by
Cate Robinson
This article is a report prepared by Cate Robinson, who
was funded by the Social Education Trust to undertake
a trip as a volunteer work in Chile. She says , “I
spent six and a half weeks of my time in Chile working
for Hogar de Cristo in a girls’ residential home.
It was a fantastic experience, and a lot of hard work
and patience was needed. However, it was worth it. In
the end I didn’t want to leave, which was unfortunate
and heart breaking for me and some of the girls.”
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1 INTRODUCTION
This
report is based on two months’ volunteer work that was completed
in Santiago, Chile, South America. The aim of the report is to
inform the audience of the type of work that I was involved in
within the girls’ home, the problems that I witnessed there
and an overview of some of the problems faced by the young people.
I
am currently a social work student at Strathclyde University,
following the route of residential childcare. Due to my personal
and professional interest in this subject I was very keen to expand
my knowledge and gain more experience in a different environment.
Hence I took it upon myself to go to Chile to do exactly that.
Why
Chile?
Between
the years 2000/2001 I spent 12 months working in Chile in a social
care project for young babies 6 weeks to 2 years old. The project
was based within the charity Hogar de Cristo. The people who work
within this charity have always been very supportive and even
after our contract was completed they continued to help us. Therefore
it is through their assistance that I was able to return to Chile
with relative ease in order to complete this volunteer work.
2
CHILE : A BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Chile
is found on the South Western Coast of South America. It is surrounded
by the South Pacific Ocean on one side and the high Andes on the
other. As is visible from the map below it is a very long thin
country, bordered by Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.
The climate of Chile is very varied depending on the region –
in the north there is desert (the driest desert in the world),
the central region maintains a Mediterranean climate, whereas
in the south it can be very cold and generally very damp, and
in the extreme south there are glaciers. The climate obviously
affects the terrain and therefore the employment of the area.
Poverty
is a more general problem in the countryside where there is a
greater struggle to survive. However, that isn’t to say
that poverty doesn’t exist in the city. In a great many
areas of Santiago people are struggling to cope with their lives
and the poverty that they live in. The reality of Santiago is
that it holds one third of the country’s population (the
population of Chile is 15,665,216, July 2003 CIA statistics).
On one side there are towering sky-scrapers with beautiful green
lawns, containing the wealthiest people in the country. Then on
the other side there are people who have never even dreamed of
going to that side of town. It is for these people that Hogar
de Cristo was founded.
3
HOGAR DE CRISTO
Hogar
de Cristo is a church-based organisation that was founded by Padre
Alberto Hurtado in 1944. Initially the main aim was to provide
homes for those lacking shelter. Today the ethos has expanded
greatly from providing just shelter to providing a great number
of services to those in need, whether they are old or young, men
or women, of any race and religion. If they are unable to control
the circumstances surrounding their lives or poverty has a tight
grip on them, they can rely on support from Hogar de Cristo.
The values set out for the work that Hogar de Cristo do with children
stand as follows:
“…To provide a dignified and integrated haven for
[those] who have had their rights infringed. We [attend to] their
emotional, social, mental and spiritual development with an emphasis
on their human dignity, autonomy and social integration.”
(Hogar de Cristo, 2003)
It
is a non-governmental, non-profit, professional organisation that
is established throughout the country and appears very much to
be the backbone for social aid in Chile. They provide building
materials for people to build their own homes, soup kitchens on
the street for the homeless, medical aid and education for those
who wouldn’t normally be able to obtain it, hostels for
short-term stay and homes for those who need more permanent care,
such as the home that I was working in.
4
THE GIRLS’ HOME
In
this country (Great Britain) it is no longer seen as politically
correct to call a place of temporary or permanent lodging a “home”.
In Chile this is not the case, even though the home may not be
the child’s personal or real home. It is, however, the one
place where they should be able to experience some of the love
and discipline that is stereotyped as the norm for a family home.
The
capacity of care in the home that I worked in was for up to 16
girls between the ages of 5 and 18. However, within the time that
I was there, there were 12 girls between 5 and 14 years old. The
girls come to the home through referrals from the social work
department. This generally happens when it becomes known that
a family or parent are no longer providing the safest environment
or the right care for their children. The children I know come
from backgrounds of sexual assault, violence, prostitution, drug
and alcohol abuse. Each one has their own individual story that
has led to their present circumstance. However, each one still
has an unbreakable attachment to their parents or mother.
