WHAT’S YOUR WISH FOR THIS CHRISTMAS?

But is your wish for Christmas compatible with theirs?

“And so this is Christmas, for weak and for strong, for rich and the poor ones, the world is so wrong.
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, let's hope it's a good one, without any fear” - Yoko Ono & John Lennon

As yet another Christmas rapidly approaches us, so do the screaming needs of the many children still living on the streets of the big cities. Reflecting over the needs of impoverished and underprivileged people, we are constantly obliged to question our own attitudes, especially during this week of Christmas celebration. Whilst entire populations around the world are spending more than ever before, profiting those who already have far more than their fair share in such an unfair society, millions of children still have nothing more to expect from Father Christmas than just another day of suffering.

So, are your wishes for Christmas compatible with theirs?

Mahatma Gandhi’s words are still appropriate today, even more so than when he first spoke them:
“THE RICH MUST LIVE MORE SIMPLY SO THAT THE POOR MAY SIMPLY LIVE.”

A simple rule, which if abided to, would signify changes, and with that I mean big changes for many of those innocent children still suffering on the streets, who probably would never have even reached that point in the first place had we all taken heed of Gandhi’s simple, humane philosophy.


Robison and Eduardo were just two of the many children living on the streets of São Paulo in 1998, until CARF took action . . .

Children of the streets all over the world are probably this very moment reaping the benefits of our bad conscience, picking up the left-over change at the traffic junctions in every big city, whilst the really heavy cash flows freely as never before in the mega shopping centres of those same cities.

But have you ever stopped and thought about their wishes for Christmas? Questioned if your petty cash at the crossroads will really help them realise those dreams? I doubt very much! So why not join forces and channel those millions of insignificant donations (which when united become quite significant amounts) to the organisations dedicated to social change. Then surely many of those very same children will receive real opportunities and fulfil not only their Christmas wishes, but also their profound desire to lead new and dignified lives.

The Children At Risk Foundation – CARF is just one of those organisations willing to invest in what seems to be a pretty hopeless situation for the many children living on the streets in Brazil. But as we know that things are not as hopeless as they seemingly appear and that our past actions have also proven otherwise, we choose to continue investing in those children in the hope that many more of you will join our efforts.

 
Thanks to our supporters and our efforts, Eduardo and Robison have gradually broken the vicious circle of survival in which they were imprisoned. Handouts on the streets sustained their abuse of heavy drugs and tragic lyfestyle instead of sustaining the programme which helped rescue them.

Please don’t support a child from your car window, you will be supporting poverty and sustaining an inhuman lifestyle, just like all those who did nothing more than to sustain kids like Eduardo and Robison above, imprisoned in their vicious circle of abandonment. Instead channel those “insignificant” handouts to CARF Brasil or any other organisation of your preference, so that your action becomes a significant contribution in the hands of those capable of making the necessary changes to the lives of those still suffering.

I take this opportunity to thank all of you who have generously supported our actions during the last year and hope that you will continue to follow us in 2005, in our mission to defend the rights of abandoned street children and other children at risk, offering them a dignified and definitive solution so that they may live and grow within a family-oriented context and healthy social environment.

Please feel free to channel any left-overs you may have from this year’s Christmas shopping by simply clicking on old Santa here. I guarantee you that he will certainly put your money to work in the right direction for the children. - Gregory J. Smith, Founder, CARF.

FOLLOW-UP BY NORWEGIAN TV

Hairdressing at Hummingbird - Cut! Cut! No! Not the filming, his hair!

“ Capturing and disseminating these hopeful images of a better future for Brazil’s many underprivileged children is the best way of creating public awareness and mobilizing
support for our actions. ”

During the last year, any newcomers to CARF’s recuperation and prevention centre in São Paulo would have probably mistaken the colourful, thriving village of Hummingbird for something close to a Hollywood film studio, due to the fact that they would most likely have bumped into a camera lens at one time or another (if not that, then maybe the peaceful cows passing-by from the neighbourhood!). Having been the scene for several documentary programmes for television channels in the US, Brazil and Norway recently, it must have been quite impossible not to imagine oneself as the new Shirley Temple or Macaulay Culkin during all the film takes! Keep your heads on straight kids! No need to panic! This is not some Hollywood movie, just a real-life extract of the day-to-day life at our Hummingbird Activity Centre, where more than 600 children and young people spend most of their time, before or after normal school hours. Latest in line on our clapboard is a follow-up of a documentary film made in 1994 by NRK’s Egil Rafto, reflecting over the past ten years of CARF and Gregory Smith’s actions to protect street children and other children at risk from some of the harsh realities of Brazilian society. Sorry to say, Egil passed away on 7th. January 1997 before he had a chance to realise his ideas for a follow-up of the ’94 film. Knowing well of his intentions, journalist friend and colleague, Steiner Birkeland, took it upon himself to realise Egil’s desire to make this follow-up, together with cameraman Thomas Hellum, both from the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation – NRK.

