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Save the Children Bolivia - San Pedro Prison Save the Children International has a unique educational program involving children who live in this unique place Article rating: 10.00

San Pedro prison is a unique place.  There are roughly 2,500 people who live in the prison and only 1,500 residents are prisoners.  Often wives and children of the prisoners come to live in San Pedro because they can not afford the cost of living in the city.  There are about 200 children who live inside the prison.  Children are allowed to enter and exit the prison freely and many attend school, but as one girl described, her school is far away and sometimes she misses classes. Nevertheless, San Pedro and other prisons in Bolivia have a much lower rate of violence than other prisons in Latin America. Save the Children has begun a computer technology program for the children living in San Pedro prison. 

How did the Program Start?
Daniela McFarren (Dani), a student at Trinity College in Connecticut, had a summer internship with Save the Children  in 2007.   Dani became interested in Save the Children’s Technology Information and Communication program and wanted to find additional ways to reach the children most in need. 

In the summer of 2008, Dani returned to Bolivia with a grant from a program called 100 Projects for Peace that funded a pilot computer program for children in La Paz’s San Pedro prison.  Daniela was the lead facilitator for the two month pilot program.  She, her classmate from Trinity, Ezel Poslu,  and two co-facilitators delivered computer workshops to the children in San Pedro using methodology and materials developed by Save the Children.

Unusual Partners
Police from the Bolivia rarely enter the prison, the rules, many regulations, and practices within the prison are made and governed by the prisoners themselves.  There are seven sections in the prison and each section has a delegate representative and a financial secretary.  The prisoners respect the authority of these delegates, and are not likely to trust individuals or agencies who try to bypass the authority of the delegates.  Save the Children is sensitive to the internal culture of the prison and  works closely with the delegates in the prison.  The delegates understand the importance of this initiative for the future of the children, and appreciate Save the Children’s programming efforts.

Program Participant Perspective
The children in the program were delighted by the opportunity to learn more about computers.  Children mentioned typing, learning how to open documents, use of MS Word, MS Paint, right click on the mouse, and the algebra program on the computer as some of their favorite activities. 

Pilar, age 13, said that, in school she only has computer classes once a week.  Sometimes she is unable to attend computer classes.  Now, with computer classes at her door step every day she is advancing much more rapidly.  She says, “these classes will help me in the future, because my dream is to be a professional and professionals use computers all the time.” 

Pilar enjoyed her interactions with her teacher in this program.  She thought that the teacher was attentive to all of the students and would help her with all the new things she wanted to learn.

Ricardo, age 11, said that he now has more confidence in his computer classes in school.  He feels he has learned a lot in two months and will continue  to learn everything he can on the computer. 

Ricardo’s father had two sons who participated in this program.  He was very impressed with SC’s initiative, he said he has never seen a program for his kids like this one before.  He wants his children to develop skills to have more options for their future.

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I enjoyed this article very much.My new daughter-in-law is from Bolivia.I am very interested in learning more and also learn to speak the language. Thank you very much. Posted by: Marjorie schaller Nov 9, 2008 @ 5:42 PM EST

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