The Saint Monica’s Home of the Augustinian Recollects in Fortaleza (Ceará, Brazil) is a project that fights against exploitation, abuse, abandonment, school drop-out or any type of violence against underage girls and adolescents from neighborhoods, families and more vulnerable.
Poverty is not synonymous with indignity; nonetheless, in Ceara Cove the given conditions of those that are born there have a high probability of falling into the nets of darker worlds. In Fortaleza the districts are distinguished by the distribution of riches. There are upper-class areas, like a postcard, with clean streets and all that society can offer for well-being. In front of this, there exist districts on the outskirts, with people hoarded together and lacking the resources for a dignified life.
Ceara Cove has 80,000 inhabitants shared out in 385 hectares, of which 41% are minors. More than 2,000 families live in the dunes of the beaches, in shanty towns (the typical Brazilian ‘favelas’). Almost 3,000 people live in illegal improvised residences on State land that could be expelled at any moment.
The moving beach floor is very unhealthy; there are no public toilets or sanitary facilities. There is no drinkable water or sewer system. Light arrives via illegal connections and precarious lines of distribution.
Many families survive economic depression with little income, no contract, no Social Security and without rights. The district starts early its activities and the streets fill with fishermen, rubbish collectors and walking sellers. You see clandestine workshops for sewing and small shops; in reality rooms of particular houses where they store up, without guarantees, food and goods.
The children reinforce the family economy. It is easy to explain: in 15.25% of homes there are no fixed incomes, and another 30% receive a minimum salary or less. That is to say, one of every two families in la Barra survives on less than 465R$ (Brazilian currency reals) a month (170€). Here are some sums: a cylinder of gas 35 R$; to fill a tank of a small car (40 litres), 100 R$; a kilo of rice, 2.68 R$; the bus 1.80 R$ per journey; to go to the cinema 15 R$; a book from 30 R$. Another of the flagrant examples is education. Without entering into the questionable teaching process, the lack of investment and the zero social for primary education means that one of every four minors in Ceara Cove is illiterate.
Another risk factor is violence. Forty per cent of the deaths in Brazil are from acts of violence. Studies indicate that the majority of cases of violence with minors occur within the family. In la Barra there are habitual shootings, robbery, and beatings with a general level of insecurity. The streets are empty and dark at night, ruled by gangs.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Introduction
- 1. One dollar and a half: a Passport to immunity
- 2. The origin of Saint Monica’s Home
- 3. A project with principles
- 4. A Project in communion
- 5. The dynamics of injustice
- 6. Sexual tourism and the under-age
- 7. Who has access to Saint Monica’s Home?
- 8. A project with objectives
- 9. Methodology, Evaluation, Planning
