Prevent Sexual Abuse for 1250 children in Colombia

The purpose of Corpolatin is to help children and girls from Colombia to know the tools that allow them to stop and prevent the sexual abuse in their lives, little by little you have been knowing about our work, our commitment, our motivation; at this point you have realized that in addition to training and teaching children to take care we also teach their parents and teachers the importance of giving them love, attention and care that will allow them to grow healthy and mostly happy.

Our project is being developed thanks to the commitment of people like you that through their donations allow hundreds of children to receive each week an activity that strengthens the care and protection of their body, to know their intimate (private) parts and to know what to do when someone is exceeded and want to abuse them.

On this occasion we want to share with you a beautiful and nice experience that emerged in the development of this wonderful dream "Prevent the sexual abuse of 1250 boys and girls in Colombia".

One warm morning, maybe 28 degrees covering the environment, our professionals were full of expectations, illusions and especially love that they will leave in the hearts of children, and adolescents that during the day were going to receive recreational workshops that will allow them to reflect and learn about their rights, their responsibilities and their project of life.

Meanwhile, in one of the corridors of the Institution is Hanna Michel, a 3^rd. grade student, a girl looking melancholy but with a personality capable of conquering the world. Her charisma was such that from the moment we enter the Institution we notice her presence, we are addressed with a smile in the middle of the noise generated by the rest of the students and with a whisper she asked her question, "Are you going to teach me how to take care of me?”  And with the steady gaze on her face she continued ... “they told me that you were coming to speak to us about, how as children we can defend ourselves from evil men, who want to beat us. I want to learn.” Hanna knew clearly what she wanted to learn, but it was inevitable for us to speculate, why a little 10 year old girl is referring in such way to the adults that surround her? Perhaps her story is marked by the same melancholy of her look, or maybe her personality makes her go further she wants to take care of her whatever it takes, and for this reason we were there to accompany her and to many other children with difficulties that perhaps until that day has tormented their lives.

As Hanna, there are approximately 360 boys and girls at the institution between 8 and 10 years of age; children who in addition to being exposed to the difficulties of childhood, are involved in other conflicts because the area of violence in which they live, mistreatment, abuse, absence of fathers and mothers, among others.

The activities of the day were carried out in the middle of music, laughs, questions, colors and undoubtedly much joy, the sexual abuse, the care of the body, the recognition of the intimate (private) parts, the right to say NO, good and bad secrets, trap gifts and the people they can turn to when something go wrong, were some of the themes developed in the elementary groups.

 Hanna Michel without thinking had begun that day a big change in her life, now she had the support of a group of professionals, and with the training of its teachers who were going to be much more focused on her behavior and of her family to help her in case something was not going well. Her gaze had changed, each time she looked more cheerful, in the activity developed in her group, a reflection was made through the tale of Miguelito (an activity created and developed by the team of professionals at Corpolatin that tries to capture situations of risk close to the children and teach them how to solve them) without blinking she observed each scene of the story, at the time of the conclusions, she raised her hand as high as he could, and with that personality she showed when we arrived to the Institution, she said in a loud voice: "When a someone approaches you to tell you that he is going to give you sweets or something like that, it is a lie, what he  wants to do is to touch your intimate parts and you should go and tell your mom or the teacher " this conclusion and that of her partners, makes us believe that what we do is worthwhile, and that when we teach a boy or girl their rights we are saving them from a possible abuse.

 Today we want to invite you to open your heart and help us through your donation, perhaps you can become a recurring donor for our project, supporting monthly the children of Colombia with the amount that you feel is appropriate; you can also help us by sharing this message with friends and family, so that our project can go forward and in this way help more children to be able to grow up happy and safe.

Spanish

El cambio es posible

La razón de ser de Corpolatin es ayudar a los niños y las niñas de Colombia a conocer las herramientas que les permitan detener y prevenir el abuso sexual en sus vidas, poco a poco ustedes han ido conociendo nuestra labor, nuestro compromiso, nuestra motivación; en este punto ustedes se han dado cuenta que además de capacitar y enseñar a los niños a cuidarse también enseñamos a sus padres y maestros la importancia de darles amor, atención y cuidados que les permitan crecer sanos  y sobre todo felices.

 Nuestro proyecto se desarrolla  gracias a el compromiso de personas como usted, que a través de sus donaciones permiten que cientos de niños reciban cada semana una actividad que refuerce el cuidado y protección de su cuerpo, que conozcan sus partes intimas  y que sepan qué hacer cuando alguien se sobrepase  y quiera abusar de ellos.

En esta ocasión queremos compartir con ustedes una  hermosa y grata experiencia  que surgió en el desarrollo de este maravilloso sueño “Prevenir el abuso sexual de 1250 niños y niñas en Colombia”.

Una mañana calurosa, tal vez 28 grados de temperatura cubrían el ambiente, nuestros profesionales estaban llenos de expectativas , ilusiones y sobre todo de amor para dejar en los  corazones de los  niños, niñas y adolescentes que durante el día recibirán talleres lúdicos que  les permitirán reflexionar   y aprender sobre sus derechos, responsabilidades y  su proyecto de vida.