Hogar
de Cristo claims that a married couple or a family run each individual
home, though from what I saw this seems not to be the case. In
the home I was working in there was one woman called the “mami”,
who was in charge, and she lived within the house. She is married
but her husband has no involvement in the home, which follows
the pattern of a great majority of the past women who have taken
on this responsibility.
In
this particular house a great number of problems have been experienced
in the last year. The dismissal of one mami and four of the eldest
girls during this time left the group dynamics in disarray and
brought the security of the children into question. Moreover,
this led to the current mami taking over in a position that was
originally a standby until a full-time mami could be found, that
was over a year ago and she is still awaiting news. The basic
structure of the home at the moment is therefore the mami, a teacher,
a cook and the 12 girls.
The
Role of the Mami
The
mami is the only member of staff that stays resident 24 hours
a day. She is in control of the home’s day-to-day business,
and she has the responsibility to report to social workers and
family support workers who are her superiors. She controls the
finances of the home, liaises with the social workers and the
parents, disciplines the children and is also supposed to show
love and affection. Generally it is her main responsibility to
protect and maintain the welfare of the children, making sure
that they are being educated, that they are in good health and
are being cared for properly. She has the role of acting as a
parent to all of the 12 girls.
The
Role of the Teacher
In
reality this role is actually far more than would be expected
of a regular teacher. Where the mami fails to devote herself to
the roles of carer, the teacher steps in. The teacher starts at
7 a.m. and is contracted to finish at 7p.m., though she generally
stays for at least one or two hours over that time. The nature
of her work is so continuous that she finds it hard to break away
even when the responsibilities are no longer hers. She is not
paid for these extra hours, which shows an underlying lack of
support from Hogar de Cristo. It also demonstrates the level of
commitment that the teacher provides on a personal basis.
Her
professional role is obviously to provide the children with an
education in cooperation with their work at school. However she
also has so much more encompassed within her role, such as taking
the children to and from school and similarly to and from the
doctors and the hospital. She takes them on day trips, acts as
a counsellor and adviser, she works with the children who have
special needs (which is in fact all of them) and she promotes
the children’s rights, welfare and hygiene. She also liaises
between the children, the other “tias” (the name given
to carers), the social workers, psychologists and advocates on
behalf of the children.
I
witnessed the teacher performing a very active and prominent role
in the lives of the children, I also saw the respect that she
gained from that input and the benefit this had on the children.
5
CHILD 1
Brief
Profile
Positive
behaviours: This particular child is very warm and loving, I took
a shine to her because for the most part she was always smiling
from ear to ear. She was full of energy and on the go all the
time, playing, jumping, giggling, basically a little bundle of
fun and mischief. She was always eager to please, helpful and
caring, she regularly would be at the tia’s side either
for a cuddle or to help out. To sum her up I think one could say
that you could not help but be enraptured by her little aura.
Negative
behaviours: Unfortunately this child has quite a problem with
wetting the bed – something that is of a nightly occurrence.
She also is regularly in trouble at school due to being disruptive
in class, a behavioural trait that may be related to her hyperactivity.
In terms of organic development she is at a lower stage of development
than may be expected of a girl her age academically and generally.
This
child needs constant help and attention in order for her to be
able to understand and complete any work that she may be given.
Finding the time to do this means putting other activities on
hold and focusing as much as possible on her, which understandably
requires a lot of patience. Moreover in trying to analyse her
behaviour there are many factors that can be considered, such
as the care and discipline that she received when she was younger
and the care that she receives in her life-space environment now.
Hereditary behaviours could also be considered, such as the possibility
that she may have Attention Deficit Disorder, in which case extra
and more specific care should be given to her.
At
seven years old she seems to have the behavioural mannerisms described
by Fahlberg (1991) as more consistent with a six year old. “…They
constantly wiggle, bite their nails, kick tables or fall off their
chairs…”. One minute they may be “dancing with
delight”, the next they are “…drooping with
despair”. Child 1 was very excitable and fidgety all at
one time and would constantly wiggle!
