Origins
Doscientas Millas and Boca Negra are two shantytowns on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. Boca Negra, settled in 1985, is a young town housing around 7,000 families with some 12,000 pre-school children. There are only 350 places in a state-run nursery. Doscientas Millas occupies a dusty wedge of land between the airport and the main road. Many families live there, the majority in houses they built themselves.
In 1985, two British women volunteers, Sally Pinnell and Debra Westlake worked with the local community to start a pre-school nursery in the front yard of one of the houses in Doscientas Millas. A year later it become a registered charity (The Westnell Nursery Society), and by 1988 sufficient funds had been raised for the nursery to buy their own premises - a dilapidated two storey building that used to be a bakery. Local labour transformed this into a three-classroom nursery school, with a kitchen, bathroom, a safe playground on the terraced roof, and a library for the use of local people. Five classes are run, and 150 children attend daily; there is no fee.
This success led to a new school being built in a nearby and larger town of Boca Negra, which opened in April 1998.
Now a Local Resource
In an area badly affected by poverty and pollution, the nurseries provide a safe and stimulating environment for the children and have also become an important focus for the local community. The premises are used for dressmaking and craft classes and - on festival days - for celebrations and fund-raising events in which all the children and their families are involved.
They have become a focus for community development, providing community meeting places and encouraging some of the children's mothers to train to become teachers themselves. Staff work with families where domestic violence, drugs and crime are all rife.
Westnell (UK) through its partner, Sociedad Infantil Westnell, provides pre-school education to children from the most underprivileged sectors of society in Lima, Peru. The organisation works from the principle that the family is at the centre of the community. By working with children, Westnell reaches out to the family and community as a whole. By encouraging community management of the projects, we promote empowerment.
Our partner is currently managing and running the two pre-school nurseries. The nurseries have been educating children and working with families for 15 years with over 700 children educated by Westnell now doing well in the state school system and intend to complete their studies.
How is it Run ?
All the 20 staff (teachers, assistants and caretakers) are recruited locally, and the secure wage has enabled several of the assistants to enter higher education, and train as teachers themselves. A committee of staff and parents is responsible for the day-to-day running of the nurseries, and also for the discussion of future plans, based on the needs of the children and suggestions of the families.
How is it Funded ?
The running costs of the nurseries were originally almost entirely met by funds raised in the UK through sponsored events, sales and Christmas and greetings cards and, most importantly, donations and covenants or Gift Aid. The charity has recently had some success in gaining recognition and grants from the Community Fund (lottery) and the Methodist Relief and Development Fund.
Westnell still requires around £32,000 annually from its traditional fundraising. Westnell fundraising is run by volunteers; less than 1% of all donations is spent on administration costs, the rest goes directly to the nurseries in Lima.
Our Vision
We stand for the empowerment of people through education. We believe that by providing a safe and stimulating learning environment for young children, we are unlocking the development potential of their families and the community as a whole.
Over the last fifteen years, almost £200,000 has been raised. Now over 250 children a year are benefiting from the solid social and educational start they gain at the nursery, which has proved of huge help when they join the under-resourced Peruvian state school system. There are still, however, more local children than there are places, and our aim is to match the needs of the community.
The Local and National Context of our Work
Almost half of Peru's inhabitants live below the poverty line and one fifth live in 'extreme poverty'. Only one third of the workforce is formally employed, half eke out a living in the informal sector (Cuanto, Lima). Nationally 60% of children under 15 do not complete their education (Peru Support Group 1992). Lack of education is a major factor in failing to gain formal employment as adults. Westnell's 'graduates', have since the nursery began in 1985, always gone on to do well at primary school and at high school, ensuring an economic future for themselves, their families and their community.
The poorest sectors of urban society (which now forms 70% of the total population) live in shanty towns of Lima such as Boca Negra (population 42,000). This is one of the least developed shanty towns in the area, in which some residents have only recently acquired sanitary and lighting facilities. There is a high degree of disunity in this community. Westnell will act to bring people together by working for the benefit of their children.