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Child Sexual Exploitation: Foreign Nationals who have been processed and criminally convicted in Costa Rica for sex crimes against children.

“By offering a formal or informal education to the children whom we serve, we are also giving them the tools with which they can break free from the vicious cycle of poverty I which they are trapped. But more importantly, they are enjoying a right that until now they had been denied. Every child should have this opportunity”, explained Bruce Harris, Regional Director of Casa Alianza’s Latin American Programs.

Unfortunately, not all children have access to education.

According to the Save the Children, 140 million children around the world don’t go to school. In Central America, more than 1.8 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 work and only 40% go to school.

Casa Alianza’s experience has proven that education can make a huge difference.

Children who once lived on the streets are now overachieving students. Youth who yesterday questioned where their lives were going are today working with skills they learnt whilst they were residents in various Casa Alianza programs.

In fact, children who pass through Casa Alianza homes and manage to be reintegrated into their families, continue studying. An example of this is the 101 former Honduran street children who, this academic year, continue to be in classrooms and not “living” on the street.

In Casa Alianza Honduras, 130 girls and boys from the residential program are currently enrolled in schools, colleges and vocational workshops. A further 21 children who are in the independent living program are also studying. In total 252 children and youth in Casa Alianza Honduras’ programs are studying. These are 252 reclaimed and respected lives, now with a positive future ahead of them.

The results are very encouraging. Many people could not imagine that these children, who once lived under the bridges and begged for money on corners, would ever stay in school once they had been enrolled.

The determination of young Julio didn’t take long to grab his teacher’s attention.

“ The boy is very smart, he works very fast. When he is given an exercise or homework he will first say that he already knows it all and then he will prove it by being the first one to finish! He is often a restless child, but that is because he is so smart”, said Julio’s teacher when Casa Alianza educators asked about the child’s progress during regular follow-up visits that each child receives for up to two years in the family reintegration program.

In Casa Alianza Nicaragua, 126 children were enrolled in school during 2003, including residents in the Casa Alianza homes and children who have been reintegrated into their families. Seventy-three percent of the students, 93 children, passed the academic year, and another 22 older youth decided to leave their studies to enroll instead in job training programs in order to meet the financial needs of their families.

Only 4% of the children had to repeat the school year (the rest having successfully retaken the exams), which shows the educational success rate the Casa Alianza supported children have reached. At a national level, more than 25% of students had to retake the academic year. The resilience of the children we serve is impressive!

This educational success rate is very high in a country like Nicaragua where, according to the Global Infancy Report, 82% of the population have to try and survive on less that US$2 a day. Unemployment is considered the biggest problem for Nicaraguan families. The emotional stability of the Casa Alianza children and the continual support and encouragement they receive from the agency’s Educators is fundamental in building this success.

In an effort to expand future work possibilities for the older youth once they reach adult life, Casa Alianza promotes job skills training in such areas as bakery, silkscreen printing, cooking, Information Technology, mechanics etc. Also some teens have also been trained in hotel management and high quality sewing and suit making thanks to several partnerships created with private companies.

In Casa Alianza Guatemala, five former street youth are studying to be accountants whilst another two are working to graduate as teachers. Others are receiving training in carpentry and marketing and sales.

There are also another 112 boys and girls who go to primary, middle or high school every day, plus 17 in higher levels of studies.

Casa Alianza Guatemala also has in-house training so that the youth can learn hands on skills directly from online staff e.g. as a receptionist, in purchasing, etc.

Two youth are currently in charge of the Casa Alianza Guatemala phone centre; 12 more are learning skills in the agency’s industrial sized kitchens; six in the bakery, 10 youth in the laundry, 35 youth are learning computing skills and another two in the administrative area, totaling 67 youth who participate in the internal Casa Alianza training program.

“Our youth faced a lot of prejudice and difficulties when we tried to place them in businesses in the community”, commented Arturo Echeverria, the National Director of Casa Alianza Guatemala. “By developing an internal training program, our students can still learn from a rigorous training program, but it is taught with a greater level of patience and emotional support as we know where the children have come from and how eager they are to move ahead in life”.

Maybe Julio and the other 588 boys, girls and youth in Casa Alianza’s programs throughout Central America and Mexico don’t know it yet, but each year that they study, each skill they learn and each new profession they develop, takes them one step further away from poverty - something they have first hand knowledge about.

However, there are still many boys and girls out there that are still waiting for that chance that their country hasn’t given them and that Casa Alianza tries to offer them. It’s their right. It’s our responsibility.

Casa Alianza invests an average of US$40 per child each month for their education and vocational training. If you wish to sponsor the education of a child and give them a chance in life, please write to [email protected]