(ANS – Santiago) – Thursday 12 April. On the occasion of the International Day of Street Children, various important government officials visited the children of the “Don Bosco Acompaña” house of  Santiago, animated and directed by the “Don Bosco Foundation” They were welcomed also by the Provincial of Chile, Fr.  Alberto Lorenzelli.

The visitors  to the resident children of “Don Bosco Acompaña”  house were:  the Minister for Social Development, the Hon.  Joaquín Lavín;  the Minister of Justice, the Hon. Teodoro Ribera; the Director the National Service for Minors (Sename),  Dr. Rolando Melo; and the ExecutiveDirector of the Don Bosco Foundation, Sergio Mercado.

The authorities conversed with  the children and adolescents, reading about their experiences and their dreams, exhibited in writings and pictures on display.  The members of government got to know the real lives of the children. They undertook to improve the activities and expand the financial provision for the projects in their favour. In fact, on the occasion, the creation of a National Office for Street Children was announced.

“We are aware that the street is attractive and presents opportunities, but it carries risks; it is our task to protect children from these risks. It is a gradual process and to achieve reintegration we need to act as early as possible”, said the Minister of Justice, stressing that this was the first time that the International day for Street Children had been celebrated in Chile.

Also the Minister for Social Development  expressed his commitment that children and young people should leave the street: “we have made it  our goal for this year to save 200 children from the street. For this purpose there is a special allocation of 230 million pesos, destined for Santiago and another four regions of the country in which there is a higher percentage of children in this situation: Tarapaca, Antofagasta, Valparaíso and Biobío”.

“These children have had no freedom of choice”, said the Director of Sename – “they had to abbandon their homes because of great suffering and in the street they found a chance of survival and companionship. They are children who do not accept this situation as permanent. It is our mission to help them to regain confidence in adults and re-enter a protective structure”.

According to the National Register of Persons living on the Street in 2011, out of 12,423 people in this condition, 785 were minors. Sename is developing a special offer  through 16 active projects in the Metrapolitan Regionof Santiago, 2 of which are administered by the Don Bosco Foundation. The aim of these programmes is to encourage the children and adolescents to abandon the street, offering an alternative protected life and social reintegration, thanks to the psychosocial and community intervention in various sectors of children’s lives.

Published  20/04/2012