“Violence against children is prevalent in each country where it is measured. Every survey conducted to date concerning violence against children has found that it is a significant and prevalent problem,” warns a??about this situation in Latin America and the Caribbean. To contribute to addressing such issue, the?, a member institution of the?United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI)?in Paraguay, became part of the JERE Volunteer Program.
The program, created by the??aims to prevent violence against children in the so-called ‘triple border’ of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. JERE, which in the Guarani language means “spin,” helps train university students to prevent and reduce violence in vulnerable communities throughout the country using the UPSHIFT methodology. The latter, also developed by UNICEF, has already been used in other countries in the region, such as Guatemala and Nicaragua.
The goal is the development of soft skills such as leadership, teamwork, communication, innovation, and creativity among young people. According to its?, “through a combination of outreach and inspiration, human-centered design workshops, mentorship and coaching and, in some cases, seed funding, participants gain valuable transferable skills.” Within that framework, UCSA has implemented three projects as a direct result of the capacity-building program in which the institution’s undergraduates were involved.
University students from UCSA received comprehensive instruction enabling them to raise awareness among impoverished and underprivileged communities in Paraguay regarding several critical issues of social nature affecting them, as well as the need to increase understanding among children, adolescents, parents, and caregivers. One of these projects was developed in the city of Luque within the small community of Tarumandy, in which over a hundred families depend on communal food services.
The volunteer students delivered a series of in-person workshops on countering physical and psychological violence and used a wide range of recreational actions to expand the scope of their message, reaching 47 families with 89 children and young people between the ages of 2 and 17. In parallel, in the city of Asunción, the country's capital, the project ‘Angatu’ was implemented through field visits targeting individuals in Barrio San Francisco, addressing, among others, the issue of trafficking in persons.
Although this community in particular had, generally speaking, adequate infrastructure conditions, there was enough evidence of an alarming lack of sufficient knowledge on the subject of child exploitation and human trafficking. There was also a perceived deficit detected concerning psychological support for children and adolescents and an overall hostile environment for many of them. With this in mind, UCSA volunteer students used the “teaching through fiction” approach, called “superhero training.”
The idea was to promote the learning of technical concepts on core school subjects in a safe and joyful environment through board games and other ludic activities, highlighting the role of education as the only way to have a life free from violence. On that note, the other project by UCSA volunteer students was the ‘Kakuaa Pora’ at the Divino Ni?o and María Auxiliadora settlements, where unfavorable social conditions are prevalent. There, psychologists and lawyers explained how to act and where to go whenever domestic violence occurs.
“Many of the kids even approach us to tell us stories about their own lives, what they keep with themselves, and I think that is part of our job too,” commented Mabel Acosta, one of the volunteer students. “Particularly my experience after visiting families and their children, and working with them, is that I truly believe that we all have to be the answer to the calls or prayers made by those children that need us as well as our time and support, and it is possible for the help of everybody,” she added.
