| Haiti – The Salesians are also hit by the earthquake |
| Haiti – Hurricane Hanna |
| Italy - In the words of someone working with the street children |
| Italy – “Foyer-Lakay” for street children |
The “street”, “playground” and the “lakay (house)”, are not just physical places; they are also stages of education through which the youngsters are invited to gradually take on various responsibilities. “All our efforts are aimed at getting the youngsters to come into the “lakay” where each one can go to school, learn a trade and join a group. Entering the “lakay” is marked by a very explicit rite or celebration,” says Fr Stra, Rector of the Salesian centre in Port au Prince-Enam and coordinator of the “Foyer-Lakay” Project.
A fire, a hug and their signature mark their entrance into the “lakay”. The youngsters arrive poorly clothed, generally dirty and in rags. As they come in they are invited in front of a small bonfire to burn their clothes usually a shirt and to jump over the fire. “Its a symbolic gesture of purification for which the youngsters have been prepared before hand ,”Fr Stra explains. Then one of the women teachers hugs them and gives them a new shirt, and one of the men teachers also after huggimg them, gives them a pair of shoes. “We organise the youngsters into groups of 15 or 16 persons each with a man and woman looking after them so as to foster a psycho-affective balance and create a family atmosphere ,”Fr Stra adds.
The youngster sits down at a table and signs a promise regarding three ‘commandaments’: not to lie, not to steal and respect everyone and everything. The ‘lakay’ entrance celebration then finishes with a community feast.
Life in the “lakay” has the following features: listening-welcoming-dialogue; links with their family through visits and meetings every month or on special occasions; scholastic and vocational training; socialisation; economic independence; and evangelisation, in the sense of the transmission of the gospel and of gospel values.
“At present 15 out of our 50 or so workers are former street children; this year our first engineer is finishing his degree and two have asked to enter the seminary”, Fr Stra says. They are the more outstanding fruits of the work that is being done. Fr Stra admits that the greatest difficulty is finding jobs for the youngsters given that the country has an unemployment rate of 70%.
Published 23/06/2008
