St Bernadette's Children's Centre - Photo: Fr Toney Coney SSC
Although the Children’s Centre can be seen from a long way off, being perched precariously on top of a hillside, it is the sound of children playing that first gives one an inkling of the purpose of the building. Walking up the steep, dusty hillside, passing houses made of wood and reed matting, or others, half-finished, of bare rustic brick, the sound of musical instruments and the happy tones of laughter increase.
On reaching the top of the hill, the children scurry past, all headed towards the Centre, where a warm welcome greets everyone that enters. Here the children experience the freedom to be children and, as a result, can joyfully participate in the many activities on offer. It’s their space.
It wasn’t long after I arrived in the parish of Huandoy in 1995 that I met Christina, who was then only four years old. She lived in a small shack on the side of Corn Hill, made of straw matting, cardboard, bits of wood and anything else that could be found to keep out the strong winds that often swept up from the coast a short way off.
All the family, consisting of several brothers and sisters along with the mother, lived in the one room that made up the shack, with several of them sharing the only bed. Despite the poverty of their situation, Christina was a bright, happy child whose joy in life was contagious to all who had the good fortune to cross her path.
Many children live in similar conditions as Christina. Watching them play in the dirt or minding younger siblings outdoors while waiting for the mother to return, I wondered what could be done to improve their situation and offer them better opportunities to develop. After several months, I had a meeting with the local prayer group, and we talked about the possibilities. Christina, true to nature, attended the meeting herself and was very enthusiastic about the idea of opening a Centre solely for the participation of the children.
Columban Fr Tony Coney with the children at St Bernadette's Children's Centre. - Photo: Fr Tony Coney
As providence would have it, close to Christina’s home, there was a house for sale on the pinnacle of the hill, which I was able to buy. Immediately, I started looking for funds to do the renovations necessary to receive the children. The weeks slipped by, eventually becoming months, and I was starting to feel that the venture was a huge mistake when one Sunday, I went to the Columban Centre house only to discover a substantial cheque had arrived from my home parish of St Bernadette’s.
The Centre started on a very small scale with, on average, 70 children in attendance. Our philosophy, very much influenced by A. S. Neill’s book Summerhill, was to allow the children the freedom of the Centre so that they could do exactly what they desired and could grow in the way they wanted, with the only request being that they respect the freedom of the other children. It was a huge success from the start.
In the intervening years, we have responded to the needs the children themselves have expressed by opening a library where they can do their homework, equipping play areas, providing workshops of music, dance, arts and crafts etc. and, in short, giving them the space to discover and develop their talents. We have even had a psychologist come in to help with different personal problems the children were at times displaying. Over the years, with the help of so many people and interested groups, we have expanded to such an extent that we now have an average of 500 children, out of a pool of 1,200, coming to us daily.
Christina has always been one of our more regular participants. One day, she will very possibly work with us, as some of the older children of the initial years are now doing. She would be ideal, given her experience with us over the years and her desire to help others. In her own words, she writes, “At the beginning, some of us went to the Centre for our lunch. I started in the area of small children up to five years as I was only four then and enjoyed playing on the swings and roundabouts and with the jig-saw puzzles. I had a lot of friends and felt very contented as we received a lot of affection and were treated like one big happy family.
“When I started school, I went every day to the library, where the staff helped me with my homework. They were very patient, and I was able to carry on learning. In the workshops, I learned how to make bracelets, necklaces, key rings, and many other things.
“At home, though, often I felt very lonely and sad because my parents were separated, and my mum had to go out to work. Even now, I sometimes feel sad because there are several of us brothers and sisters, and I have to look after the smaller ones, making me feel as if I’m the mother who has to do everything. But in the Children’s Centre, I can forget all my sadness and problems. It’s there that I have learned to become a responsible, ordered, hard-working and sociable girl. I still participate in the workshops, making what I need for myself as there is no money to buy these things. I really hope that the Children’s Centre can keep supporting all the children that need its help just as it has helped me.”
Columban Fr Toney Coney lives and works in Peru.
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Related links
- Read more from The Far East - August 2023
