11:e januari 2012
Rapport från Paraguay 2012-01-10
Det har inte regnat i Paraguay de senaste 2 månaderna. I Asunción blir ens kläder röda av dammet från den torra marken och på landet drabbas bönderna av torkan. Idag, på vägen hem från ett biobesök, märkte vi dock att något var på gång när tjocka moln drog in över staden. Nu ett par timmar senare öser regnet ner. Jag, Oskar, är tillfälligt i Paraguay, som volontär för Tamam. Här har jag de senaste dagarna delatgit i aktiviteter arrangerade av den lokala organistationen Vida Plena och deras volontärer men också arrangerat en del egna utflykter och lekar tillsammans med de andra från tamam, Ciara och Philip.
Navet i Vida Plenas verksamhet ligger kring Asuncións fruktmarknad, Mercado Central de Abasto, och de barn som är en del av deras nätverk bor i och kring denna marknad. Eftersom barnen nu har lov arrangerar Vida Plena aktiviteter mellan 8 och 12 på förmiddagen. För att delta måste de vara inskrivna och förra veckan gick vi runt och samlade in namn hos familjer kring marknaden. En del familjer är ovilliga att skriva in sina barn, anledningarna är många, men ofta handlar det om att barnen måste arbeta eller utföra olika hushållssysslor. Det känns sorgligt då de flesta barn jag träffat här verkligen visar att de vill vara med i Vida Plenas aktiviteter.
Paraguay är det näst fattigaste landet i sydamerika men har haft en hög tillväxt takt de senaste åren. Här finns stora kontraster mellan de som har mer och de som har mindre, också bland barnen på abasto. De barn som har de sämst plockar sin familjs mat ur den kasserade frukten på marknaden. Dessa högar med ruttnande frukt avger en fruktansvärd doft för en ovan näsa. Dessa barn bor på gatan eller i hus byggda av de fruktlådor som man kan seóverallt på marknaden. De som har det bättre bor i hus men ofta med flera familjer och ibland bara bestående av ett enda rum. Många av dessa barns föraldrar är frånvarande. Det är vanligt med barn som aldrig träffat sin pappa eller som uppfostras av en släkting som inte är deras förälder.
Att leka I 40 plusgrader är tufft och det är tur att det finns många träd och skugga på det lilla torget, med fotbolssplan och lekplats, nära Abasto dit vi flera gånger tagit barnen för att leka. Där är de som barn är mest, fulla av energi. Trots att det bara har gått sex dagar har vi, Ciara, Philip och jag hunnit med en hel del. Varje dag efter lunch har vi tagit grupper av barn med oss ut på små utflykter. Vi har bowlat, besökt Asuncións centrum med presidentpalatset och senaten. Vi tog några med på en båttur längs med Paraguayfloden och vi har ätit glass. Undantaget glassen och parken nära Abasto så är det många av barnen som aldrig har sett till exempel presidentpalatset eller ens får möjligheten att ta sig utanför sitt eget kvarter. Trots att de aktiviteter vi har gjort ligger maximalt 20 minuter med buss och en kort promenad bort från där de bor.
Bilder kommer snart!
/Oskar
Navet i Vida Plenas verksamhet ligger kring Asuncións fruktmarknad, Mercado Central de Abasto, och de barn som är en del av deras nätverk bor i och kring denna marknad. Eftersom barnen nu har lov arrangerar Vida Plena aktiviteter mellan 8 och 12 på förmiddagen. För att delta måste de vara inskrivna och förra veckan gick vi runt och samlade in namn hos familjer kring marknaden. En del familjer är ovilliga att skriva in sina barn, anledningarna är många, men ofta handlar det om att barnen måste arbeta eller utföra olika hushållssysslor. Det känns sorgligt då de flesta barn jag träffat här verkligen visar att de vill vara med i Vida Plenas aktiviteter.