However,
her constant energetic highs were also interspersed with short
periods of great upset. On one occasion I saw her extremely distressed
and in floods of tears. The reason behind this upset was that
one of the other girls had been abusive about her mother. The
teacher seemed to handle the situation quite well (in my opinion)
hugging her and saying, “You know she only says that because
it is the one thing she knows will really hurt you”.
From
my observations it was the one trait that they all had in common:
they were all separated from their parents. Yet it was the one
thing that they would pick every time to use as a form of attack,
knowing the pain that it caused. This child seemed quite vulnerable
to attack and never seemed capable of retaliating, or realising
that the perpetrator was in the same circumstances.
On
one occasion Child 1 came home from school as usual with one of
the other girls. On entering the house, the other girl relayed
back information from their teacher describing the naughty antics
of Child 1. Whilst listening to her “friend”, she
became very quiet and withdrawn. She then hid away in her room;
possibly upset or fearful of the reprimand she was guaranteed
to receive. When I went in to help her with her uniform she seemed
to be in a world of her own and was not keen to engage in any
communication with me. When she eventually chose to appear, she
kept her jumper hanging over her face so that no one could see
her expressions, almost as if she were attempting to appear invisible.
The
mami then chose to reprimand and shout at Child 1 on the basis
that she was wearing inappropriate clothes. I felt that this was
a misdirected form of discipline and not appropriate to the situation.
Moreover Child 1 was made to change her top twice before she was
left alone. I could not understand why such negativity was being
made out of a very trivial situation; meanwhile, the important
matter needing to be addressed was being ignored.
I
believed it appeared to be the wrong approach as the child already
felt terrible and this seemed to a successful attempt to disempower
her. I think that if I had been in control of the situation the
matter of her misbehaviour at school would be addressed. I think
I would have tried to sit down with Child 1 and talk with her
about what had happened and why she felt that she had got into
trouble and how she was feeling now about the situation. I believe
that the school would have already addressed the situation in
some way therefore it would not be necessary to impose more sanctions.
Surely it was more important to discuss the situation with the
child than bully her. Moreover, it developed into a situation
where I am sure Child 1 felt unloved and worthless.
The
Importance of Routine
Generally,
when I first arrived I would accompany the teacher to pick the
children up from school. However, on the first few occasions of
picking them up myself, Child 1 was quite upset. She felt that
the teacher had either forgotten about them or abandoned them.
One of the reasons for this in my view was the break in routine.
The child had been used to a pattern and when this pattern was
broken, she felt that the teacher no longer cared or took an interest
in their welfare. I believe this demonstrates in a small way the
essential need for a constant pattern in a child’s life
to form security and self-assurance, two structures that may not
be evident in other areas of their life.
Eventually
as the days passed she grew more comfortable with me and questioned
less about the teacher. However, through such a regular daily
event I witnessed how a small change can have a big impact on
a child. (See also daily routine).
Affection
and Jealousy
Child
1 was particularly affectionate towards me, to such an extent
that on one occasion she came running towards me laughing and
shouting, “You’re my mummy”. I was not too sure
about the way to approach such a situation, realising that it
was very delicate. What I did do was to bring her up into a big
cuddle, laughing, and I said, “Look at me. You know that
I’m far to young to be your mummy!” This reaction
I believe stemmed from my own value base, realising the importance
for a child to feel loved. However, on reflection I am still not
positive it was the right way to act.
I
had a very close relationship with this girl; she became my shadow,
which wasn’t very helpful for either of us in a way. She
saw me as the focus of her time in the home, whilst I had other
children to entertain and look after too. This situation became
quite difficult, because, from the time that I arrived in the
door she was constantly at my side. I would at times encourage
her to go and play with the other girls and sometimes she would,
but then there were days when she just could not be persuaded
otherwise.
This
gave rise to tendencies to jealousy on her part when she felt
I was paying more attention to the other girls. As a result, she
would stop speaking to me and ignore me for a few hours. This
also worked in reverse, where the other girls became jealous if
I spent too much time with her.
