Last Thursday presented a window into another non-profit organization that works with children here in Honduras. A few of my fellow volunteers and I had the opportunity to visit Casa Alianza, an institution in downtown Tegucigalpa that works with street children and their families. While they are in no way affiliated with NPH, the two organizations are in the same line of work, and sometimes children are referred to the Ranch from Casa Alianza. In fact, Laura, our volunteer visitor coordinator since January who led the trip, actually recognized there a girl from her Hogar who left NPH in March. The girl left to live with her family, but evidently she has since found her way to this halfway house of sorts. She told Laura she wants to go back to the Ranch. With such ties in mind, I thought it valuable to relay what I learned about this organization to perhaps broaden the picture some and provide a little information of what life is like for some Honduran children outside the Ranch.
Casa Alianza, started in 1987 and largely supported by a New York charity, takes children off the streets of Tegucigalpa and works with them on a near term basis to resolve problems in their lives. These are wide ranging but typically involve physical or mental abuse, drugs, sex trafficking, and gangs. Over 90% of the children suffer from some sort of abuse. The organization is best equipped to serve children ages 12 to 18, any older and they are legal adults and difficult to help, and the younger ones are typically referred to other groups who have more specialized care abilities (e.g. NPH). Even so, they treat approximately 1500-1800 kids each year, and about 160 live at the institution at any given time.
Children are at the institution of there own volition, often just showing up on Casa Alianza’s doorstep because they have heard about the place through other street kids. They also have a street team that looks around the city for new children to help, inviting them to the house after three or four positive encounters. Many of these children are troubled by gangs, and the horror stories about Honduran gangs abound. Gang members are said to drive by in cars and force youths to show them their chests—if they have tattoos from a rival gang they are shot down right on the spot. This is one of the reasons that Honduras has an unusually high homicide rate among minors, a statistic of which the government seems unaware. Children are also referred to the house from other organizations or the legal system.
The house helps children foremost by giving them food, medical care, and a safe place to live. The children can attend school nearby and return to the house afterwards. If the child is in trouble with the courts or the police, the house has lawyers on staff who work with him to resolve those issues. They also have a family services department that works with the kids’ families to help their economic development, because due to extreme need many of the children are forced by their parents to work the streets to help earn income. They also have programs that work with adolescent girls, many of whom have been involved in the sex industry.
After all they do for these troubled kids, Casa Alianza still finds that others are ignorant or unsupportive of their work. Because many of their clients have been involved with gangs, some are untrustworthy of Casa Alianza or assume that it supports gang activities. Due to this youth gang involvement, some even think it is better for these street children to die or disappear (remember governmental apathy towards adolescent homicide rate). In any case, the house continues its unheralded work, and right now they are even in the midst a fundraising campaign to renovate their building. It was an eye-opening experience, helped me put some things on the ranch into perspective, and I wanted to pass it along.
Casa Alianza, started in 1987 and largely supported by a New York charity, takes children off the streets of Tegucigalpa and works with them on a near term basis to resolve problems in their lives. These are wide ranging but typically involve physical or mental abuse, drugs, sex trafficking, and gangs. Over 90% of the children suffer from some sort of abuse. The organization is best equipped to serve children ages 12 to 18, any older and they are legal adults and difficult to help, and the younger ones are typically referred to other groups who have more specialized care abilities (e.g. NPH). Even so, they treat approximately 1500-1800 kids each year, and about 160 live at the institution at any given time.
Children are at the institution of there own volition, often just showing up on Casa Alianza’s doorstep because they have heard about the place through other street kids. They also have a street team that looks around the city for new children to help, inviting them to the house after three or four positive encounters. Many of these children are troubled by gangs, and the horror stories about Honduran gangs abound. Gang members are said to drive by in cars and force youths to show them their chests—if they have tattoos from a rival gang they are shot down right on the spot. This is one of the reasons that Honduras has an unusually high homicide rate among minors, a statistic of which the government seems unaware. Children are also referred to the house from other organizations or the legal system.
The house helps children foremost by giving them food, medical care, and a safe place to live. The children can attend school nearby and return to the house afterwards. If the child is in trouble with the courts or the police, the house has lawyers on staff who work with him to resolve those issues. They also have a family services department that works with the kids’ families to help their economic development, because due to extreme need many of the children are forced by their parents to work the streets to help earn income. They also have programs that work with adolescent girls, many of whom have been involved in the sex industry.
After all they do for these troubled kids, Casa Alianza still finds that others are ignorant or unsupportive of their work. Because many of their clients have been involved with gangs, some are untrustworthy of Casa Alianza or assume that it supports gang activities. Due to this youth gang involvement, some even think it is better for these street children to die or disappear (remember governmental apathy towards adolescent homicide rate). In any case, the house continues its unheralded work, and right now they are even in the midst a fundraising campaign to renovate their building. It was an eye-opening experience, helped me put some things on the ranch into perspective, and I wanted to pass it along.
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