Paraguay är det näst fattigaste landet i sydamerika men har haft en hög tillväxt takt de senaste åren. Här finns stora kontraster mellan de som har mer och de som har mindre, också bland barnen på abasto. De barn som har de sämst plockar sin familjs mat ur den kasserade frukten på marknaden. Dessa högar med ruttnande frukt avger en fruktansvärd doft för en ovan näsa. Dessa barn bor på gatan eller i hus byggda av de fruktlådor som man kan seóverallt på marknaden. De som har det bättre bor i hus men ofta med flera familjer och ibland bara bestående av ett enda rum. Många av dessa barns föraldrar är frånvarande. Det är vanligt med barn som aldrig träffat sin pappa eller som uppfostras av en släkting som inte är deras förälder.
Att leka I 40 plusgrader är tufft och det är tur att det finns många träd och skugga på det lilla torget, med fotbolssplan och lekplats, nära Abasto dit vi flera gånger tagit barnen för att leka. Där är de som barn är mest, fulla av energi. Trots att det bara har gått sex dagar har vi, Ciara, Philip och jag hunnit med en hel del. Varje dag efter lunch har vi tagit grupper av barn med oss ut på små utflykter. Vi har bowlat, besökt Asuncións centrum med presidentpalatset och senaten. Vi tog några med på en båttur längs med Paraguayfloden och vi har ätit glass. Undantaget glassen och parken nära Abasto så är det många av barnen som aldrig har sett till exempel presidentpalatset eller ens får möjligheten att ta sig utanför sitt eget kvarter. Trots att de aktiviteter vi har gjort ligger maximalt 20 minuter med buss och en kort promenad bort från där de bor.
Bilder kommer snart!
/Oskar
torsdagen den 3:e november 2011
Rapport från Paraguay 2011-11-02
I was never a good student until I finished high school, but after so many years, I got the chance to practice my astronomy knowledge, in the center of Vida Plena this time.Every week we have staff meeting where we plan the next week and brainstorm on possible low-budget projects. The projects need to be really free of expense, since Vida Plena is an NGO and everything at the center is covered by what the organization receives from the donations: from the pencils to wages of the educators, from the food to the entire administration costs.
Sometimes the projects aim to encourage the creativity of our participants, sometimes they aim to create awareness and sometimes they just aim to offer entertainment. In our weekly meeting, we talked about focusing on an activity, which would help to see and think about “the big picture”. Herewith, we came up with the Astronomy Project, the Geography Project and the Microscope Project.
The Astronomy Project was going to aim to introduce the Milky Way, the Solar System, the planets and the stars of our galaxy; in addition, it was going to shortly begin a discussion on how we have days&nights, and seasons: in short, it was going to present the place of Earth in the Universe.
The Geography Project on the other hand was going to intend to discover other parts of the world, different realities other than the ones in Abasto and to make an imaginary trip, all together, to other continents and cultures of our planet. Finally, the Microscope Project was going to introduce our little invisible friends called bacteria and germs, and explain our participants the importance of the basic hygienic measures, such as washing our hands and brushing our teeth.
Uno Dos Tres, Sol, Tierra, Venus.
So, the first of those three projects was the astronomy project, where we built a model representing the Solar System. The planets were made with paper-mache and paint, very simple! We also had a poster showing how little our planet Tierra is in comparison to the bigger planets and our sun, Sol. We started by rising some thought-provoking questions. Then some of the kids represented the planets and rotated around the Sun. They tried to follow their own orbits, without crashing into anyone. After our brief astronomical session, kids had another surprise from a visitor, called Cristina. Elisabeth’s daughter Cristina, who is living in Majorca, Spain, introduced some movement and dancing games with the music she brought with her. Accompanied by very energetic music everyone danced and jumped around and had so much fun! It was no doubt a great, great day!