It seems that the neighbourhood’s cows enjoy just as much our football grounds as do our children. Seeing the moving images and listening to the sounds through a digital camera is a fascinating experience for the children. Easy to notice the difference in the optimistic smiles of the children at Hummingbird, compared to those on the streets. Our colourful thriving village at Hummingbird prevents children from going to the streets. Fading away in their fantasy world by sniffing glue and abusing other drugs is often the only possibility of escaping the realities of the streets.

Trying to make the most of what little one has is a common plight for most children from poverty stricken communities in Brazil. The efforts of NGO’s like ours is of great value to them.

Besides sporadic film-takes in Norway, a solid week’s filming onsite in Brazil was necessary to record enough material for the new documentary. Being as most of CARF’s activities in Brazil are centred in and around their Hummingbird Activity Centre, this also became the obvious base for our film crew from Norway. Filming took place all hours of the day and night, under whatever circumstances happened to appear, the idea having been to capture the reality of CARF and Gregory Smith’s efforts during the last ten years recuperating street children in Brazil. This was no easy task as the work of CARF has multiple facets and affects a multitude of children together with their families from the communities that surround Hummingbird. Filming in the favelas was a must if one was to better understand the reasons for CARF’s Street Migration Prevention Programme in this region. Not to mention the situation still evident for many of Brazil’s abandoned children, doomed to a tough life on the streets of the country’s mega cities. In contrast to these disheartening scenes came the explosion of happy smiles from all the contented children at Hummingbird. Following threads sown in 1993 to 1994, it was important to follow-up on the lives of the first street children taken off the streets during the initial years of CARF’s activities in São Paulo’s city centre. Here were many enlightening stories, but also tragic ones too that needed to be told.

Filming attracts a great deal of attention in the underprivileged communities and most children love the opportunity to perform in front of the camera. Life at home is quite contrasting to that at Hummingbird. For many children this fulfils an empty space in their lives and prevents them from pursuing other solutions, like seeking the streets for excitement or peace of mind. A fantasy world created by drugs is not necessary at Hummingbird, where most dreams can become a reality if a child really wants to follow his or her desires. A smile is never far off at the Hummingbird Activity Centre, where peace and respect for each other is a pre-requisite.

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The results of all these efforts will be made available to television viewers on the 10th. January 2005, when the finished film is due to be released on NRK television in Norway.
NB! You can now watch the film "Kolibrimannen"

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8 years of working preventively in our community has created bonds and established respectful relationships. These themselves are qualities which prevent many at-risk children from hitting the streets.

Why not light a candle at Christmas in support of the children in our Street Migration Prevention Programme at the Hummingbird Activity Centre. Please make your safe online contribution by clicking on the photo below. All donations to our Street Children's Memorial Fund support this programme.

REHABILITATION IN CRISIS!

The São Paulo youth rehabilitation system institutes reforms.

Youth in Conflict with the Law

For those of us working with children and youth in conflict with the law, it comes as no surprise that the Foundation for the Well-Being of Minors – FEBEM, is once again the object of criticism by those fighting to protect the rights of Brazil’s younger citizens. Any minimally decent human being with respect for human dignity would react strongly to the degrading and humiliating conditions many of Brazil’s youth in conflict with the law are being held under.

The situation, even after such drastic actions as the one ordered by São Paulo’s once State Governor, the since deceased Dr. Mario Covas, has not changed for the better. In 1999 Covas ordered the immediate demolition of São Paulo’s main Febem youth detention complex “Imigrantes”, following internal riots among the more than 2500 detained youngsters, which caused the death of several of them. The complex was originally meant to cater for only 1200.


The remains of the FEBEM youth detention complex “Imigrantes” after its demolition. Several of CARF’s former street children have spent time behind the walls of this “concentration camp” during the authorities feeble attempts to remove them from the streets.

An international expert on prison conditions, invited to accompany an Amnesty International delegation to Brazil in October 1999, wrote in his report of São Paulo's juvenile detention centres: “I should say as clearly as possible that I have never seen children kept in such appalling conditions...In my view the place should be closed down.”

In the July 2000 Amnesty International report “Waste of LIves”, the FEBEM Juvenile Detention Centres in São Paulo were referred to as: “a human rights crisis, not a public security issue”.

But still the material presented below collected from various sources by COAV – Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence presents the same situation presented by Amnesty’s report more than four years ago. The system is obviously failing, whilst the problem of youth in conflict with the law in Brazil steadily grows at a frustrating rate, in pace with the production of hoards of inadequately prepared youngsters from an extremely deficient public school system. The fact that decent jobs in Brazil are few and far between, even for those with good enough qualifications from private schools and universities, doesn’t make the situation any easier. For many, a world of crime is their only solution for survival.

 
The problems of youth in conflict with the law in Brazil steadily grows at a frustrating rate. The famed bus hijacking by a former street kid, survivor from the even more famous Candelaria assassination of 8 street children in Rio de Janeiro in 1993, was a horrifying example of the failing system.

