Making up for lost time
Peruvian Psychologist, Edilberto Albitrez describes the plight of the youth of a poor barrio in the Columban-run parish of the Holy Archangels, "Violence, gangs and drugs are realities that the youth live with on a daily basis and they are regularly drawn into these harbingers of death by others of their own age.
The local community doesn't have a concrete proposal to combat the forces that immerse the youth of their barrio in this sub-culture of death. It also tends to repeat its cycle from generation to generation."
The barrio is called "3 of May" and is the site of two major social services. There is a ‘Women's House' for the human development of poor women, set up by Sr Jackie Ford rsm and backed by the Sisters of Mercy from Sydney.
A ‘Children's House' offering a variety of extra-curricula educational and recreational activities each day, is the initiative of Columban Fr Tony Coney. The barrio also has a fine chapel with meeting rooms for church activities organised by a small committed group that forms the basis of the Christian community in the area. However the problem outlined by Edilberto Albitrez remains despite the goodwill and efforts of many people.
He proposes to create a network of services and people that will challenge violence, gangs and drug taking. He insists that the members of the barrio community must solve their own problems, but that they must not be left to their own resources. A variety of community services would pool resources with them in workshops aimed at helping the youth see, value and choose another path.
Albitrez believes that self-esteem, social skills and education are especially important for youth. He has worked individually with some of them but realises that any long-term solution requires a communal approach to the problem, which confronts both personal issues and social integration.
In his sessions with José Luis the psychologist saw that this young man was a rebel, cold, calculating, presenting an armoured mask of self sufficiency to the world. Yet it was also clear that he had no way of expressing a plea for help. Instead of meeting with him in an office the psychologist sought him out on his own turf, in the streets of the barrio, in an attempt to create an environment in which José Luis might feel free to speak about what was tormenting him.
This allowed a sincere relationship to emerge, not only with the lad but also with his family. The family learned to trust the psychologist and welcomed him into their home where they were able to talk constructively about issues such as self-esteem, making decisions, the consequences of taking drugs, the importance of a life project, how to improve family relationships and solve problems without recourse to violence.
José Luis decided to go back to school to complete his studies and his 42-year-old uncle, who is illiterate, decided to begin school and, in his own words, "make up for lost time."
The psychologist would like to do more work with José Luis, to help him to develop further the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, to be assertive in his decisions, to find the inner strength to say, ‘no' to drugs, to develop a skill that might help him earn a living, to look to the future, not wallow in the problems of the past, and to be grateful to God for his life.
He wants to help José Luis see his life, not in terms of problems, but rather as an ongoing challenge.
This is a long-term process and will not work if it depends entirely on the private practice of one psychologist. It needs to be a multi-faceted community effort. Will you help fund this project?
