The Project in Details

This Centre in Riobamba is –the only one in this indigenous area. The centre here offers a home to children from the Riobamba area and sometimes from other provinces (if there is no space anywhere else) who are vulnerable and in trouble with the law.There can be up to 25 or 30 boys resident at a time. Theoretically the boys are all aged between12 and 18 but sometimes boys stay for longer or arrive when they are already over 18. In theory the centre is for boys who have broken the law, in practice the children have often done nothing more than find themselves homeless and the authorities do not know what else to do with them.In Riobamba, They run the rehabilitation centre for the young offenders. This includes workshops making things such as shoes, furniture and handicrafts, and they also keep guinea pigs and rabbits to sell or eat. They have a small patch of land to farm, too. Some of the inmates have committed crimes such as theft and may be there for months, others are simply there because they have been found glue-sniffing or bawling in the street and have to go somewhere until their parents can be found to take responsibility for them, perhaps for a couple of days. Some parents choose not to come and claim their sons. Young illegal immigrants with no paperwork are also brought here. The charity runs a social education programme to try to prevent youngsters getting into trouble with the law, and follow up system to try to ensure that their ex-inmates stay out of trouble.The centre is part-financed by the state, and the Foundation funds rest. Lack of resources is their biggest problem post Dollarisation. Interestingly, there are no facilities in Riobamba for children at risk, only for those who have committed crimes.Riobamba Outreach: As well as the centre, in Riobamba there is also an outreach programme, that aims, through education and training, to prevent the problems they witness at the centre. They also have a follow up scheme to help the boys once they leave their care. This is dome with help of volunteers and the local university.