Hugs,
Sara
fredagen den 21:e oktober 2011
Rapport från Paraguay 2011-10-17
Unfortunately I couldn’t write as soon as we had our excursion – which was on the 29th of September – but it is never late to share this fantastic day with you all. I must say, Tamam is not very popular among our kids only because of the great Tamam volunteers who have been visiting them ;), but also because of the excursions that have been funding by Tamam! Thanks to San Bernanindo excursion, now I know why they were insistently asking about this outing since the day I arrived. Around 8 o’clock in the morning we met in front of the center. When I arrived there with our director Elisabeth, the kids were already in a line, all ready with their little backpacks and their energetic moods. We were 51 people in total with 42 children, and a mother in addition to the educators and volunteers. As the kids were so thrilled about toddling off Abasto for the excursion, they left their mischievousness at the center before boarding. There was only one problem: as they are not so much used to travel by a vehicle, a lot of them got travel sick and the bus ride turned into a ‘fiesta del vomito.’
The destination was a town called San Bernanindo, located on the shores of Ypacarai Lake, in the outskirts of Asuncion, approximately 35 kilometers away from Abasto. The town was founded in the late 1880s by the German colonists and thus, have the German influence in the architecture and style. They say it is a very popular place to be during the summer and is the place where Asuncion people – who can afford it – have their summer houses.
It was the first time of more than half of our little travellers being in San Bernanindo, ever. Yet, their only focus was the water! We first had a walk around the town and climbed up to a hill to see the view of the lake and a big statue – which looks like a smaller female version of the Jesus Christ statue in Rio. After the short tour, once we came back to the lake, everyone got rid of their clothes and jumped into the water. Except for the boat trip and lunch, they did not come out of the water until it was time to leave. 
Although kids often get into fight at the center in Abasto, during the trip everyone was so respectful and responsible. The ones who had younger siblings always watched after their little brothers or sisters; helped them to get dressed, eat their lunch, swim and even vomit, during the bus ride. When the boat was edged in, the 7 years old Kevin anomalously jumped into the water, where it was quite deep. Before any of the adults, the 14 years old Ignasio right away jumped after Kevin and scooped him out of the water. Elizabeth, who organized the trip was also very happy with the result, which she expressed as “ a “very harmonious experience with all relaxed, good humored people and no complaints.”We are all very thankful to Tamam for funding our trip to San Bernanindo that covered the transportation, boat trip and snacks of 52 of us! The kids are already very excited about the next excursions :].
måndagen den 3:e oktober 2011
Rapport från Paraguay 2011-09-29
Calle Escuela the Street School
“Toda niña, niño y adolescente tiene derecho a vivir sin violencia y con dignidad.”
“Every child and adolescent has the right to live without violence and with dignity.”
Calle Escuela
Due to my short-lasted flue, I ended up having to postpone my work day at Calle Escuela last week. Instead, I went there this Friday and will also go on the upcoming Tuesday.
Calle Escuela, which literally means, 'street school' is another NGO that works with the street kids and youth. There are 20 staff members in total, working for Calle Escuela. Elisabeth and I, first had a meeting at their main office which is located 5 minutes away from Abasto. There, I met with one of the coordinators who has been involved in the organization since the very beginning of the project. She said the 28 years old project had started investigating in Asuncion in 1983; yet, earned its official place in1987. It is a big success regarding the dictatorship rule of that time. Calle Escuela is mainly funded by EU and Pro Niños Pobres (PNP), a non profit association in Luxembourg, which has been carrying out projects in Latin America, mainly in South America. Food, on the other hand, is supplied by the Town Administration and National Office for Beneficiary.
Among 3 projects that Calle Escuela is maintaining at the moment, the Abasto Project is the one that I have visited. The main objective of all these 3 projects is “to prevent the children from living or working on the streets”. The Abasto center of Calle Escuela is located just at the main entrance of Mercado De Abasto, the farthermost corner from our center. They are open from 8 o'clock to 4 o'clock 5 days from Monday to Friday; and until 1 o'clock on Saturdays. The center is rather a small one. It has a little kitchen and a narrow room. There are 2 cooks who prepare the meals, and the coordinator who checks if everything is under control and if there is enough food for the next day. Then, there is a teacher who is present on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and a volunteer from Germany. They serve 3 meals a day. On Friday, in the morning they served Paraguayan tea – with milk and sugar – and some pretzels; for lunch, they served rice and chicken; then around 3 o'clock they served cacao milk with pretzels. Apart from serving food, the purpose of the center is to entertain the kids with games and to provide homework supply.
