By Fr. Rudy Ramos, CICM

Suru

On the playground of Sao Martinho, a six year old child is crying alone. Her name is Luciana but everybody calls her Suru. She has just quarreled with her friends in kindergarten. On her shoulder is the mark of the burns. They told me that year ago her mother had heated a spoon and hit the shoulder of Suru. The mother was drunk. Three years before her husband had left her. 

Luciana has five brothers and sisters much older than her. Each one has a different father. Angela, the mother, has no fixed husband. It is the children who suffer.

Sao Matinho Nursery

Luciana has been in the nursery of Sao Martinho for already two years. The Nursery is being maintained by the parish of Sao Francisco de Assis, Diocese of Nova Aguacu, Brazil. I am the parish priest here. I pitied this little girl and gave her a home at the nursery. I am the parish priest here, I pitied this little girl and gave her a home at the nursery. There are 24 girls and boys who enter everyday from AM to 4:00 PM. They are age from 3 to 6 years old.. Almost all are the children of women left by their husbands. Their mothers are obliged to work outside the house to maintain their families. Some work as cooks; other work as labanderas; some are streetcleaners; other sell bread early in the morning; one or two are prostitutes.

Exodus

The majority came from other states of Brazil. They escaped from the poverty of the rural areas to fall into the misery of the big city. They came to Nova Iguacu, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. They squatted in vacant areas. Overnight they constructed sheds covered by plastic and carton and installed the little things they had. It was not easy. The municipal government tried to expel them.

 There were threats, fights and expulsions and the sheds constructed by them were burned. A few days later they returned and reconstructed what remained of their dwellings.

There was no place else to go But this time there was the support of the Church, the Catholic Caritas and the Commission of Human Rights. In the end they stayed and had their piece of land legalized.

Working Mothers

It was here that the struggle for survival started. They had to acquire jobs to make a decent house and to sustain their family. It was here that the idea of having a children’s nursery started. It was to help the mothers to work and earn some money for survival. The children could not stay alone in the house. At this point the Catholic Caritas constructed a community center with a kitchen, hall, and playground. From this a nursery was organized with a small health center. For six year Caritas was responsible for the nursery. They the nursery was turned over to the Parish of St. Francis of Assisi.

It is not easy to maintain a nursery in a poor place like Nova Iguacu. But when we see the children playing singing and laughing, the feelings we have are so good that we forget the problems.

Dawning of a new life

Our nursery hopes to educate the mothers also through their children. Every month the mothers are invited to a meeting. The nursery serves also for the work of conscientization for the parish of St. Francis of Assisi. I appealed to the whole parish to help maintain the needs of the nursery through campaigns for food, milk and other things. Little by little the parishioners understood that to be a Christian is more than going to Mass on Sundays.

This new social awareness is beginning to show some fruits. At present we have enough food supply to maintain the nursery. Different groups have been organized to handle different needs. We still depend on the help of people to cover other expenses such as the salaried of the personnel and electric and water bills.

Despite all these difficulties, is the smile of a child not worth it?