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COLOMBIA: Street Children


Hank Levin of Columbia University writes:

"About 25 years ago, maybe more, a very talented senior in the undergraduate honors' program wrote a senior thesis under me on the gamines of Colombia,and particularly on the Republica de los Muchachos of Bogota. As you may know, the latter was a self-governing youth community. Up to this point the Church dealt with these children by taking them off the street spontaneously and giving them meals and minimal clothing and health care. The gamines were so used to the freedom of the streets that they could not stand the discipline and structure that the Church required in exchange--wake-up time, washup, beds made, mass, breakfast, etc... The priest who developed the Republica felt that the only way that he could get these children to make longer-term commitments to organized community, education, hygiene, and social commitments was by creating a constitutional community run by the children. It was fascinating. The name of the student was Lynn ________. I will have to look through my library to see if I still have a copy of her thesis. She also left me with a little "redbook" which contained the constitution of the Republic that every student was required to master. The gamines had their own legislature and judiciary. I do not know what happened eventually to La Republica."

My comment: There are many Colombians on our list. and I would be grateful if they could tell us about the fate of the Republic. How did Lynn get involved in the subject? What is she doing now? I am surprised that the French word "gamin" is used in Colombia. Probably in the Athens of America they read Victor Hugo's Les Misщrables and remembered the gamin Gavroche.

Ronald Hilton - 5/5/01


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