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Let The Children Live!
Let The Children Live! is a UK charity group through which
people can respond to the needs of the street children residing in
Colombia and beyond. It aims both to safeguard the lives of
children from the violence, poverty and abuse of the streets, and
to make their lives worth living by giving them love, education and
a future.
The charity came about when Father Peter Walters founded it
while temporarily stranded in Colombia. He became involved with the
street children in 1982 when these children helped him during his
untimely stay. Since then, he has gained first-hand knowledge of
the problems of the ‘Gamines’ and of the work that is
being done to help them.
The objective of the project is to contact these boys and girls
when they first appear on the street and try to accommodate them
with their families and arrange for their education before lose
their way to the city. This project provides facilities for their
basic needs like, food, education, health, personal development and
human rights.
"The Colombians themselves are taking the lead in the
campaign to help the street-children," confirms Father
Peter. "They are making the most of their limited resources,
but they need support from abroad for this work to continue and
grow. Because the gamines have no one, they really belong to us
all. Unless we help them, these children will remain 'disposable
ones': throwaway kids with no future at all."
LTCL is concerned to help the children avoid becoming gamines.
Through the Colombian daughter charity
Fundaci�n �Vivan Los
Ni�os! (FUNVINI), The Pelican Project is
established to help those who are just beginning to live on the
streets. Years of fights and unrest in the countryside of Columbia
have caused the very poor families to be forced into the
shantytowns that surround cities like
Medell�n. Children are thus forced to work in
the suburbs at a very young age. So far, their efforts have been
successful, and have therefore encouraged Let The Children Live! to
raise funds to set up similar projects in other parts of the
city.
- Ciudad Don Bosco
In Medell�n, the British charity Let
The Children Live! supports Ciudad Don Bosco (Don Bosco City),
where about 700 children are taken care by the Salesian Fathers.
They began with Operation Friendship, in which Street-educators
approach the children and bring them to the Patio, a day-centre
where they can eat, wash and play.
The gamines are the most risky after dark. In seeing so, Let The
Children Live! raised funds to build a dormitory and now, up to 45
children spend the night in safety. Ciudad Don Bosco also enables
the children receive their primary and secondary education. The
children can a range of skills in the workshop, including
carpentry, metalworking, tailoring and printing.
- Hogares Calasanz (Calasanz Homes)
Hogares Calasanz (Calasanz Homes) was established in 1994
to help the street children especially in the Pereira area. This
was founded by Father Enrique Montes to provide shelter for boys
and girls as well as provide protection from child
prostitution.
Father Enrique manages two small residential homes where the
children are able to live in a normal family atmosphere. Let The
Children Live! hopes to fulfill his dream of opening more of such
homes for the children who are attending his center whereas they do
not have a place to stay yet.
- Proyecto Alternativas
Proyecto Alternativas is a project that provides special
attention to the street children and street workers working in
high-risk areas, particularly within the center of Tegucigalpa.
Managed by its founder, Dr. Donald Kaminskey, they provide medical
attention and food to 120 children daily. Let The Children Live!
indulges in the food program which costs about 25p per child every
day, (�11,000 per annum).
Contact Information:
Let The Children Live!
PO Box 11 Walsingham, Norfolk, England NR22 6EH
http://www.letthechildrenlive.org
Email:
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