Cada quien sus héroes III

Dos grandes, dos enfoques.



Víctor was born in Argentina to immigrant parents who did not have access to any formal education. His father worked as a truck driver and his mother sold cleaning supplies; Víctor used help her tend the little store during the afternoons. He, too, was a working child, although he remembers his situation as very different from that of most of the working children he assists today. He never suffered the severe family deprivations that most of these children endure; they come from more abandoned, unprotected sectors of society, and their living conditions border on misery. But because of his own background, Víctor believes he can truly understand the problems faced by working children.

Víctor Hugo Palliaroli invented a methodology to develop the personalities and individuality of Mexico's poor working children and help them to grow into healthy citizens.

Among the children who work on the streets of Mexico's burgeoning cities, it was Víctor Hugo Palliaroli who began to address the developmental consequences of poverty. In addition to the economic hardships which force them to work in order to survive while other children are in school, Víctor focused on the social starvation which grows out of their living conditions. His commitment to help them become creative and positive social beings reflects his concept of citizenship: that a boy or girl cannot grow up to function as a participating member of a democratic society without being able to understand his or her situation and take part actively in solving its problems. As he says, his goal was "to produce an active social subject in every child we work with."

Víctor has implemented a threefold strategy, which includes: (1) direct work with these children through an integrated care program; (2) preventive work among the population whom he sees as the producers of future working children–mothers from low-income neighborhoods; and (3) relationships with other institutions to disseminate his work and promote research on the subject of working children.

For his direct work with children, Víctor has organized a team coordinated by street educators and based at Participative Processes, a community health center that offers assistance to 80 children from seven neighborhoods. The team forms individual diagnoses and specific working strategies for each child. Volunteer doctors provide on-site free medical and dental services. The street teachers make house calls and go visit children's working places to gather all the information available regarding their situations. All team members are trained to record their observations in a personal file, which they regularly review together. The personalized working strategies comprise the areas of education, health, psychological support, job training, recreation and culture. Each child has a mentor from the staff and participates in the different programs implemented by Participative Processes at his or her own pace, gradually growing more active and committed to their own development. The families and other adults who have contact with working children are recruited to participate.

Víctor's work has a strong preventive component. In coordination with a private university, he has implemented a graduate course through which the mothers from low-income neighborhoods come to community-based educational centers to receive training in such subjects as child development and sensory stimulation. Víctor is convinced that early intervention is the only way to prevent potential working children from following a destructive path when they come face to face with their unfavorable social environment. The mothers-as-educators, thanks to the training they receive, are strengthened to help their children build the internal strength as well as the emotional stability and mental skills they need to survive in the future. Two groups of mothers, from ten neighborhood centers, have already completed their training.

Víctor was the first in his family to earn a college degree. This helped him become self-sufficient and enabled him to fulfill his dream of promoting the self-esteem and self-confidence of others so that they can overcome circumstances even worse than his.


El Vampiro Canadiense convertido en Ángel Guardián
Diciembre 16, 2007 de Anahí Parra

El famoso luchador que robó corazones durante la década de los noventa dejó la lucha libre hace dos años para comenzar la versión mexicana de los Guardian Angels, la organización fundada por Curtis Sliwa en 1978 en Nueva York que recorre las calles por las noches para prevenir crímenes. Actualmente dicha organización reúne 28 mil voluntarios de 102 ciudades en 11 países.

Con base en los principios establecidos por la organización estadounidense, Los Ángeles Guardianes de México reclutan jóvenes de zonas marginadas para entrenarlos en cuestiones como servicio comunitario y reponsabilidad personal.

En el Distrito Federal, Billy Ian Hodgkinson, mejor conocido como el Vampiro Canadiense, ha logrado reclutar a 50 jóvenes voluntarios y pretende reunir a 3 mil más el próximo año. Como parte de sus actividades, el Vampiro Canadiense también participa en el Programa Escuela Segura en conjunción con la policía capitalina y la Secretaría de Turismo, pues las zonas turísticas de la capital son uno de los puntos a los que se ha enfocado esta organización. Otra de sus tareas es limpiar graffitis e intervenir contra actos delictivos.

El uniforme que utilizan consiste en playeras blancas y boinas rojas que identifican a los cadetes–jóvenes de entre 17 y 19 años–y en el caso de los instructores chamarras rojas y pantalones negros. En palabras del Vampiro, la organización ofrece a los jóvenes de zonas marginadas “una alternativa a la vida de pandillas para ayudar a la policía a prevenir los delitos en la calle, el abuso de droga o alcohol, de violencia y asaltos”. En dos meses de actividades, con base en la vigilancia y el uso de técnicas de defensa personal, los Ángeles Guardianes han logrado evitar 27 asaltos.

Te amo Flayis.