Bolivia: A Success Story
Children Living in Bolivian Prison Receive Technology Training, Support from Save the Children
Save the Children, in coordination with the Ministerial Department of the Penitentiary System of Bolivia, the government agency responsible for the management and treatment of prisoners, is working to improve educational opportunities and the well-being of a special group of vulnerable children — those who live with their parents in jail.
About 1,500 children are living in Bolivian jails, with their incarcerated parents. While authorities recognize that this is not an ideal environment for children to grow up, it is better than the alternative. These children have nowhere else to live and would otherwise be forced into a harsher adult world without the protection of their parents. Most are from poor rural areas that have never provided an acceptable standard of living for children and adults.
In penal facilities for non-violent criminals, families live together in a communal setting. Preschools are provided on site for young children, while older children leave the prison each day to go to school. The prison system ensures that the children are fed and receive health services.
In the San Pedro prison in La Paz, Save the Children has created a technology center with 10 computers and is providing classes for children living there. About 90 children will benefit from the program. Training sessions began in early June, and the first class of 28 students graduated August 4. The sessions mark the launch of the program planned for this population. .
"The children are thrilled with all of the new skills they are learning and it gives them a fun, structured activity during the day," said Gary Shaye, Save the Children's Bolivia country director. "Working with the Bolivian prison authorities, we hope to broaden our programs for children in San Pedro so that they are protected, educated and live in a positive environment despite their circumstances."
Save the Children also has donated medicines provided by AmeriCares and has made minor repairs to buildings and provided equipment to make San Pedro a more livable place for the children.
The technology center will be available in the evenings for adults to learn new skills. The Bolivian prison system allows prisoners to have their sentences reduced through study or volunteering.
The technology program is funded in part by a $10,000 grant from "100 Projects for Peace," which provides grants to U.S. college students for projects that contribute to peace. Two Trinity College students obtained this grant and elected to work in partnership with Save the Children because of the agency's past experience working in San Pedro. Authorities in the Bolivian prison system report that jails which provide a communal living situation with children are more peaceful than adults-only jails. More significantly for those imprisoned, the emotional ties between parent and child are not broken, which helps individuals better make the transition from prison to the outside world.
Save the Children has been working to improve the health, educational opportunities and well-being of Bolivian children for more than two decades.
Maribel Delia Ramos' Story
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Maribel Delia Ramos worked as a domestic worker while in school in Oruro, a city in the high plains of Bolivia. She is now studying computer systems in the local university. |
Maribel Delia Ramos, age 18, was employed as a domestic worker while in school in Oruro, a city that traditionally has depended on the mining industry. Maribel’s future as a domestic worker seemed inevitable.
"If not for Save the Children, I think I would have continued working as a maid,” Ramos said recently after attending a morning computer class. "I wouldn't even have finished school. They motivated me. The program paid for me to go to La Paz for computer classes. I became a different person." Ramos has participated in Save the Children programs since she was in fifth grade. It was in Oruro, in a modest computer lab, that Ramos discovered her talent for science and technology.
As her high school graduation date approached, Save the Children sent her on weekends to a partner program that offers training in Cisco Systems hardware and software.
After finishing training, Ramos was inspired to pursue a career in technology. Now, instead of being a domestic worker, she is studying computer systems in the local university. She has also decided to give back to Save the Children's Technology and Education Program by volunteering to teach other adolescents and inspire them to continue studying science and technology just as she had done.
