That Friday Feeling...Casa Alianza Style

Friday is one of my favourite days at Casa Alianza Nicaragua.  There`s the obvious factor that it means the end of the week, and a bit of a rest after another intense week, but also because a few special things that happen at Casa Alianza on a Friday afternoon.

To set the scene, its time to introduce on this blog the work of the Casa Alianza Nicaragua, Family Reintegration Team.  It is our intention that every kid living at our residential centers, will ultimately be reintegrated in a healthy and sustainable fashion, with members of their family, or, if this is not possible, in a safe and sustainable environment. 

The Family Reintegration Team starts a process for every child and teenager in our protection centers, so that their reinsertion into society, in a way which does not involve falling back into former behavior patterns, is possible and easy to reach.  The Team organizes weekend visits for the kids that we are able to send out of our residential center, and ensures monitoring and feedback of these visits.

The Team also works with the families of the children in question.  As you can imagine, the problems which force a child onto the street or into very high risk situation often come from within the family itself.  As such, the team conducts regular workshops, visits and training opportunities for family members, in order to try and tackle some of the root causes behind the problems facing the child. 

This aspect of the work of Casa Alianza Nicaragua is vital, in order to ensure we are tackling and trying to provide solutions to as many aspects of the problems as possible.

So anyway, back to Friday.  On a Friday afternoon, the families in question come to visit the kids at our residential centers, and then the kids who are able to leave for the weekend, head off with them.  I always love to have the opportunity to speak to family members, and every now and again, it is possible to see a kid laughing and sharing some food with members of their family, all sitting round and sharing stories.  When this does happen on Friday, it really is a wonderful thing to be part of us.

Of course, it isn`t always a good time for all the kids.  There are often plenty of kids who are left feeling neglected and disappointed when their family has not been able to come to visit them. There are many parents who face the same substance addiction problems as their kids, and this explains their erratic behavior and sometimes inability to come and visit.  Other parents come from such poverty, that even though we cover their transport costs, it is too much for them to leave whatever subsistence work they are doing, to visit their kids.  In these cases, we have to work hard with the kids, to help take away this renewed feeling of neglect.  But for the one`s who are able to spend a bit of time with their family, and start the process for something that we might consider a `normal` and healthy family life, it really is a wonderful thing to be part of. 

So this Friday, I spent the morning coordinating a whole series of team activities, games and exercises requiring them to think, as a team ways to improve and plans to keep moving forward.  I then spent a large part of the afternoon speaking to some of the families, and sharing my insight into the necessary steps to help provide their kids with the values they need.

It was a very good Friday, and as I left in the evening, just before the daily storm rolled in, it was defiantly a great Friday feeling, and the Casa Alianza style makes it that much better.