Summer in the city

Some children in the poblaciones of Puente AltoGrowing up in New York City, summers for me were times for relaxing, recreation and fun. There were family picnics, trips to the beach, baseball games and books to be read and time to relax with my friends. But summers for many, if not most of the children in the poblaciones (housing estates for the poor) of Puente Alto, in Santiago, Chile, are not so enjoyable.

They live in the overcrowded apartment blocks which were built during the 1980s to accommodate the poor. There are few parks or recreational activities. Their parents set off for work early in the morning and do not return until late at night. So that means that many children must wait for their parents to come home to prepare dinner. Days are spent cooped up in the apartment, watching television, playing soccer on the streets or playing with some toy which they received for Christmas. Summers are often boring and in some cases dangerous. These housing estates are places where drug trafficking is part of life and where a stray bullet can take the life of an innocent bystander.

Last year, we decided to reach out to the children of Puente Alto, especially in the poorest areas of the Maipo Vicariate where I am the Episcopal Vicar. The Archdiocese of Santiago had developed a system of working with the children. This is a recreational program for children who live in our “poblaciones” and who are not fortunate enough to be able to enjoy the summer taking trips, going to the beach or just getting away. A well run summer camp (colonia urbana) fulfills five prerequisites: recreation, values formation (taken from the Gospels), handicrafts, excursions and nutrition.

Children are given meals cooked by mothers and grandmothersIt takes a lot of preparation and organization to run a successful summer camp. Volunteers must be recruited and trained. Donations of food and educational materials are sought. A team of cooks-usually mothers or grandmothers of the children-has to be in place in every parish. The camp provides the children with lunch and an afternoon snack. It is no small job to feed 150 hungry kids!

Camila Pastene, a young social worker, came to our Vicariate and with great enthusiasm set about the task of organizing and improving our camps. Camila formed a committee which included several religious sisters, two priests and several young volunteers. Together they produced a handbook for values formation. There were training sessions for the young volunteers. Each day of the camp has to be planned carefully.

One of the principal aims of the camps is to strengthen the formation of Christian and human virtues. A different virtue is presented and practiced every day: friendship, respect for others and for the environment, team work, solidarity, love of God and neighbour and so on.

Children take part in various workshopsAt the center of every camp is the person of Jesus who loves all children and wants them to draw near to Him. The children are divided up into alliances (red, blue, yellow and green) which compete every day for points in the different activities of the day. The alliances build a sense of belonging and stress the importance of team work. At the end of the camp, small prizes are distributed. No one is left without a prize!

Mornings begin with a reading from the Scriptures and a short prayer which is followed by singing songs and doing some physical exercise. Next there are competitions through various group dynamics. Occasional breaks are scheduled between group dynamics. At the end of the morning, all the alliances will gather to sing a hymn or share about how they lived out a particular virtue. The alliance which accumulates most points is either applauded or booed and the other alliances are encouraged to do better tomorrow.

Chileans eat their main meal in the middle of the day and at 1:00pm it is time for dinner. A menu is prepared for each day. Like in many other countries in the world, hot dogs and french fries are very popular. Less popular are the salads and vegetables. Gallons of fruit juice is consumed. It is a rare sight to see a plate which is not empty.

The camp provides children with lunch and afternoon snacksIn the afternoon, the children take part in various workshops: guitar playing, dancing, cooking, pizza making, mosaics, knitting, painting etc. At least once a week, the children leave their “poblaciones” and are brought on an excursion. This year, they visited a zoo. We were able to obtain a discount for 700 children in a popular zoo called “Buinzoo”.

Other groups were taken to the municipal pool with no charge for their entrance. One of our pastors organized a trip to the beach!

It takes a huge effort to finance these urban summer camps. It requires a collaborative effort on the part of our parishes. In some cases we were able to obtain donations of food from the government while other parishes organized food campaigns and visited the local open air markets soliciting donations. The Archdiocese of Santiago donated some of the materials for arts and crafts. The local municipality agreed to provide several buses to take the children to the zoo and to a municipal swimming pool but there were so many children that we had to pay for half of the buses. In fact, these donations were insufficient to meet the costs. Without help from Columban benefactors as well as family and friends, we would have had to reduce the number of camps in our Vicariate. Thanks to this help, we were able to increase the number of camps!

In January 2016, we were able to run 17 different camps, three of them in the Columban parish of San Matías. Most last for a week or in a few cases ten days. An estimated number of 1500 children benefit from these efforts to make summer more enjoyable. Our hope is to extend the time for all the camps to two weeks and to run shorter camps during the winter holidays. We have made a good beginning and with our continued efforts and the support of benefactors, this work can continue to grow and touch the lives of more children. If we could run a camp every Saturday in our poblaciones, life would change for so many children!

Columban Fr Michael J. Hoban is the Episcopal Vicar for a large Vicariate on the southern periphery of Santiago, Chile.

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Read more from The Far East, June 2016