Cuéntamelo Todo taking up the streets...
Since January, our 2 Fe y Alegría graduates, Santi & Henry have been leading on the execution of our sessions with the support of their ex-schoolmates…to be true, this has actually been happening since November when we “soft-launched” our new street session pla
n.
Since then and through a series of activities & dynamics using our main didactic materials (that is the Mobile School & mobile library), we have been focusing with our kids on a single value for a month, with an underlying right running for a week and breaking down 3 related themes in our weekly sessions. The reason behind this was that as we have grown organically, passing from 1 day in the street to 3, it simply made sense to link up our rights-based approach day to the rest so as to make our approach more consistent and leverage the space we had with the kids to reinforce these, by “living th
em out” in each session!
Hence, since November we have been revisiting key values such as identity, equality, solidarity, responsibility, honesty, with for example the right to solidarity, looking at how leadership and engagement can ensure that we care for ourselves, the ones we love and our environment. Activities have varied greatly as you will see in the pics and have included for example reviving paper muppets that the kids had created in a December session under the value of equality, and the right to be different, with the theme being specifically, the right to be different in our tastes. The CEFA team, after selecting specific characters with the kids, carried out a play on a child who had not done his homework. The theme here was, with rights come responsibilities, and notably, the responsibility we have to ourselves to ensure we give ourselves the tools to succeed & fulfil our rights.
Overarching and running through all our activities, are el
ements of trust, respect and team spirit that we seek to reinforce with the kids, where games and relaxation are also central to a child's rights: for one to be well & complete as a person and have the ability to succeed in his/her undertakings, one needs to be rested, have fun but most importantly one requires the space to Be a child. We have also been carrying out numerous games enhancing trust through covering eyes and as a group or in pairs, allowing yourself, and the other, to guide you. So in the value of honesty, we explored the right to solidarity and the importance of leadership through literally "leading" the other...the other being someone you may never have seen in your life, or actually someone you know and perhaps don't particularly trust…;0
n.Since then and through a series of activities & dynamics using our main didactic materials (that is the Mobile School & mobile library), we have been focusing with our kids on a single value for a month, with an underlying right running for a week and breaking down 3 related themes in our weekly sessions. The reason behind this was that as we have grown organically, passing from 1 day in the street to 3, it simply made sense to link up our rights-based approach day to the rest so as to make our approach more consistent and leverage the space we had with the kids to reinforce these, by “living th
em out” in each session!Hence, since November we have been revisiting key values such as identity, equality, solidarity, responsibility, honesty, with for example the right to solidarity, looking at how leadership and engagement can ensure that we care for ourselves, the ones we love and our environment. Activities have varied greatly as you will see in the pics and have included for example reviving paper muppets that the kids had created in a December session under the value of equality, and the right to be different, with the theme being specifically, the right to be different in our tastes. The CEFA team, after selecting specific characters with the kids, carried out a play on a child who had not done his homework. The theme here was, with rights come responsibilities, and notably, the responsibility we have to ourselves to ensure we give ourselves the tools to succeed & fulfil our rights.
Overarching and running through all our activities, are el
ements of trust, respect and team spirit that we seek to reinforce with the kids, where games and relaxation are also central to a child's rights: for one to be well & complete as a person and have the ability to succeed in his/her undertakings, one needs to be rested, have fun but most importantly one requires the space to Be a child. We have also been carrying out numerous games enhancing trust through covering eyes and as a group or in pairs, allowing yourself, and the other, to guide you. So in the value of honesty, we explored the right to solidarity and the importance of leadership through literally "leading" the other...the other being someone you may never have seen in your life, or actually someone you know and perhaps don't particularly trust…;0
The attendance since the New Year has been pretty sporadic and eclectic. The weather has also been playing up a couple of its wintery tricks but we have managed to stay put. This however does not exclude the fact that many our kids parents are ambulant street sellers or their vending posts are located in the streets, so when the skies get threatening, they don’t hesitate to head home and sweep their kids along.
With the new schooling year, many have had more homework and exams and Cuéntamelo Todo has become a condition for many: “if the homework (and grades for that matter) are properly carried out, then they are allowed to join”! There have actually been a few recent instances where negotiations with parents have occurred to ensure that the kids can come to learn & relax with us through play to be more prepared for study!!
Honestidad, Derecho a Ser Solidario, “Compromiso - liderazgo para ayudar a mejorar una realidad”CUENTAMELO TODO IN BRIEF
Number Crunching
143 Cuéntamelo Todo street sessions have been carried out since June 2009
5107 participants have visited our sessions, breaking down to 2091 children
3380 didactic boards have been posted on the Mobile School since March 2010 ranging from maths to reading, motricity and creativity games
348 books have been lent to our kids since the mobile library launch in October 2009
65 books have been lost or damaged since then …
Over 1850 small cuentitos (tales) and books have been donated to DS&H since June 2009
January U
pdate-The Cuéntamelo Todo team has carried out 3 creativity workshops with Bernarda, a classicallly-trained singer, who also set up Fe y Alegría’s childrens' choirs and led a few street sessions with our kids last year on the same theme en canto!
- 2 book donations were made this month, one from a wonderful man in a local Antiques book shop and the other from our neighbours!
- We completed our annual report for the Mobile School, soon to be celebrating our 1st anniversary as we were donated the school in March 2010! The report enabled us to carry out a general team evaluation meeting and also interview some of our kids on their perceptions of Cuéntamelo Todo … all very interesting & worthy insights!
- We completed our annual report for the Mobile School, soon to be celebrating our 1st anniversary as we were donated the school in March 2010! The report enabled us to carry out a general team evaluation meeting and also interview some of our kids on their perceptions of Cuéntamelo Todo … all very interesting & worthy insights!
Honestidad, Ser integro, “Estar en acuerdo con lo que uno piensa, y su entorno” : escucha de sonidos
February Update
- Since the beginning of the week, Rosario has joined the Cuéntamelo Todo team, beyond leading our street sessions and team, she will be planning these. She is a professional teacher with many years of experience with children at risk and also has a background in psychology!
- A series of weekly workshops for parents have been organized with the support of the UMSC, one of our key medical partners (with which we have carried out the medical & dental checks), these will cover themes suggested by the parents themselves, such as: nutrition, sexual diseases, legal advice, and intra-familiar violence.
- A 2-year contract has been resigned with the UMSC, and dental & medical checks will be reinitiated in the coming weeks with those who require follow-up as well as with our newcomers.
- With our partner Fe y Alegría, we are initiating background research and drawing up a baseline for the replication of Cuéntamelo Todo in Ibarra in the coming months- all very exciting!
Respeto, Derecho a opinar, “Escuchar, preguntar e investigar para hacerse una opinión”:
elaboración de un collage de lo que nos llamo la atención en el periódico