6
APROPRIATE PRACTICE
During
my time in the home I seemed to witness two very different forms
of practice. The mami of the house is passive to conflict that
she knows she may not be able to control. However, she also seems
to misdirect her anger, which in turn does not bring about the
appropriate forms of discipline needed for each child.
The
teacher recognises deeper problems that are not just short term,
for example when a child needs to talk and have someone listen
to them. She can understand this basic need for communication.
However, as is normal to human nature she does get frustrated
and angry. But within this time she will make the child sit with
her, kicking and screaming, shouting and swearing until they both
have calmed down and are prepared to address the situation.
On
reflection this practice is very debatable. When a child is angry,
maybe they need to look at giving that child more space to calm
down, so that the behavioural reaction is not so apparently hostile.
In relation to this the teacher never ignores circumstances; she
addresses them individually as they arise. Having witnessed her
practice (whether I am in agreement with it or not) her tactics
seem to work more successfully. The children realise the effort
that she makes with them and therefore she gains more of their
respect that in turn means that they are less likely to misbehave
in front of her.
It seems that the cycle of reactions to behaviour determines behaviour
in the first place.
Physical
Contact
Physical
contact appears to be far less strict, but this is my own opinion
not a fact. (I did not research the laws applying to childcare
in Chile. However, they are one of the countries which have adopted
the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child).
If
a child was out on a trip and refused to go home, and then started
kicking and shouting, a British worker might consider giving the
child time out to calm down and re-address the situation. However,
it seems that in some cases (whether in compliance with the law
or not) a Chilean worker may actually pick a child up, in order
to make them comply.
If
a child was to kick off in the street – very publicly and
loudly would you:
These
responses to behaviour can be related to lack of support, accumulated
stress (and therefore less patience), resulting in irrational
forms of dealing with behaviour or maybe simply not taking the
most positive approach. It seems to me that there are too many
children for each tia to support, and to attend to their needs
as well as discipline, love and care for them. It makes it almost
understandable that a tia finds it hard to be positive and empowering
all the time.
However,
in general, physical touch seems to be much more open, which is
more positive in terms of the love a carer can give. The children
want to be loved, they want to jump all over you, hug you, sit
on you, be able to feel that you care and love them, an attachment
process that I personally believe forms an important part of their
security and fulfils part of their need as a child to be loved.
7
A TYPICAL DAY FOR THE GIRLS
Those
girls who have school in the morning rise at 7a.m.. The majority
of the girls go to different schools and start at different times
during the day. Only the eldest is at school for a full day. Some
start early in the morning and finish early afternoon, others
start mid-morning and finish later in the afternoon, the rest
don’t start until 2p.m., and then finish at 7p.m..
Simply
in recognising the difference in the various school hours can
help the carers acknowledge the basic and complex needs of each
child, schooling only being a part of this. In relation to education
there are the questions : Do the children receive sufficient teaching?
Does the teacher in the home (a) have the time and (b) the resources
to provide substantial support education? And is there enough
structure to the work that they do there?
The
girls rise, shower, dress and if their beds are wet they are expected
to change them themselves. Out of the twelve girls, 5 have incontinence
problems at night – not necessarily every night, but it
is a continuous problem. It may be considered that this could
be for a number of reasons, from past experiences of stress and
trauma, biological problems or developmental problems.
The
last time that I visited the home, two years ago; the children
(under a different mami) were made to get up at 6a.m. (even the
youngest) to do their share of the housework before school. It
was a very strict regime – not really focused on the children’s
rights, welfare or health. There wasn’t always toothpaste
or toilet paper and nobody was really paying attention to these
small yet important details.
However,
this visit proved to tell a different story, as the teacher made
a consistent effort to make sure that the girls had all these
essentials and encouraged them to have good hygiene through small
routines such as brushing their teeth after meals.
The two girls who attended school in the late afternoon would
spend their mornings getting up at a reasonable hour, helping
with some housework, doing their homework and extra work with
the teacher, as well as playing a little if there was time. Meal
times were as communal as possible, where each child would say
there own prayer before eating.
In
the afternoon I found that some of the girls (mainly the older
ones) were lost for things to do, bored through not having specific
interests to entertain them. The television would then become
the main focus of their attention, watching dance programmes and
imitating the celebrities. Most days there would be visits from
different volunteers, which was very helpful for the girls who
were prepared to take an interest. They take part in activities
such as cooking, sowing, making bracelets, bags and dancing.
