Art of Harvesting

Sor María Ludovica works to empower the economically marginalized families in Tolosa by providing free childcare, educational activities, and micro-enterprise support. Its goals are to:

• Aid in the social development and integration of the children
• Provide nutritional meals for local families
• Teach extracurricular activities in the areas of art and literature
• Provide a space for adult literacy courses
• Offer capacity-building workshops for vocational education, including bread-making, beekeeping, and sewing
• Support micro-enterprise initiatives for the parents of children at Sor María Ludovica
• Collaborate with the local health center to provide nutrition and health workshops for the community

 

Program Information

 

1.Child Development

The goal of the Child Development Program is to provide stimulating activities to help to keep neighborhood children off the streets and motivate them to stay in school. While the children (ages 2 to 13) are at the center, they participate in organized activities and play games with each other. In the past, the center provided the children with academic support, but there is no longer a teacher available for homework help. Sor María Ludovica would like to develop engaging activities for the children, such as workshops that promote social development in communication, group work, and leadership skills.

 

Opportunities

• Develop and implement an athletic education program
• Provide homework help for children and adolescents
• Create nutrition workshops to promote healthy consumption habits and, specifically, to improve meals prepared by the center and families of the neighborhood
• Aid in the development and implementation of workshops that promote social development for children and adolescents. Possible workshop themes include, but are not limited to:

o        Communication

o        Group work

o        Social and cultural values

o        Leadership skills

• Create workshops that provide extracurricular education for children and adolescents. Topics include but are not limited to:

o        Computers

o        Art

o        Writing

o        Literature

o        Physical education

o        Dance

o        English

• Research funding opportunities and write grants
• Organize community fundraiser to raise money for toys, books and other supplies

 

Requirements

• Intermediate to Advanced Spanish
• Background in teaching, child psychology, fundraising, and/or related fields
• Ability to work with children from disadvantaged backgrounds
• Must be creative and be able to take initiative

 

2.     Community Development

A great deal of community involvement has been generated through support programs that reach out to local families. The following is a list of activities that Sor María Ludovica supports to promote community development:

• Provide meals to local families: To meet the nutritional needs of close to 100 children and adults who attend Sor María Ludovica, the center provides an afternoon snack and dinner, Monday through Friday.
• Micro-enterprise development: A block away from the day center is a bakery micro-enterprise. Young people who have taken bakery classes at Sor María Ludovica are now running the business, which is supervised by a staff member of Sor María Ludovica. The bakery provides bread to the comedor and sells the rest in the community. Sor María Ludovica would like to develop a sewing micro-enterprise for the mothers of the children who assist the center.
• Adult education: From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., the center provides space for an adult primary school. It is currently trying to start up a secondary school for adults.
• Health: Sor María Ludovica works with the local area health center to collaborate on nutrition and health workshops for the community. In 2007 and 2008, it hopes to focus on weight issues and ways to prevent malnutrition.

 

Opportunities

• Conduct a needs assessment of the community and determine which projects community members would like to see happen in their neighborhood
• Assist the bakery in effectively marketing itself and increasing consumer demand
• Assess the possibility of starting a sewing cooperative or other small business initiative at Sor María Ludovica
• Research micro-credit loan opportunities that the bakery and future small business endeavors could be eligible for
• Aid in the development of health workshops with the local health center
• Help supervisors develop curriculum for and organize high school education courses for adults, and publicize these courses to the community

 

Requirements

• Intermediate to Advanced Spanish
• Experience in marketing, fundraising, microfinance, micro-enterprises, teaching, business development, health, nutrition, and/or related fields
• An understanding of the issues that affect populations of marginalized zones
• Ability to work with people from marginalized zones without prejudice
• Ability to work independently and willingness to take initiative
• Strong interpersonal communication skills
• Creative, detail-oriented, strong organizational skills

 

Program Supervisor (All Programs)

Norma Santillan is the founder of Sor María Ludovica and has over eight years of experience in social work and community development.

 

Note: Responsibilities offered to each participant will be proportionate to their level of experience. Participants who are new to development work may predominantly support and assist current project agendas, while those with much applicable experience may be able to assume greater responsibility. Research projects are strongly encouraged by this organization to support each program’s objective because minimal resources are currently allocated for research.

 

Working Conditions

Sor María Ludovica is in a semi-rural neighborhood on the outskirts of La Plata in a zone where unemployment and school dropout rates are high. The commute to work can take about 30 minutes by bus. The majority of the work will be spent at the center of Sor María Ludovica, which has a very warm and welcoming environment. There is a large play yard, a kitchen and a large room where the children can play and eat meals.

 

Organizational Background

Sor María Ludovica is open from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday. It receives monthly government stipends for its programs; however, the organization remains under-funded and is always looking for creative ways to gain more a sustainable income to better support its activities.

 

About Sor María Ludovica’s Clients

Sor María Ludovica works with children, adolescents, and adults who come from disadvantaged sectors of society that lack access to education and job opportunities. Parents cannot always provide meals for their families, and the children often spend their days roaming around the streets without supervision. Some of the children that frequent the center come from situations of abuse and neglect. The participant wishing to work with this organization should have an understanding of the issues that affect populations from marginalized zones and be able to develop a rapport with people from these areas.