Roblealto

Today we had our first sight visit.  We went to Roblealto, a home for youth that have been referred either through PANI (the Costa Rican child welfare) or by personal means.  At the home they have room for up to 80 children.  All of the kids live in homes with substitute parents, 10 children per home.  The parents are there to model a "traditional family model", the wife stays home and takes care of children, and the husband goes to work and returns to have dinner and spend quality time with the kids.  The couples also bring their own children with them.  Couples have to go through a rigorous screening process.  According to our guides, who were an American couple there for a year long work period, Roblealto has a 95% success rate with children, meaning they do not end up back in foster care, and they have yet to see a 2nd generation of children come back since its inception in 1932.

A few other interesting points that were covered in the presentation:

• the average stay for children is between 2-3 years
• the biological parents come every other weekend on Sunday to visit, and the children go home on the alternating weekends so they are not completely separated
• 50-60% of the children are on some sort of medicine, usually for behavior or mental health reasons.  one of their goals is to help them safely get off so many medicines
• Costa Rica passed a law 2 or 3 years ago to prohibit physical punishment.  Roblealto stopped using physical punishment over 15 years ago.
• In addition to the homes, they have childcare centers that serve over 400 children in "high risk" areas
• the majority of children come from San Jose, Alajuela, Cartago and Heredia

one of the resident psychologists and american volunteer share information about Roblealto

a photo of the 1st home at roblealto, even though only girls are pictured, in reality the majority of children they now serve are boys.

the sign outside one of the homes we visited, it says, "I make peace...peace lives"

One of the rooms, all very clean and tidy.  In the newer homes they don't have bunk beds, to make the homes more accessible.

And pictures of some of the kids.  The average age is between 7-12 years old, though they accept children as young as 2 years old.

One part that was particularly interesting to me was the overarching mission that is driven by Christianity.  According to one of their brochures, their "mission is to share Christ's love, defending the fundamental  rights of children and adolescents, with proactive initiatives directed toward the nuclear family, especially those in greatest need."  The psychologist reported the most important thing they work on is spiritual development, more explicitly the child's and family's relationship with Christ, which according to him, helps to end abuse and poverty. 

The other thing, as alluded to in the mission, is the use of the nuclear family.  The gender roles are very traditional, and as explained by the guides, the substitute parents are meant to simulate a family setting.  The majority of children who come to Roblealto come from areas of extreme poverty, and I wonder how traditional gender roles really are able to assist with alleviating the effects of systemic poverty.  Even if both parents are present, their double income and poverty wages, are probably still not enough to mitigate the effects of poverty, and often open up another problem of who will be providing childcare. 

Overall, it was an edifying experience.  For more information on Roblealto, click on the link.  On Thursday we will be visiting the shelter for woman who have been victims of domestic or sexual violence...I'm really looking forward to seeing the differences and similarities.

Feel free to leave any feed back or thoughts you have about this experience, I'd love to hear what you think!

On a less somber note, here is a picture from our cooking class and one from dance class on Monday =)