8
HOLIDAYS
The
holidays at the end of July were two weeks long. Within those
two weeks we tried our best to keep the girls entertained, avoiding
boredom and trouble (the latter which so often follows with boredom).
We made two trips to the cinema and a trip to the zoo. The local
supermarket came around and hosted a party with lots of dancing
and food.
The
teacher and I organised two pyjama parties where we both stayed
over, which in itself helped to make the nights more special for
the children. The basic pattern was that we all put our pyjamas
on, played games, ate lots of food and danced. The girls were
allowed to sleep longer in the holidays and after each pyjama
night they were able to sleep for as long as they wanted, without
attending to any chores that day.
During
one of the pyjama nights the teacher tested out a game that a
psychologist had recommended. Each girl was to take their turn
and stand in the centre of everyone else; meanwhile the other
girls shouted insults at them, whilst they were not allowed to
retaliate. After a brief period of this the rest of the girls
were then to pick all the good points they knew about this person
and shout them out. The aim was to teach the girls to be able
to shut themselves off from insults and accept when someone compliments
them. It was also to demonstrate their vulnerability as individuals,
but to try to help them see that they all very much feel the same
negativity when they are made the target of other people’s
abuse.
However
unfortunately the game didn’t work very well. The girls
who were generally the most abusive were not able to handle the
abuse being thrown back at them. Problems also arose when negative
references were once again made about their mothers. It appeared
to be an extreme form of teaching which maybe some of the older
girls could have handled; however the younger ones seemed to feel
more pressure and negativity from the process. Somehow I feel
that the positive angles were lost in the diverse needs of each
child.
9
MY PERSONAL SCHEDULE
I
would generally start at either 11a.m. or 12p.m., at which time
I would come in and help with the housework, then help the two
girls left with any homework that they had. I would help them
to get ready for school and make sure that they had everything
that they needed. They would have lunch and I would then take
them to school, coming back in time for my own lunch with everyone
else. After lunch I would go and pick two of the other girls up
form their school bus. The rest of the afternoon and evening would
be spent helping in activities organised by other volunteers or
by doing homework and reading, helping with dinner, taking the
girls on trips and so on.
Basically
my general day was spent helping with everything that was usually
a part of their life space and routine. I would normally stay
until 8p.m. or 9p.m., depending on the events of the day.
10
OPPORTUNITY-LED WORK
Throughout
my time spent in the home there were countless opportunities to
empower or inform the girls in some way. These opportunities arose
from every day circumstances in a natural environment. The girls
were more open to conversation when the moment arose naturally
instead of being prompted; they were also more likely to divulge
information in these circumstances too. On one occasion whilst
walking down the street with Child 1 she asked me if I drank alcohol.
I replied, “Yes, I do but not a great deal and not to excess”.
At this point she started telling me that both of her parents
drink everyday all the time, she also talked about how her mum
was going to leave her dad and come to take her away from the
home. I did not feel that I knew enough to go into too much detail
about the issue of alcoholism. I did, however, then extend the
conversation into discussing whether she was happy in the home
and what we could do about improving her experience.
A
second example occurred on a Monday morning. I arrived in at work
and Child 2 (age 7) was very irritated with me, apparently because
I had not been in at work all weekend. She started shouting at
me, saying that she knew I had been drunk all weekend and that
was why I hadn’t bothered to come in. (I always had the
weekend off.) She claimed to have spoken to my friend in the social
work department (I have no friends there!) and this friend had
supposedly told her everything.
My
first impression was that I was being accused of neglecting the
girls because I had been drunk all weekend. I began to wonder
if this was a redirection of anger onto me for similar issues
that originated with her parents. This child was not willing to
engage with me on any account to discuss the situation; however,
once she had calmed down, the teacher was able to chat with her
about it.
Sex
was a constant fascination, especially for the oldest girl, who
I happen to know was sexually abused as a child and who cannot
be looked after by her mother now, because she is a prostitute.
Therefore the girl’s background as well as her stage in
development helps us maybe to understand her fascination for everything
that is sexual.
