El Sueno de un Pueblo
Presentation Sisters, Ampliacion, Jose Carlos Mariategui, Lima Peru
INTRODUCTION
The Ampliacion Community Centre was built under the initiative of the Presentation Sisters, on the margin of the shanty town Jose Carlos Mariategui, a hilly and rocky area. Ampliacion is densely populated with over 350 families resident there and a large population of children under 13. The centre is a vital part of the community as it has increased the availability of services such as health education, study facilities for children, and youth activities among others, which help in the development of the community. Due to the fact that the centre was built by the community of Ampliacion themselves, there is now a renewed commitment to local development and a strong sense of community participation and achievement.
PROJECT SUMMARY:
Living conditions in the village of Ampliacion are basic. The
majority of houses are made of hardwood or matted straw with
plastic, matted straw or galvinised sheeting as roofing. Most homes
have earthen floors and out-door toilets as there is no running
water in the area. In 1997, driven by their need for a safe, strong
and secure communal building, the people of Ampliacion cut a site
for a community centre out of the side of the hill where their
community is situated. Every Sunday for two years the people of this
community contributed voluntary labour to prepare the site for
building. In 1999 with a $1,700 donation, which the Presentation
Sisters had received from Irish people living in Lima, the centre
was finally constructed. In 2006 using funds received from misean cara,
the centre was reconstructed from a damp, hardwood building to a
secure, larger, brighter and beautiful, concrete multipurpose
community centre.
This community centre is highly valued as it provides the following
programmes organized by and for the community- a library service for
school children with no school books and study facilities to enable
them to do homework; health education; dental services and medical
care for all children; provision for cheap medicines, as well as
providing income generating skills; youth activities and hosting
local community meetings and meetings with government ministries.
Not only has the centre increased availability of vital services to
the community but it has also resulted in a renewed sense of pride
in the community because of what they have achieved. The whole
community, men, women, boys and girls all participated in the
planning and preparing of the ground for the centre. This has had
the knock-on effect of renewed interest in local development and
renewed commitment on the part of the Committee of the Community
Centre in promoting local participation and involvement in ongoing
development of the area.
The Centre will continue to be sustained through the continuous
formation of its leaders and through leasing the centre for fiestas,
celebrations and fundraising.
CONCLUSION
The Community Centre is the concrete proof of what can happen when a community comes together. Although the families of Ampliacion live in very basic conditions themselves, the decision was made to build a substantial communal building rather than improve individual homes. In this way all the community and in particular the youth would benefit, from the Centre. In a letter to misean cara, the Community Centre Committee wrote, "we have given it (the centre) the title 'Vale La Pena Sonar' which when translated means 'it is worth while dreaming'. We dreamed, we worked, we struggled and with the generous financial help of misean cara, our dream has become a reality in a beautiful Community Centre".