As the center is located at the main entrance, the atmosphere is much crowded and noisy and much more is happening around, compared to the center of Vida Plena that is located in a rather more isolated corner of Abasto. When I arrived there in the morning, there was a man who had blood on all over his shirt, coming from his nose, and was explaining how he got beaten up a minute ago. Unfortunately he did not receive much attention.
I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting Eli, the only volunteer at the Abasto Project of Calle Escuela, chatting and exchanging some observations with her. She is another bright young person I met in Paraguay, who is very motivated and full of positive energy. Eli, from Germany, is 19 years old and will be here until August 2012. She says she really loves being a part of the project but also thinks it is sometimes a bit tough. She expresses that one of the biggest problems in her opinion is that people have lots of kids although they lack the necessary financial conditions and the sufficient time for attention and care. She also says she often meets with pregnant 'girls' who should instead be playing games and enjoying their youth. Eli has projects on her mind but needs some time to put them in practice due to her level of Spanish.
Well, maybe not an official one, but at the center, there was one more volunteer who shouldn't be forgotten: Victor Alfredo Iriarte Godoy. The 25 years old Victor sells candies and cigarettes filled in a box. He earns approximately 6 Euros (30.000 Guaranies) a day. Victor hangs around at the center, helps serving the food and even helps cleaning the place. Eli thinks they are lucky to have Victor around as he is very friendly, helpful and is someone knows what is going on around the center.
We had a total number of 75 people on Friday, who stopped by for some tea, milk or lunch. Yet it never felt so crowded as people mostly left after eating their food. Therefore, I see the project more as a food supplier instead of an educational one. However Abasto is really not a healthy place for children to grow up or to work. Thus it is quite important for them to have a place where they can enter any time during the day and escape from the street and most importantly, where they can find a plate of food.
Sara Pinar Onder
“Toda niña, niño y adolescente tiene derecho a vivir sin violencia y con dignidad.”
“Every child and adolescent has the right to live without violence and with dignity.”
Calle Escuela
Due to my short-lasted flue, I ended up having to postpone my work day at Calle Escuela last week. Instead, I went there this Friday and will also go on the upcoming Tuesday.
Calle Escuela, which literally means, 'street school' is another NGO that works with the street kids and youth. There are 20 staff members in total, working for Calle Escuela. Elisabeth and I, first had a meeting at their main office which is located 5 minutes away from Abasto. There, I met with one of the coordinators who has been involved in the organization since the very beginning of the project. She said the 28 years old project had started investigating in Asuncion in 1983; yet, earned its official place in1987. It is a big success regarding the dictatorship rule of that time. Calle Escuela is mainly funded by EU and Pro Niños Pobres (PNP), a non profit association in Luxembourg, which has been carrying out projects in Latin America, mainly in South America. Food, on the other hand, is supplied by the Town Administration and National Office for Beneficiary.
Among 3 projects that Calle Escuela is maintaining at the moment, the Abasto Project is the one that I have visited. The main objective of all these 3 projects is “to prevent the children from living or working on the streets”. The Abasto center of Calle Escuela is located just at the main entrance of Mercado De Abasto, the farthermost corner from our center. They are open from 8 o'clock to 4 o'clock 5 days from Monday to Friday; and until 1 o'clock on Saturdays. The center is rather a small one. It has a little kitchen and a narrow room. There are 2 cooks who prepare the meals, and the coordinator who checks if everything is under control and if there is enough food for the next day. Then, there is a teacher who is present on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and a volunteer from Germany. They serve 3 meals a day. On Friday, in the morning they served Paraguayan tea – with milk and sugar – and some pretzels; for lunch, they served rice and chicken; then around 3 o'clock they served cacao milk with pretzels. Apart from serving food, the purpose of the center is to entertain the kids with games and to provide homework supply.As the center is located at the main entrance, the atmosphere is much crowded and noisy and much more is happening around, compared to the center of Vida Plena that is located in a rather more isolated corner of Abasto. When I arrived there in the morning, there was a man who had blood on all over his shirt, coming from his nose, and was explaining how he got beaten up a minute ago. Unfortunately he did not receive much attention.
