INDEPTH: A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE
Flexibility is key
By Monique Russell, HRI-NetCorps Intern San José, Costa Rica | February 16, 2004
Amid the noise of shouting and balloons popping, Ana, who is 14, curiously examined the agenda for the party. She pointed to the three-legged race and asked what it was. I swallowed my disbelief and grinned as I told her to wait and see. I chastised myself for my surprise; after all, we'd had to explain the rules to the game duck-duck-goose to these kids.
These children haven't had a lot of time to spend playing, and even less in some kind of organized environment. They certainly don't go to summer camp or anything like the kids back home, since most of them have been working during their school holidays since they were five years old. That is, if they even go to school.
It's Saturday morning and I'm surprised at how many kids have turned out to the party we're having for the participants of the Child Labour project run by DNI Costa Rica, the child rights organization where I am completing an internship. I was sent here to build their website and to work on the organization's communications; yet here I am wiping bits of cake and icing off the floor while an over-sugared five-year-old tells me a story in Spanish. But I wouldn't have it any other way.
I arrived in September as a participant in the NetCorps program, a program that sends Canadian grads on technical and IT internships around the world. Studying new media as a part of my journalism program, combined with a desire to do something with my skills that will make this world a nicer place, helped me qualify for this program.
When I found out I was coming to San José, I didn't know what to expect or where this experience would lead me, but whatever was to come I knew it had the potential to alter my perspective on life.
When I arrived I was given the title "Webmaster, and fixer-of-all-things- computer-related" and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the tasks before me were pretty close to what was outlined in my job description, since at our training sessions they had warned us to be prepared for anything, even the absence of computers.
But then, on my third day, we had a meeting and, still struggling with my Spanish, I had very little idea of what was going on. I heard my name and realized that I was being volunteered for something; I smiled unsteadily as everyone assured me in calm tones that it would be fine. I had no idea what was happening, except that I was involved.
It turned out that I was helping to run a workshop on sexual abuse at a downtown school. The kids were happy, co-operative and impossible to understand. As much as those first few weeks were confusing and exhausting (adjusting to a new place, job and language) they were some of the most fulfilling and inspiring, and left me no time to question whether I was in the right place or not.
I became involved in the Child Labour project when one day I went along with another intern to take photos for the webpage. We walked the streets around the busy, warren-like Mercado Central, looking for children minding food stalls or selling handfuls of coriander on the corners. One by one we spoke to their parents about the work their children do, if they go to school and if not, why not.
We invited every child to attend our workshop that afternoon in a space above the market where we played games, taught them a bit about their human rights and provided a desperately-needed snack. After one day on the streets I realized that my contribution here could be more than technical, and as our Saturday morning party wraps up and one by one kids stop by to give me a hug, I realize it already has been.
After cleaning up the wreckage from the party, and wiping up stray bits of icing from the floor (they are just like any other wild group of kids) another intern and I head to a local Soda for a cheap lunch. I put down my spoonful of rice and beans as she starts to cry. She says she feels guilty for spending money when she knows children who can't afford their books to go to school.
I can't help but think about my childhood and how I was so lucky. But I know that dwelling on the injustices of the world won't change a thing, and I quietly remind her that she can't single-handedly save the world, and she knows that for these kids she has already made a world of difference.
The passion that my co-workers and other volunteers demonstrate for their work is inspiring, and it is only surpassed by the joy I see on the children's faces when they are given the opportunity to learn about being a kid. In the little time I've been working with the children in San José I've been given enough artwork to cover a fridge. When I go downtown, I get hugs and waves from the kids who know me as they run over to ask if I will be at the workshop this week.
When I came to build web pages in Costa Rica I really didn't know what to expect, either in terms of my work or of my lifestyle. And as the end of my contract here approaches, I'm still not sure where this all will lead me, except that it is in a different direction than I was headed in before. Right now it's enough for me to know that I'll see Ana and the other kids' smiling faces tomorrow afternoon at my workshop above the central market.
ABOUT DNI
DNI is the Costa Rican section of Defence of the Children International, a non-governmental organization with offices all over the world. DNI Costa Rica was founded in 1994 and is dedicated to promoting and defending the rights of children and adolescents through campaigns and projects run throughout the country. Projects cover a variety of issues, such as sexual abuse, education and child labour.
The Child Labour project is being co-ordinated by DNI in co-operation with the municipality of San José. The aim is to find 200 children working in the streets around the central market of San Jose and interview them, documenting information about their homes, work, education and families. With an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 child workers in San José, finding 200 isn't too much of a challenge.
The goal is to present these 200 cases to the government agencies responsible for the welfare of children to ensure that they receive the help they need to go to school, and avoid being victims of exploitation.
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CUSO tracks volunteers from:
AFS Interculture Canada
Canadian Crossroads International.
Canada World Youth.
Centre for International Studies and Cooperation
Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO).
CUSO.
Oxfam Québec.
SUCO - Solidarité Union Coopération
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World University Service of Canada (WUSC).
CUSO Statement
Collectively, our organizations send or receive more than 3,000 volunteers each year and remain in touch with more than 60,000 returned volunteers. These figures include significant numbers of volunteers from the South, but by and large they represent Canadians so concerned about the disparity between life here and life in poorer countries that they are willing to give up weeks, months or even years of their time to improve the world. Through our network of members and volunteers, we reach into almost every community in Canada, coast to coast to coast. Ours is a real, concrete presence for Canada around the world, often the only Canadian presence outside of capitals, or even in some entire countries.
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