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JDC’s "Kinder" Program in Argentina Let’s Anitia be a Kid
Compared to other girls her age, Anitia, 11, is very tall, slim, and shy. At this tenuous moment between childhood and adolescence, when life can be particularly confusing, Anitia's role in her family has also become blurred — from older sister to "second mother."
With her mother, Corina, forced to work to support the family, Anitia has always taken care of her two younger sisters, Luzia, 7, and Rita, 1. A student in the 6th grade, Anitia is beginning to notice that all of her school friends live a different reality than she does. While her girlfriends spend time together, play dress-up, and talk about boys, Anitia is preparing her sisters for school, making them breakfast, picking them up in the afternoon and taking care of lunch. She plays with them, helps Luzia with her homework, changes Rita's diapers, and puts her down for a "siesta." Only then does she begin to address her own needs. One of the only places that Anitia can come to escape her responsibilities is the Jewish community building in San Martín, a working-class neighborhood in Buenos Aires. Though pensive and introverted, Anitia goes to the welcoming center every Saturday with her siblings and cousin. "I feel like I belong here, like it is a second home," says the youngster, whose interactions with her peers are notably strained. The family relies on JDC to help them meet their basic needs. They purchase groceries with a JDC-provided supermarket debit card, and through the Baby Help program receive milk, vitamins, and other critical supplies for little Rita. In addition to these social assistance programs the children attend a weekly "Kinder" session, where they interact with other Jewish children and learn about tradition. The oldest child, Leo, 13, would also like to attend the center, but instead must work with his father. Antony, a freelance bricklayer, needs his son's help — especially on Saturdays — to complete jobs and maintain a decent income. Corina, 35, adores her four children but hardly sees them throughout the day. Following Argentina's devastating economic crisis, she was forced to go back to work and entrust the care of her youngest children to Anitia. "I have not been able to fully develop as a mother because I have had to work," says Corina, who cleans houses to help make ends meet. She arrives home exhausted and able to spend only a few precious minutes with her children each night. Though she has hardly become the mother or wife she envisioned, Corina does make great efforts to help her family survive. "We don't fight regularly," she says. "There is a feeling that we need to stick together and be united in order to make it." So for now, even if it means taking on unconventional roles within the family — working at age 13 or being a substitute mother at age 11 — the family tries to overcome their circumstances. "I know that bad times don't last forever," Corina says. "So, as a unit, we try to cope with the challenges of today and hope for a better tomorrow." |