I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting Eli, the only volunteer at the Abasto Project of Calle Escuela, chatting and exchanging some observations with her. She is another bright young person I met in Paraguay, who is very motivated and full of positive energy. Eli, from Germany, is 19 years old and will be here until August 2012. She says she really loves being a part of the project but also thinks it is sometimes a bit tough. She expresses that one of the biggest problems in her opinion is that people have lots of kids although they lack the necessary financial conditions and the sufficient time for attention and care. She also says she often meets with pregnant 'girls' who should instead be playing games and enjoying their youth. Eli has projects on her mind but needs some time to put them in practice due to her level of Spanish.Well, maybe not an official one, but at the center, there was one more volunteer who shouldn't be forgotten: Victor Alfredo Iriarte Godoy. The 25 years old Victor sells candies and cigarettes filled in a box. He earns approximately 6 Euros (30.000 Guaranies) a day. Victor hangs around at the center, helps serving the food and even helps cleaning the place. Eli thinks they are lucky to have Victor around as he is very friendly, helpful and is someone knows what is going on around the center.
We had a total number of 75 people on Friday, who stopped by for some tea, milk or lunch. Yet it never felt so crowded as people mostly left after eating their food. Therefore, I see the project more as a food supplier instead of an educational one. However Abasto is really not a healthy place for children to grow up or to work. Thus it is quite important for them to have a place where they can enter any time during the day and escape from the street and most importantly, where they can find a plate of food.
Sara Pinar Onder
onsdagen den 14:e september 2011
Rapport från Paraguay 2011-09-14
One of our most enthusiastic and hard-working participants, 9-years-old K. hasn’t show up for 3 days in-a-row this week and our educators wondered why she didn’t; so on the 4th day, Daily – one of the educators – made a visit to her house to see if everything was alright. And there you go; K. was just helping out her mother. So Daily asked K’s mother why she hasn’t been coming the last few days and her mother answered: “well, I need her at home, none of my other children help me out and I need someone to do all this work.” Daily told the mother that K. is SO intelligent and hard working and ambitious and that she needs to keep coming to the day care center for her future. Daily also told K.’s mother that, if K. goes to school; she will be much useful for her family in the long term. Eventually the mother got convinced and K. came back in the afternoon that day. Around 3 o’clock, all the participants went outside to the playground except for K., who stayed inside and kept working on math. 
K. has 8 other siblings that are all from the same mother. Her mother and her step-father are collecting paper, cardboard and plastic to sell. K. is the only one, among her siblings, who wants to study and who wants to keep going to the school. Elisabeth tells that her older brother and sister used to come to the day care center as well; very irregularly though. Then, this year, they stopped coming for good. Daily, when she visited K.’s house, asked where the older ones were and K.’s mother told Daily that they were hanging around Abasto, as usual. Thereupon, Daily, who wanted to find them and talk to them and persuade them to come back to the center, had a tour around the market and she, in fact, found them all. Daily asked them why they aren’t going to school anymore or at least coming to the day care center and they said they hate the school, they hate studying and they don’t want to do anything related to school work. Daily asked them if they want to spend their entire life by looking after* the cars for money and stay in Abasto. They told Daily that they don’t mind if they stay here, in Abasto. But K. is just one brilliant girl who keeps coming every day. And it seems like, she will not give up. Neither will the Vida Plena, give up on her. It is getting quite hot over here and the number of our participants are also increasing. We will have an instauration of our floor and won’t meet with our participants for a few days. Yet, I will be working at another organisation called ‘Calle Escuela’ for two days – and I will write about it later on! I also want to write a bit about our team, the ICDP – International Child Development Programme – and a bit about the colonial history of Paraguay in the upcoming bloggs, so stay tuned!
Hugs from Paraguay!
Sara Pinar Onder
*some of the children “look after” the cars in return of some money. But in reality, what can I child or a teeanger do against a burglary?
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