Lunch n Learn - At Home with the Street Children

Lunch N Learn -  At Home with the Street Children 

This week Judy introduced us to the world of Colombian street children and the challenges that come from working with them.  

Firstly, she took us on a night patrol through the city of Bogotá; where we were introduced to Jesus, Luz Mari and Carlos.  The long term goal is to encourage them to leave the streets and move into one of the children’s homes run by the organisation - Niños de los Andes, but in the short term, they are given snacks, have their medical needs attended to and play games. It is about building trust slowly with these fragile communities of children as adults can have you picked up, beaten up and locked up.  A life very different from ours. 

In time many of the children did leave the street; they went to school and they learnt a trade. The Arts also played a big part in the homes; Judy ran Drama workshops in the afternoon, artists and musicians visited regularly, and many of the children began to change the direction of their lives.