PWB Nicaragua 2013 – Los Quinchos – San Marcos – Blog 1

By Moira Morrison

We arrived in San Marcos at noon on Tuesday the 5th of March.  It was a high energy PWB re-union after our mid project break – all fresh faced and still buzzing after witnessing the awesome skills of the young circus performers of El Barrilete.  What next?

First we were introduced to our new home, the Chechio Bum Bum Cultural Centre, and what a bonnie house it is!  Next we were introduced to a surprise co-resident of our casa nueva – Memo, a juggling and poi teacher based in San Francisco, who has been working with Los Quinchos for several years and couldn’t quite believe his luck when the PWB circus descended upon him!

The Los Quinchos project is the brainchild of Zelinda Roccia – a larger than life Italian superwoman.  Founded in 1991 the original idea was simple: to offer help and hospitality to the abandoned and mistreated street children of Managua.  On the streets children can be exposed to violence, abuse and sometimes torture.  Drugs, mainly inhaling glue, are also a problem.  Los Quinchos persuades children to leave their lives on the streets and helps re-integrate them into Nicaraguan society.  The motto: Nunca mas un niño en la calle! (Never again a child on the streets!)

Since sewing the seed, Zelinda and her amazing team of madres (mothers) and padres (fathers) have nurtured the growth of Los Quinchos and it is now an amazingly intricate network of homes and support.  The branches of the project stretch across the country and it operates without a penny of Nicaraguan government funding. Awe inspiring.

‘El Filtro’ (the Filter House) is the root venue; situated close to Managau’s Mercato Oriental the house offers children food, washing facilities and medical treatment.  The children are also encouraged to participate in sport and cultural activities and are signed up for school.

After some adaptation time in ‘El Filtro’ children come to ‘La Finca’ (the farm) and ‘Yahoska’ (the girls house) in San Marcos or to ‘La Casa al Lago’ (the house on the lake) in Granada, again they are enrolled in local schools.

Until this month Los Quinchos also ran a project at La Chureca, the horrific 7kmsq dump by the barrio of Acahaulinca on the edge of lake Nicaragua.  La Chureca was the largest open-air landfill in Central America – with 50% of its 1,000+ inhabitants said to be under 18.

Mercifully the clearing of the dump has just been completed.  It has been replaced by a recycling plant, offering employment, and 258 newly constructed cement houses provided by the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for Development and the City of Managua.

PWB are working at ‘La Finca’ and the ‘Yahoska’ until the end of March and what a joy it has been so far.  At the moment there are are around 30 boys aged 7-13 living at ‘La Finca’ and 24 girls aged 8-16 in the ‘Yahoska’.  The children have rolling responsibilities for cooking, cleaning and general maintenance of their homes.

What Los Quinchos has done for these children is immeasurable – providing security and companionship as well as education, responsibility and opportunity.  Zelinda has built a micro community for her children in San Marcos.  As well as the two houses there is the Cultural Centre, Chechio Bumbum and the Barrio House which consists of La Biblioteca, a library with internet café, and La Osteria, an Italian restaurant with performance space.  When they are old enough the Quinchos are able to work in the pizzeria and in the office, earning money that is put into savings accounts for them. Older Quinchos members, educadores (educators), help with the running of the ‘Finca’ and ‘Yaoska’ and act as mentors for the younger and newer members.

Los Quinchos has done so much for these children but has also brought so much to the local community. Any strain that an extra 50+ children might have put on local education resources was instantly abated by the genius idea of building the Barrio house opposite the school – the library and restaurant are frequented by locals and Quinchos together.

Since arriving PWB have taught workshops and hosted open play sessions in both venues every day. We have also managed to squeeze in a show for Los Quinchos in La Osteria and 5 other local school performances. The children visit us constantly at the house, just to say ‘Ciao’, and it is emotional to see them growing in confidence and determination in just one week. Their positivity is awe inspiring and also humbling and it is a privilege to be part of their lives for this brief period. I am really excited to see how the project will pan out. Watch this space.

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For more information and for reference please check out:

http://pronica.org/projects/article.php?id=lachureca

http://www.losquinchos.it/index.php?language=eng

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