Ecological activities, the typical San Juan festivities, awareness-raising against child labour and the reception of a new Augustinian Recollect religious in the local community have been added to the usual workshop and training activities of the socio-educational centre of the Augustinian Recollects in the Brazilian Amazon.
The month of June began at the Hope Center (Hope Center) a socio-educational centre of the Augustinian Recollects and the Prelature of Lábrea, with the celebration of World Environment Day.
It was a day that was conducive to being experienced by the students at the Frei Loreto Ecological Site, a recreational and nature-friendly space on the outskirts of the city of Pauini, which is owned by the Prelature of Lábrea.
The students participated in various training sessions, planted trees and took a short walk through the Site to learn about different types of trees and how the ecosystem of the rain forest works, that of the Amazon and of Pauini.
Finally, there was a “performance” that included a dance about the Common House, whose final objective was to raise awareness about the need to care for the Planet as a place of coexistence and preservation of life in all of creation.
Celebrating to unite
In Brazil, the month of June revolves around the traditional St. John’s Day celebrations. Boys and girls dress in the old-fashioned way from the northeast of the country with their checked shirts and straw hats, with their traditional music and dances and everyone tries delicious typical dishes at this time of year, in which corn and peanuts are usually the protagonists.
The Esperanza Center also includes this event in its program and on June 21 held its party, prepared for the fun of families. These typical foods and sweets were tasted, the students made an exhibition of their creations from the sewing and crafts workshops, there were games and live music and the dance group “Geração junina”, which rehearsed its performance for weeks.
The entire community of the Esperanza Center collaborated to make the party a success: the beneficiaries themselves, the monitors and families, the former pupils, and prominent people from the local society who were judges in the competitions.
To thank them for their efforts, a week later, on June 28, a day of outings with swimming pool, sports, food and games for everyone was held.
The following month, July, began with a meeting with the parents and guardians of the beneficiaries. After the welcome and the initial prayer led by the director, the Augustinian Recollect Alfonso Lázaro, there was a training talk on the consequences and challenges of the use of the Internet by minors by the psychologist of the Centre.
The meeting ended with a time of games and a raffle of small gifts made by the pupils of the Centre, as usual, so that parents and guardians can also see with their own eyes the tangible results of their children’s presence at the Centre.
New member of the religious community
The Hope Center held a special reception for the Augustinian Recollect Noé Servín Franco, a new member of the local religious community, who comes from the Cuban mission. The Mexican religious man experienced a day of encounter, knowledge, introduction and, above all, affection and welcome.
Noé was able to learn about the usual dynamics of the Centre. He was introduced to all the collaborators, who in turn explained their work and service; he went through the various workshops, spoke with the students and, from now on, will be another collaborator, like all the Augustinian Recollect religious in the local community.
Against child labour
The Esperanza Center also has a collaboration agreement with the Child Labour Eradication Programme (PETI). This is an effort by all Public Administrations, ultimately dependent on the Ministry of Development, Social Assistance, Family and Combating Malnutrition of the federal government.
This program began in Brazil in 1996 with the support of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Its objectives include income redistribution, social assistance and educational and training for children and adolescents who are in situations of labour exploitation. Throughout the year it carries out campaigns against child labour, produces materials and advises Administrations against this scourge.
Child labour is considered to be any economic or survival activity carried out by children and/or adolescents under 16 years of age, whether paid or not, with or without profit motive. Minors between 14 and 16 years of age with the legal status of apprentice and the rights that this status entails are excepted.
Some forms of child labour also involve activities that are harmful to the health, safety or moral integrity of minors. Examples would be domestic work, dangerous production processes with the use of dangerous machinery and tools, weight handling and, of course, all those that have to do directly or indirectly with activities related to human sexuality, chemical dependencies (alcohol, drugs), or gambling and betting.
Miqueias Maurício is the municipal coordinator of PETI in the Pauini City Hall and was invited along with the psychologist of the Esperanza Center and one of the members of the Council for the Protection of Minors, Antônio do Vale and Neto Cabral, to participate in a round table with the beneficiaries of the Center.
The central theme was “What destroys the dreams and future of children and adolescents?” The students heard basic notions about child labor, how to detect if any of its activities go beyond what is appropriate for a minor and how to act in case they are victims or witnesses of it.
