The development center of the Community of Saint Paul in El Pesebre neighborhood of Bogotá has started its activities in 2021 despite the limitations imposed by the pandemic
In Colombia, the annual school calendar begins in February and ends at the end of November, and the educational programs that the CSP develops in “Casa Garavito” follow this same calendar. After a 2020 marked by the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, in 2021 the academic year has started with optimism, despite the fact that the situation continues to be delicate.
In this new school year, we asked the teacher of the Sewing courses to work twenty hours a week (eight more than in the past), in order to accommodate the students in smaller groups, in which the social distance can be preserved. She accepted the proposal, and on February 1st she started with eight groups of six students each, for a total of 48 students (and we have a waiting list). Five groups are made up of women who had already started their training in previous years, and there are three new groups, of students who are just beginning their instruction in the use of sewing machines.
In addition, the teacher who offers tutoring classes to primary school boys and girls also started the first week of February with a total of 20 students (the size of the classroom that we use for this program, with the biosecurity measures, makes it impossible to increase this number), divided into four groups, which he attends every afternoon, from Tuesday to Friday.
In 2021 we have also expanded the hours of service of the two therapists who offer psychological support to people in the neighborhood: currently, between the two of them they work 25 hours a week. They are seeing fifty patients.
Likewise, the nurse that the CSP hired in 2020 to make home visits to sick people in the neighborhoods where we work continues to be dedicated to this project, seeing an average of 10 to 15 patients per week.
At the end of February, we also started again the guitar classes for children at Casa Garavito, which were interrupted a year ago due to the pandemic. For obvious reasons, we have not yet been able to restart the training classes for the elderly. To do so we are waiting for the situation to improve, although several elders from the neighborhood have already expressed their wish that we do not delay too long, because they do miss their classes!
In this new school year, we asked the teacher of the Sewing courses to work twenty hours a week (eight more than in the past), in order to accommodate the students in smaller groups, in which the social distance can be preserved. She accepted the proposal, and on February 1st she started with eight groups of six students each, for a total of 48 students (and we have a waiting list). Five groups are made up of women who had already started their training in previous years, and there are three new groups, of students who are just beginning their instruction in the use of sewing machines.
In addition, the teacher who offers tutoring classes to primary school boys and girls also started the first week of February with a total of 20 students (the size of the classroom that we use for this program, with the biosecurity measures, makes it impossible to increase this number), divided into four groups, which he attends every afternoon, from Tuesday to Friday.
In 2021 we have also expanded the hours of service of the two therapists who offer psychological support to people in the neighborhood: currently, between the two of them they work 25 hours a week. They are seeing fifty patients.
Likewise, the nurse that the CSP hired in 2020 to make home visits to sick people in the neighborhoods where we work continues to be dedicated to this project, seeing an average of 10 to 15 patients per week.
At the end of February, we also started again the guitar classes for children at Casa Garavito, which were interrupted a year ago due to the pandemic. For obvious reasons, we have not yet been able to restart the training classes for the elderly. To do so we are waiting for the situation to improve, although several elders from the neighborhood have already expressed their wish that we do not delay too long, because they do miss their classes!
