La casa de Panchita is a
house where I mainly work. Actual house was opened in 2001 and since
then it
has been visited regularly by a number of people, mainly women and children. They
help
domestic workers and it is part of NGO (non-governmental organization)
Asociación Grupo de Trabajo Redes (AGTR), which turns 24 years next week. Their
main focus is to spread and defend the rights of the excluded people, mainly domestic workers.(See La casa de Panchita )
House is open 7 days a week
and most activities are free of charge. They offer tutoring in
schoolwork, access to library, English classes, employment and placement in
domestic services, legal advise in labor problems and in formalities to obtain
personal documents, consultation in sexual and reproductive health, guidance in
emotional problems, workshops (self-esteem, duties and rights, dance, dynamic
theatres, manual work, cooking and etc).
  |
| Sunday cooking class and French lesson |
They have several projects
going on outside the house as well. For example a Biblioteka (in less wealthy
area of Lima) where children can come after school and get help with their
homework. They can bring their siblings that they most often need to look
after. At the moment I go there twice a week.
 |
| A local volunteer at Biblioteka |
 |
| Boys waiting for doors to open at Biblioteka |
Sunday is the busiest day, because that is the day off for domestic workers and then there are several workshops going on in the house, art, cooking, English, drama etc. and some special programs for children, who are brought here by bus from the area where they live. Day passed by very fast and its fun too see many people around. Last two Sundays I've been working with children <3
  |
| Making their own superheroes |
 |
Superhero exhibition!!! Looking at all the amazing pieces of art
(using recycling materials)
These superheroes have special powers and now each child has her/his own superhero at home.
 |
Then it's time to study about their rights and responsibilities, before going out to play to get some fresh air.
There are parks near by. Just less than 5 minutes walk from the house and you have plenty of space to play what ever you feel like.
The longest skipping rope I've ever seen, but seems to work.
Some prefer to play football or "volleyball"
Who cares as long as you have a ball!
After the park it's time for a short evaluation and feedback about their day. Then it's time for a bus to take them home!
Besides all that I´m taking
part of the capacity building workshops in the house, I´m getting to know the
law and the situation of domestics workers in Peru. I was aware of the bad situation of domestic
workers in Peru before coming here, but the reality hit me after meeting some domestic workers and even more when reading about the law. Pamphlet does not just present the law but the violation that domestic workers are faced with in their work.
Examples are real stories from child domestic workers.
Some of you may wonder what is a domestic
workers and what does she do, because it is not common to have one in Finland for example. Domestic labor is huge in Peru. The Ministry of
Labor estimates that there are about 700 thousand household workers in Peru,
although there are no official statistics. Of the 700 thousand it is estimated
that about 120 thousand are children and adolescents that perform this work. The
fact is that domestic child labor is one of the most worrying forms of child
labor. It seems to be an “invisible” activity in Peru. Basically domestic workers can do everything at home, clean, cook, laundry, look after children, go shopping etc. list can be very long sometimes. (Domestic workers in Peru)
How many of you could imagine your children at the age of twelve working 12
hours a day 7 days a week and get paid 20 e per month. In between or in the
evening they would go to school and try to find time or energy to do their homework some time of their busy day usually before bedtime.
They might be given just a mattress to sleep on the floor and a cold water to
wash, even if there is a warm water in the house. How would you feel if your
child was working on that kind of conditions. Here and in many others countries it is everyday reality for millions of children.
One of the basic human right is of course right to have a decent rest. Here it means that domestic workers have one day off in week, however employers don´t respect that right neither their working hours. Therefore especially under aged children end up working for 7 days a week without having almost any time off, except the ones, who go to school (which is not really a time off but at least they don´t do any physical work while being at school).
Personally for me was difficult to understand that in Peru people who defend and fight rights for women are not willing to defend the right of the domestic workers WHO ARE WOMEN TOO, because it’s in a conflict with their own interest (they want to be served on Sundays because it is their day off) not thinking that their workers have been working the whole week as well! Worst for me is the fact that how badly children are treated and abused often by their own family members or godparents, not to mention their employers.
UNBELIEVABLE!!!
More, in my opinion this shows that domestic workers are not treated equally as human beings. Many people here think that these people don´t deserve any rights, because many of them come from the rural areas. But what difference does it make where you come from or what is your background? Does it give a right to treat people differently, simply because they look different, speak differently or come from somewhere else?
Why so many human beings have a tendency to put oneself above other person just because they have money and they are educated?
To me we are all the same, despite of the color, sex, social class, etc. we should treat and be treated equally and we should have the same rights. I prefer people who are honest, sincere and have a good heart, nothing else matters. Therefore I can only admire and respect the work that these people do here at the La casa de Panchita and many of them are volunteers.
Happy Birthday and Thank you La casa de Panchita, amazing 24 years of helping people!!!
Keep up the good work!!!
I wish your dreams may come true!!!
A video about La casa de Panchita. English subtitles.
I WORK THERE AND WITH THESE PEOPLE.
More videos about the topic:
Domestic workers in Peru
Domestic workers
Child labour
No comments:
Post a Comment