I have no doubt that programmes similar to our own Street Migration Prevention Programme at Hummingbird, situated only a few miles away from the ruins of the FEBEM complex at Imigrantes, need to be adopted and implemented by the state system if we are to even come anything close to what we can call a solution. If we merely let another four years pass without implementing some drastic changes to this system then I’m afraid we will have to face even more violence and death in our struggle to rehabilitate the public victims of these heavily state-sponsored “Criminal Factories”. - Gregory J. Smith, CARF.

The nurturing environment of our Hummingbird Activity Centre in Diadema, Saõ Paulo, facilitates the participation of all children and young people, no matter what their past may hide.

01 December 2004 – There are 77 juvenile rehabilitation units of the Fundação Estadual do Bem-Estar do Menor (FEBEM). The system houses in the state of São Paulo 5,700 juveniles, watched over by nearly 9,000 employees. FEBEM has been regularly accused of housing adolescents in sub-human conditions, allowing the practice of torture, and not abiding by Brazil’s Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA).

Over the last 20 months, 13 adolescents have died in FEBEM units. Even though directors known for their human rights advocacy have headed the system, FEBEM continues to be plagued by rebellions and accusations of abuse by employees.

“Autopsies show that summary executions have occurred,” says Heloísa Machado de Almeida, lawyer of the human rights organization Conectas. The organisation is taking the system to court and is demanding compensation for victims of abuse.

The Brazilian courts ruled that the system had until November to institute reforms and improved hygiene and sanitation. If it does not do so, the president of FEBEM will have to pay 1,000 Reais (approx. USD$350) per day out of his own pocket.

 
The high number of incarcerated youth in Brazil reflects the immensity of the problem. Torture in youth detention centres has been a central theme in many passed reports but still continues.

New regulations

In October, FEBEM announced new internal regulations, with the rights and duties of adolescents in the system clearly defined. The document, which says that the foundation will be open to human rights activists, represents the biggest change in the system, at least on paper, since 1976.

“There were sporadic norms and decisions made, which involved disciplining individual units, but there was no overall regulation,” says state secretary of Justice Alexandre de Moraes. “Many times, the adolescent does not know what his role is or what his rights are,” says Child and Youth public defender Wilson Tafner.

With the adoption of the new regulations, certain rules must be followed, such as calling adolescents by their names. Infractions are classified on a scale from minor to major, with specific punishment for each classification. The harshest punishment is semi-isolation, for no more than five days.

According to Child and Youth Court judge Mônica Paukoski, adolescents with good behaviour who show an interest in cultural and sports activities will receive benefits, such as group outings, weekend visits and letters detailing good conduct to be sent to the Child courts.

“Transparency and normalisation were, for the judiciary, fundamental,” says the judge.

Every three months, FEBEM will evaluate the behaviour of interns. “If he shows that he is ready to return to society, we will send the evaluation to the judiciary. The idea is to shorten their waiting time,” says the state secretary.


Capoeira is probably the most important integrational activity at Hummingbird, where 250 children and young people representing many different backgrounds participate. See: Capoeira Beija-Flor

Deaths and break-outs

The last FEBEM death was in August, when an 18 year-old was hung. In January, two 17 year-olds were shot. In June of last year, another 17 year-old died of burns.

In 2004, FEBEM registered more than 716 break-outs, with 348 adolescents re-captured. In July, 30 employees at the Raposo Tavares complex in the city of São Paulo were accused of beating interns with sticks and gas canisters. The Public Ministry opened an investigation into the incident, which also received the attention of Amnesty International.

 
Rebellions are common place in almost all units of FEBEM where youth in conflict with the law are incarcerated. This heated up situation outside the Franco da Rocha complex, which was supposed to substitute the infamous Imigrantes complex, also ended up with deaths.

As a result, FEBEM president Marcos Monteiro suspended Raposo Tavares director José Christiano Viana. In addition, the justice system investigated the unit and concluded that the interns had been kept under lock-down – without access to a recreational patio, to the dining room and to bathrooms.

Sources: Istoé, 20/9; O Estado de S. Paulo, 12/8; Folha de S. Paulo – 20/10.
For this article in Portuguese, please click here!

Read HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH latest report on the situation, just released: “REAL DUNGEONS” - Juvenile Detention in the State of Rio de Janeiro

New report reveals the state of juvenile detention centres in Brazil

10 December 2004 - Overcrowded, filthy and violent. The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report “Real Dungeons: Juvenile Detention in the State of Rio de Janeiro,” released on December 7, casts a grim picture on the state of adolescent detention centers in Rio de Janeiro. The Department of Socio-Educational Action (DEGASE), the authority responsible for maintaining the centers, reacted to the report with surprise and anger. - COAV

“Free us from FEBEM!” Drawing by Marcos Vinicius do Nascimento at The Hummingbird Activity Centre