During our Project Assistant's, Ana's, recent trip to Brazil she not only met the children of our partner project ISMEP but the parents as well.
In my recent visit to ISMEP, in the Favela do Bode, Recife, North East Brazil, I had the chance to hear the real difference that ISMEP is making in so many children's lives. During my time at the project, lots of the children told me how much they like ISMEP and what they like most about it. However, the most powerful feedback came from the parents, who, being more aware of the dangers of the community, have a deeper understanding of the effects of it. In a parents meeting organised by the ISMEP coordinators specifically for ABC’s visit, I heard first-hand how much ISMEP has helped them not only to fight for, but also to believe in a better future for their children.
There were around 80 parents present in the meeting and many of them expressed how thankful they were for ISMEP and the support they provided for their children in an environment where there is so much discrimination and so few opportunities. They highlighted that without ISMEP, there were strong chances that their children would have become involved with drugs and gang violence which is prevalent in the area and which are problems that ares ometimes out of their control. With their children in a safe place, parents can go to work with peace of mind; they know their children are protected and also receiving support that they are unable to offer.
Some of the parents, shy to speak via microphone, stayed after the meeting to speak personally to me. One of them was Bethania, mother of Enuella, 10 years-old. She is divorced and unemployed and raises Enuella by herself. Her mother used to help her, but when she passed away, Bethania struggled to stay in work and at the same time keep her daughter away from the dangers of the community: ‘There are so many drug traffickers and murderers in this community. We have to be really careful with our children.’ What she fears most is that her daughter becomes victim to the violence and or gets pregnant: ‘Enuella’s friend from school is pregnant. She is twelve. I don’t want this for my daughter’.
Enuella was on the waiting list for ISMEP for a few months before she could join ISMEP, two years ago. She is intelligent and lovely, but has some difficulty with maths, which is what ISMEP has been helping her with. She loves basketball and used to play in a club’s junior team, but had to quit because Bethania couldn’t afford to pay for their bus tickets to the trainings. In 2011, Bethania participated in some of ISMEP’s vocational courses and is really confident that she will be able to find a job soon and therefore be able to provide better for her daughter.
Much like the other parents, Bethania believes ISMEP is really important for her daughter and strongly values their work: ‘ISMEP takes care of our children very well. They are very committed, as if they were the second mothers of these children’. And she finished emotionally ‘I hope all the partners will continue to support ISMEP’.
back |