Thankfully
whenever the subject was brought up the teacher always openly
answered questions and was honest with her. This helped to take
away the feel that sex is a taboo subject and helped promote an
honest and open conversation. We were able to discuss safe sex
with her, the importance of feeling right and not being forced
into sex. In fact, I feel this was the most successful piece of
opportunity-led work that I witnessed in operation.
The
one area that did frustrate me, though, was conversations that
discussed homosexual behaviour. From my own value base and the
more liberal approach that we have in this country I felt very
strongly about the stigma that was attached to being gay. However,
I had to appreciate that Chile is a strong Catholic country and
the issue of homosexuality is very much a taboo subject. In such
an environment I was personally not comfortable with being passive
on the subject, but felt that I had to be, because I didn’t
want to jeopardize my relationships with either the children or
the tias, which could have been a likely outcome if I had been
forthright.
11
DIARY ENTRY
After
two days’ work…some of the girls want all of your
attention and cannot cope if you are sharing the attention that
you were giving them between others. They become annoyed and huffy,
“But, tia, look at me”. If you spend a great deal
of time with one child, another may accuse you of favouritism.
Am
I acting in the right way at the right time? I wonder. I have
found that without prying into the private lives of these children
they have willingly told me things that are hurting them. Some
are too young to think before they speak. Through innocence you
find out a lot! Whilst sitting having a cigarette with the teacher
in the kitchen one little girl entered and started talking about
how her mummy smokes the other type!
This
particular child seems quite ambivalent. On one hand she thrives
and occupies all the attention of one person (she needs to be
the focus – no one else can be involved). However, if she
does not get what she wants, she throws herself to the floor kicking
and screaming. This lasted about half an hour today.
In
the 7 hours I spent there today she kicked off twice in the same
manner. The first time it was because she wanted more pudding,
the second time because the tia wouldn’t give her a biro.
If anyone tries to approach her, help her or touch her, she screams
and swears at them. There could be a great number of things, people
or events contributing to her behaviour. She is so desperately
craving attention, but then hits out at the same person when she
does not get her own way.
In
the end it was her brother who arrived who managed to calm her
down. She went running into his arms (a small piece of evidence
showing the importance of siblings and the attachment between
them?).
On
this day I witnessed many different ways of trying to deal with
her. The most effective appeared to be to let her throw her fit,
then approach her calmly, talking to her, asking what was wrong,
to come down to her level and look into her eyes. The tia from
the kitchen managed to do this. However, the teacher lost patience
the second time and reacted angrily which appeared to prolong
and aggravate the situation.
12
FINAL WORDS
It
has taken me a long time to write this report because, every time
I have attempted to do it, I have become baffled over what another
audience may be truly interested in hearing. To me, the small
everyday events are the ones that prove to provide the most impact
in terms of the work that a carer can do, or even through the
love that they can give.
I
feel that my experiences in Chile have been beneficial to my development
as a social work practitioner, and also in my reflective practice
covering my own work and the work of others. I am now working
within an assessment unit here in Scotland and am constantly comparing
in my mind the practices and behaviours that I witness.
In
terms of this report, I believe that for it to be fully comprehensive
and informative and completed to a more professional standard,
more research, work experience and experience of social work would
be required. Maybe one day when I am qualified I will do just
that!
Thank
you for aiding me in this opportunity.
Bibliography
Attention
Deficit Disorder, (July 2001), Children and Adults with Attention
Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder, www.chadd.org/fs/fs2
Retrieved November 4th 2003.
CIA – The World FactBook, (August 2003) www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ci.html
Retrieved September 20th 2003.
Hogar De Cristo , (2003), Children, www.hogardecristo.com
Retrieved September 20th 2003.
Fahlberg, V, (1991), A child’s journey through placement,
USA, Perspective Press.
Whitaker, D, Archer, L, Hicks, L, (1998), Working in Children’s
Homes: Challenges and Complexities, Chichester, John Wiley.
"Dream
as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today"
(James Dean)
"...I
want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own,
if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill
you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning
us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations
of being human..."
(Oriah Mountain Dreamer)
If
you knew that you could handle everything that life
threw at you today, what would you possibly have to
fear?
(Unknown)
|
