Colombia

A NETWORK OF TOY LIBRARIES TO FIGHT VIOLENCE AND POVERTY

Context

For 25 years, Mission Enfance has been working in Colombia on social and family violence, the effects of drugs and crime, of which children are the first victims. The guerrillas' peace agreements with the Colombian government have failed: massacres, kidnappings, extortion and murders have multiplied over the past year. The guerrillas have metamorphosed into drug traffickers, and drug production (cocaine) is on the increase. This situation is having a detrimental effect on the Colombian population.

Mission Enfance fights violence against children in Bogotá's shantytowns, in Ciudad Bolivar, where millions of displaced guerrillas have settled, and in other regions of Colombia, through our 4 toy libraries. In these centres, children learn the rules of life in society and the respect owed to them and to others through play. Over the past twenty-four years, the association has created a real network of mutual aid with four centres, each focusing on the problems faced by the children: Isolation in San Mateo and Boavita (Boyaca); racial denigration in Condoto in Choco, among Afro-descendants, former slaves of the conquistadores; oblivion and poverty for Amazonian Indians in Puerto Narino and Zaragosa. In Peru, where our association also organises travelling toy libraries, the results on the children are obvious: they are gradually coming out of their apathy since they have been in contact with our teams. Our travelling toy libraries reach out to isolated children in Choco, Boyaca and Amazonia.

Goal

Help children in shantytowns or isolated areas on the borders of Colombia to live their childhood, to get out of violence, and to create a generation of responsible adults.

We run 4 toy libraries (salaries for toy librarians, toy supplies, staff training, building maintenance and refurbishment) and we also use our travelling toy libraries to visit the Amazon Indians in Boyaca and Choco, in order to reach the most isolated children in Colombia.

This project is run under the direction and supervision of our local coordinator, Françoise Bardon. Each child is monitored by local facilitators who help them to deal with the violence they experience on a daily basis in their families. In Bogotá in particular, football, basketball and table tennis championships are organised to attract the 13-year-olds who hang around on the streets. Children also benefit from an educational support programme, and a baby toy library is open to children under the age of 4 and their parents.

Our partners :

The Municipalities and Departments of Colombia participate in the action, by providing premises or toys, or by taking charge of the staff outside the Mission Enfance team.

Mission Enfance is the project leader and manager, through its local association Mission Paraiso.