CALAMA, Chile (Staff) – Although Calama’s centre for victims of family violence is only nine months old, it faces a shaky existence.
Originally a national government program provided the money but the centre is supposed to be financially self-sufficient this month.
The governor of the province approached the local Rotary club, where he was a member, and convinced it to take on the centre as a demonstration project.
Another Rotarian, Edgar Ibarra, became co-ordinator and handled the bills and sought funds for the centre. Ibarra’s employer, the Chuquicamata mine, gave money toward the centre, as did various national government departments.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
Now, as government support runs out, Ibarra said the centre is seeking discounts in taxes from the city and money from businesses in town to keep going.
“It’s been well-received in the community, there’s been support from the sectors,” he said in an interview in June.
Ibarra said the centre wants to translate information about the program to other languages so other countries “will send money, or social workers will come and volunteer their time.”
It costs about $40,000 (Cdn) a year to keep the centre open, but $140,000 may be needed to attract the expertise it needs such as lawyers and social workers.
However, Ibarra was confident money could be raised for the project because the community needs it.
The area around Calama has the unenviable ranking as Chile’s third worst area for child abuse.
“People come every day. There’s abuse – matrimonial, emotional, physical, sexual, economical.
“Men and women are abusing each other,” she said. Hospitals and police send people to the centre for counselling support, as well as legal advice. Social workers, monitors, a psychologist, a secretary and an assistant work at the centre.
“When someone comes in, we give an overview of the support, and tell people to expect to get psychological counselling. Often it’s people of low self-esteem, not good visions of life,” Borquez said.
Long recovery time
“Sometimes people come here with problems that exist for a long time, and it will take a long time (to recover) even though they’re given support,” she said.
“We treat the whole family – the victim, aggressor, the children – although sometimes it’s hard to get the aggressor onside.”
The centre has been developing an education program and workshops to train people to help provide support in the community, schools and other areas.
There are about 60 cases considered regular because the centre deals with them on a weekly or twice-a-week basis. Since the centre opened last November, it has handled more than 500 cases, some involving repeat offenders.
However, as monitor Elizabeth Moreno Baeze admitted, it’s difficult to check if life has improved in homes. While there is followup done by the centre, the workers don’t visit the houses.