Mientras tanto, en uno de los pasillos de la Institución se encuentra Hanna Michel,  estudiante del grado 3c,   una niña de mirada melancolía pero con una personalidad que capaz de conquistar al mundo, su carisma logró que desde la entrada a la Institución notáramos su presencia,  nos abordó con una sonrisa  en medio del ruido que genera el descanso  y con un susurro  lanzó su pregunta,  “¿Me van a enseñar a cuidarme?” y con  la mirada firme  en nuestros rostros continuo... “a mí me contaron  que ustedes venían a hablarnos de eso, de cómo los niños se nos podemos  defendernos de los señores malos, que nos quieren pegar. Yo quiero aprender.”  Hanna  tenía muy claro lo que quería aprender, pero era inevitable para nosotros especular, ¿Por qué una niña  de apenas 10 años se refiere de esta forma a los  adultos que la rodean? Quizás su historia esté marcada por la misma melancolía de  su mirada, o tal vez su personalidad la hace ir más allá y querer cuidarse a como dé lugar, para eso estábamos allí, para acompañarla a ella y  a muchos niños y niñas más en dificultades que quizás hasta ese día atormentaban sus vidas.

Como Hanna hay aproximadamente 360 niños y niñas  en la institución entre los 8 y los 10 años de edad;  niños que  además de estar expuestos a las dificultades de la infancia, se ven envueltos en otros conflictos debido a la zona de violencia en la que viven, maltratos, abusos, ausencia de padres y madres, entre otros.

Las actividades del día se llevaron a  cabo en medio de música, risas, preguntas, colores y sin lugar a dudas mucha alegría,  el abuso sexual, el cuidado del cuerpo, el reconocimiento  de las partes íntimas, el derecho a decir no, secretos buenos y malos, los regalos trampa y las personas a las que pueden acudir cuando algo ande mal, fueron algunas de las temáticas desarrolladas en los grupos de primaria.

Hanna  Michel  sin pensarlo había  iniciado ese día  un gran cambio en su  vida, ahora contaba con el apoyo de un grupo de profesionales,  y con la capacitación de sus maestros que iban a estar mucho más atentos a su comportamiento y  al de su  familia para ayudarla en caso de que algo no marchara bien.  Su mirada había cambiado, cada vez se notaba más alegre,  en la actividad desarrollada en su grupo se hizo una reflexión  a través del cuento de Miguelito (una actividad creada y desarrollada por el equipo de profesionales de Corpolatin que pretende plasmar situaciones de riesgo cercanas a los niños  y enseñarles cómo solucionarlas   sin casi parpadear ella observo cada escena del cuento, a la hora de las conclusiones ella levantó su mano tan alta como pudo y con esa personalidad con  la que nos abordó  a la entrada dijo en voz alta: “Cuando alguien se le acerca a uno a decirle que le va a dar dulces o algo así, es pura mentira, solo le quiere tocar las partes íntimas y  uno va y le cuenta a la mamá o a la profesora”  esa conclusión y la de sus compañeros nos hace creer que lo hacemos vale la pena  y que cuando enseñamos a un niño o niña sus derechos lo estamos salvando de un posible abuso. 

Hoy queremos invitarlo a  que abra de nuevo  su corazón y nos ayude a través de su donación, quizás usted  pueda convertirse en un donante recurrente de nuestro proyecto, apoyando mensualmente  a los niños de Colombia con la cantidad que usted considere apropiada; también puede ayudarnos compartiendo  este mensaje con sus amigos  y familiares, para que nuestro proyecto pueda seguir adelante y apoyar a más niños para que crezcan felices y seguros.

CORPOLATIN has shared with you several work experiences with the boys and girls; they have known through this medium, characters and feelings that arise in these meetings. For us to support the healthy and suitable growth of the infancy is our meaning of life: but… of what does it serve to teach to these children its rights, if the society who surrounds them does not have them clear? Therefore during this stage of the 2013 we focused our work on prevention with parents and teachers we have reached out to the community with new proposals, trying to be innovative and with more desire than ever to change the world by making the rights of children to be respected, and trying to avoid the sexual abuse of the children.

Often the parents think that they are doing well as parents because they love immensely their  children and offer them a home, feeding and education, although this is fundamental, through the CORPOLATIN activities other aspects that sometimes are ignored arise, perhaps for not considering them to be important, this is the case of Gabriel Alfonso Gallego, father of a 7-year-old child, “For us it is normal to leave our children with the neighbors or friends, but today I realized that I do not know in fact if the other person could damage him". Definitely we must be much more careful with the persons that we select to take care of our children”, testimonies like these are heard at the end of the activities in San Juan Bautista la Salle School, place where we met the parents to listen to their experiences, to conceptualize and to come to joint conclusions and reach our biggest target: The Happiness of the children.

Questions, discussions and even the personal stories arise in the activities; often the parents prove to be affected, recognize their mistakes and set firm goals to change; this way we realize how effective our activities are.  Maria Teresa Mejia mother of a 4-year-old girl says, “It´s very clear for me the fact that if you have a son is to take care of him, to correct him, to play with him, and not to leave him alone with someone that will not give him the same kind of love that we will ".

Fathers, mothers, grandparents, uncles, brothers, teachers, boys and girls, finally turn into carrying subjects of a beautiful message of change and respect, building together a society in which education becomes the best strategy to avoid the damage and suffering in children.

Links:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqMyQWE2SBI