Casa de Amistad - House of Friendship

Throughout this year I have been working with the Casa de Amistad project. The Casa de Amistad is a school for children who live in prisons with their parents. There are three prisons close by that the children come from. In most Latin American women’s prisons children are allowed to live inside with their mothers. Bolivia is the only country where the men’s prisons allow children and wives to live there too. In prison each person needs to pay rent for their room which are often only about 8x8 foot – certainly not enough space to fit a family, especially with families here averaging anywhere between 5-15 children (no exaggeration there at all). Those that cannot afford to pay rent sleep in corridors, any corners they can find and if they are lucky the prison chapel. In San Antonio prison every night in its chapel sleeps 30 men side by side with some children there too. Lunch is cooked by prisoners and has to be paid for. Prisons are controlled from the outside, by guards letting people in and out. They never enter. All leadership and rules are made by the prisoners inside. With the extra cost of being in prison it makes financial sense for the rest of the family to move in. There is often no other option but to do so with so many families in Bolivia under such financial constraints.

Such conditions put families under great strain and creates huge social difficulties. Families become desperate for money to cover their costs of living. Such is the need of many families is that as the children and other innocent parent leave the prisons in the daytime the children often end up spending their days selling whatever they can and begging in the streets to earn as much money as possible. With this being their daily life they therefore miss out on being educated, and without education this leads later on to a probable outcome of unemployment for them. With unemployment continuing so does the desperation to survive, and statistically speaking this leads many on to getting involved in crime - and so the process sadly continues. Pressure on children to provide financially for their families at such a young age, and with enough never being enough, often leads to the lure of running away and living elsewhere becoming more and more attractive.

The Casa de Amistad provides education for children from the prisons, right from kindergarten through to turning 18. The children receive a good education in a project run by qualified teachers and psychologists and they take their exams just in the same way as any other school receiving the same qualifications. As well as an education the children receive the psychological support they need. Sadly many children are victims of abuse in the prisons – physical, sexual and verbal. Such issues need to be carefully taken care of with the children and in collaboration with parents.

As well as providing a service for the children, communication with parents is an important part of the work too in order to emphasise to them the importance of an education for their children. There are about 90 children enrolled at the Casa de la Amistad. Daily attendance is often about 60-70. There are only a small number of children that attend every day. Many come just a few days in the week. Over the last year there has been about a 70% turnover in children. Consistency in attendance has always been a challenge. A common reason for children leaving the project or attending sparingly is parents having to weigh up the option of allowing their children consistent education or having them working on the streets and in the markets bringing in money in for the family.

Part of my role in helping has been visiting the two men’s prisons each week. In both there are a group of lads I meet up with. The aim is to focus on meeting with the men who have children in the project but there are always more who like to get involved. Consistent contact and encouragement with the parents is so important in order to keep the children attending the Casa de Amistad. We spend our time playing games and having a laugh, chatting through their problems, and if they are interested they take part in the Christianity Explored courses which I’m running. It’s all very relaxed and I’m often told how much of a difference it makes to have someone come and listen to their thoughts and stories without instantly judging and putting a label on them.

I work alongside a lady called Lourdes who is a psychologist at the project and heads up the prison visiting. She is an awesome lady with a huge heart for all that goes on at the Casa de Amistad. I cannot speak more highly of her and it’s been great working with her. Recently she attended a worldwide conference for prison educators that takes place every four years. This year it was in Stockholm. She had a great time there and received a big chunk of vital training with also opportunities to meet other prison educators. This was a special time for her and she has come back refreshed and with lots of inspiration and new ideas. With some of the money that those of you donated towards the 3 peaks challenge I did last summer and at Honfest 2009 we were able to help Lourdes out with her travels. She sends a HUGE thank you.