Helping Families Break Cycles of Violence

Within city of Guayaquil some of the most forgotten yet highly visible individuals are the children working the streets. They line the roads selling candies and flowers, performing magic tricks for coins, even singing or dancing. You're likely to encounter them on the malecon (boardwalk), which lines the historic center of the city, as well as at stoplights as you drive out toward the beach. These youth are a visible reminder of the wealth disparity that defines the most populous city in Ecuador. The children of the street are precisely who JUCONI was founded to aid. But, one of the most common questions we receive is: "How does JUCONI even begin to build meaningful, honest, lasting relationships with children forced into the adult roles of providing and/or care giving long before it is their time?"

Operation friendship is the first stage of the JUCONI intervention method. First contact is made with child laborers in their place of work (typically the streets). Our interaction with the youth begins with various recreational, educational, and sports activities (ex. board games, cards, drawing). In addition, we employ the use of techniques and tools that facilitate positive interactions between children and educators of the JUCONI Team. In this phase, we also seek to connect with the parents and families of child laborers. It's typically a three month period, which includes a regular routine in the streets, in order to build trust with the children. Playing games in a publicly accessible space at the same time every week might seem inconsequential to some. But, these are actually critically important moments of connection, in which JUCONI staff present themselves as reliable, empathetic and safe. These formative moments in the streets are precisely what the multi-year JUCONI therapeutic process is built upon.

Links:

• http://www.juconi.org.ec/who-we-are/

For those who are unfamiliar with the structure of JUCONI it is made up of two distinct areas: the family intervention team and the community team. The community team primarily works on prevention vis-a-vis workshops for children, families, as well as educators in the various marginalized neighborhoods of Guayaquil (ie. SocioVivienda 2, San Francisco, Balerio Estacio). The intervention team is focused on healing intergenerational cycles of trauma through therapeutic sessions in the home.

Over the course of the previous year, JUCONI conducted weekly prevention based groups on the following topics: youth identities, femicide, understanding and dealing with emotions, the importance of education, drug prevention, cycles of violence, television content, breaking silence (prevention of sexual abuse) and self-care as a protective factor for families. JUCONI also provides creative spaces where children can learn through doing. Throughout these activities they express their creativity by painting and drawing, as well as learning about positive social interactions.

Within these spaces empathy, confidentiality, ethics, and solidarity are paramount. This groundwork allows the weekly workshops and groups JUCONI offers to remain a source of inspiration for the community. It also encourages sustained participation and helps to achieve consistent collaboration among the families of the communities.