ADULTS PROGRAMME
Training for the personal and the community development

In the Training Spaces, the women find a place where to get help, share their problems, and a place to think about them and to express themselves. During the three year courses of New Women and also the weekly meetings of Young Mothers, the aim is to get the group to be a reference place from where to contemplate life and its background.

Many mothers come to us overwhelmed by the problems of their adolescent children, and at New Women they find a containment space. By sharing their worries the common characteristics start to appear, and what they thought happened only to them usually is repeated in the rest of the women.

On this year, a new group started the course, and there is another group that is in the second year. Week after week, the coordinators propose different matters, and through workshops, handicrafts and reflections, experiences are shared. This way tools to look at oneself and the reality are provided to assume the diverse situations, and take the initiative to modify them.

As time goes by, trust among the members increases and friendships that grow beyond the group are born. In the same way, the groups continue in time, and the “graduates” have monthly meetings on their own initiative, some of the groups get together to reflect and others cooperate in the organization and promotion of events and activities.

The Young Mothers group has similar goals and dynamics. They have weekly meetings, and what is special about this group is that the members come because the workshops and chats are oriented to matters such as children upbringing, hygiene and nutrition, besides of the women’s personal care and the worries that arise by the group members own initiative.

The Formation Space intends, through these groups, to broaden the women look about their life and to provide tools so that they can be “main characters” in it. As Celia Basabez (graduate from New Women) says: "We talked about our problems in confidence and that opened our minds. Now, together with one of the groups, we want to give in return of what was given to us ".

INTERVIEW TO MARÍA VICTORIA SEQUEIRA
"Since I participate in the Young Education Project, I think in a different way and I am more responsible"

María Victoria is 17 years old and is attending the last year of the secondary school. She participates in the Young Education Programme and receives a scholarship. She has been thinking about whether to study or to work.

María Victoria is an only child and she lives with her mother four blocks far away from EnAcción. She has lived in the neighbourhood all her life in a plain house. “My father lives two blocks away from my house but I do not have a relationship with him. I help my mum with the housework unless I have to study”.

“I like spending my time in the library in consideration of the help I receive. Being in the library helps me to study and to inspire myself. As regards the material I have to read for school, I can read them in the library and go over every detail to learn some more. Since I coordinate the group of catechesis, I am more responsible. Once I agree to be in a place at a particular time, I go there. I like being involved in something and keeping my word. What is more, I am shy and was hard for me to socialize with people. But now if I come across the boys and girls of the group in the street, we greet each other”.

“I imagine myself at some time in the future working in something I can find… I hope it will be in a place where I can develop my knowledge and having my degree. I am thinking of looking for a job next year and once I am settled down start attending a course. Some people say that if I stop studying or attending a course for one year and start working only, it will be more difficult then for me to start again attending a course. But what will happen if I can not support my course? My mum has only temporary jobs and receives money from the Government but it is not much more than that and I will have to give money to her to help with the expenses. I wonder what will I do if I can not finish the course, so I ask myself: "What should I do?".

“The other adolescents lead a different life from mine. Most of them, especially the ones that live near, started going to school and then gave up. Now they live in the streets. They drink alcohol, smoke and rob. That seems to be their life. I think in different way. My mum has always been near me: ‘Victoria you have to finish the 3rd year’ It is tiresome to hear the same thing all the time but it is the true. My friends are going to attend a course next year, that encourages me to do so.

“Some teenagers like studying and others do not. The economic situation, the fights of their parents, the context and the problems at their home influence the teenagers. The time they spend with certain people is an influence on them too. If I spend my time with people that do not do anything and I do, then I wonder 'Why should I do something and they do not? After all they are OK'. Many people think: ‘I do not do anything, I am happy and I do what I want’.

“There has been a significant progress in the neighbourhood. Many people that did not come before, now approach and that is a good way to communicate. When they meet one another they say ‘I have seen you in the group’ and they begin to have a conversation. I hope we will talk and share things among one another. I did not speak to the neighbours who live in front of my house because I did not know them. But when their daughter started coming to catechesis we started to greet. I would like to strike up a friendship with the neighbours. I do not know if it will be possible. Who knows?”.

News in pictures

ADULTS-FAMILIES PROGRAMME: school for parents about addictions; accompaniment to families, prevention of respiratory diseases. +pictures

YOUTH PROGRAMME: nutrition for sportsmen; parents and children in Young Education; public presentation of the Musical Workshop students. +pictures

CHILDREN PROGRAMME: Holidays Camp started; the Games Space was re-opened; admission day for the Mental Health Service. +pictures