The door on the right is the entrance to
pronoei ‘Semillitas Kids’. It is different in two respects from any other
pronoei we have visited. One, it is in the center of a large city, just two
blocks from Monsefù’s central park. Secondly, it was not the kids but their
parents who were to be the students at this learning session.
We were at the school today at the
invitation of a team of psychology students from the University of Sipàn who
have been working with the parents of children at this school since early
September. As we understand it, there are indications of problems with child
abuse. It was explained to us that Monsefù and the surrounding area has a ‘macho
culture’ where men sometimes hit women and children. A university professor
placed the students at this school. We don’t know how the professor was made
aware of the problem or if the suspicions are even true.
Patricia Custodio (green blouse) has been
teaching kids at this location for six years, and though her school is in the
middle of a large city she has fewer resources than many desert village
pronoeis. She had 18 kids this school term. Next March the school is moving to
a different location on the outskirts of the city. Patricia anticipates 25 to
30 students at the new site. She will need to completely furnish the new
classroom. She will phone us in March to visit and look at her situation.
We were invited to but didn’t stay for the
training session. We weren’t sure how comfortable the parents would be with us
in the room, or how comfortable we would be. So while the parents were learning
about the psychology of violence we took a walk in the park.
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