The day care center “Jardim Marabá”
is located in the eastern zone of Londrina in the Marabá district, one of the poorest areas of the city. About 130 children between the ages of two and five are cared for there from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Many of the parents are unemployed. If they have any income at all, the mother is usually a domestic worker with a low wage, the father a day laborer who collects the rubbish on the street and gives it to recycling for a very small fee. This fact leads to the already weak family structure being shaken more and more. Since it is already difficult for an average family in Brazil to get by with the monthly income, it is even more so for the families in the aforementioned catchment or “melting pot” area. Not infrequently they have to fight for survival and only have the bare minimum, if at all. Because of this, crime, drug trafficking and drug addiction are increasing.
Helping the children from the poor areas
The children come from three surrounding favelas (slum areas): “Santa Fé”, “Monte Cristo” and “Jardim Marabá”. Since the parents or the single parent are dependent on paying for the necessities of life, the children are mostly left to their own devices and receive little support. As a result, when they start school, they do not have the right skills to keep up with the other children. They quickly lose the motivation they need to go to school and simply stay at home. Even if it is possible to meet the requirements, children from this segment of the population seldom get beyond the 4th year of primary school, as they very soon have to help support the family.
By bringing up the children well, we want to make a contribution to improving the living conditions of the children and their families, as far as we can.
A social project of the school “Mãe de Deus”
The day care center is connected to our school “Mãe de Deus” in Londrina as a social project. One of our sisters is responsible for administration and pedagogical orientation. The sister responsible for training primary school teachers is at her side with the students who do their internship there. We also have 13 employees who are responsible for looking after the children, cleaning and the kitchen.
Economic worries
The day care center, a simple hall of around 300 square yards, is built on an area of about 1,000 square yards. We took it over in 2006 from an administrative commission assigned to the city administration and it was in a very precarious state. Repairs and improvements have been necessary since then. However, since the necessary financial resources are lacking, everything can only be tackled gradually.
The city administration gives financial support for feeding the children, but for all other expenses, we ourselves have to pay — like medical care, preparation for school entry and support for families. Now, in the time of the pandemic, we are helping families with food parcels.
Thanks to the help of our benefactors, the roof of the day care center has meanwhile been renewed because it threatened to collapse.
We are currently facing the major challenge of renovating the yard and playground. The floor has so many holes that playing there is dangerous or even impossible for the children.
We thank everyone who helps us to let the children experience a second home here.
Password: Maraba, Londrina
Mission center of the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary
Mount Schoenstatt 6
56179 Vallendar
Tel .: +49 261 6404-311
Email: missionszentrale@s-ms.org
Bank details: LIGA Bank eG
IBAN: DE10 7509 0300 0000 058920
BIC: GENODEF1M05 Economic worries