WILLEMSTAD - Five Curaçao boarding schools have each received a check for 20,000 guilders from the Johannes Bosco Foundation. This happened during the annual Johannes Bosco Day, this year in Landhuis Klein Kwartier. It concerns Casa Manita, Huize St. Jozef, Huize Rose Pelletier, Kas Bruder Pius and the Juvenile Detention Center Curaçao (formerly G.O.G.).
The fact that the donations were considerably higher this year than in previous years is due to the 75th anniversary of the Johannes Bosco Foundation. It was founded in 1947 to facilitate the work of the Broeders van Brakkeput.
The friars trained young people on the Brakkeput Ariba estate to become craftsmen and there they also had a boarding school in Curaçao for school-age children from the other islands.
Since the departure of the 'Brothers', the foundation has focused on, among other things, subsidizing projects that benefit the Curaçao youth.
Fantastic
According to David Serphos, interim director of the foundation, these boarding schools are doing a fantastic job in caring for children with problematic 'luggage'. Serphos: “The residents of these boarding schools have had a difficult start. They are often victims of neglect or domestic violence or come from families where psychiatric, financial or drug-related problems predominate.
These boarding schools offer a loving, safe environment, where these young people, in peace and under professional guidance, are offered tools that strengthen their self-esteem and prepare them for a good-natured life with the same opportunities as other young people in society.”
Dedication
Serphos visited the five boarding schools and is impressed by the care and commitment that the employees provide there day in and day out. “It's hard work, where dedication is indispensable,” said the director. “But every child gets the attention they need. The children go to school internally or externally, are treated by experts, and follow courses focused on care and responsibility and prepare them for a self-reliant life, on the way to independence.”
Children are placed in boarding schools on the indication (under supervision) of PSI/Skuchami and the Guardianship Council. In the case of the Juvenile Court, in addition to a boarding school, there is also a section of juvenile detention, where minors who have been criminally convicted by the juvenile judge serve their sentences.