Claves means "Keys"

I mentioned in my earlier post that I used a program called "Claves" in one of the workshops in the children's program. Ester (responsible for all of the social service programs in Asas) asked me if I would be interested in taking a 3 day training course in November of 2007. I jumped at the chance and was really impressed with the quality of the Claves program. The first two days of the course was spent mostly in learning the facts about child abuse...the who, when, why, how questions and then how the Claves program can strengthen children so that they will not be abused. The moto for Claves is "Through play we are strengthened to confront difficult situations". Studies show that an abuser usually takes 2 years from the time he/she decides to abuse a child to the time he/she actually starts to abuse. These 2 years are spent gaining the confidence of the child and family by building relationships and trust. A person who abuses has hurdles to conquer before being able to abuse a child...he/she first has to deal with his/her conscience, then he/she needs to have access to the child, and finally, he/she has to wear down the resistance of the child. Claves focuses on that last hurdle...building up the child so that he/she will be even more resistant and will have the courage to tell someone who can help. Children are divided into small groups by age (4-7 years old, 8-11 years old, 12 years old and up) and work through 3 stages of the program. The first stage is entitled "My Body", the second stage is "My Intimate Parts", and the third stage is "Others and I". Each stage has 3-4 workshops which gradually build in such a way that the child is prepared for the next stage. Each workshop includes a time of music and dance, group games, drama games, table games, and stories/situations. Everything is very age appropriate and is done in such a normal, matter-of-fact way that the kids are not embarrassed. Here is their website for more information: claves@juventudparacristo.org.uy (Youth for Christ)
Here is an example of one of the stories. I've condensed it quite a bit, but you'll get the idea of it.





This is a story about a little girl, Joana. Her is still at work when she gets home after school so the mom reminds her every day that she is to come right inside and lock the door behind her.































Joan wants to be obedient but every day their friendly neighbor wants to visit with her. She quickly goes inside, but....


























soon the neighbor is knocking at her door wanting to come in to talk and play some games. She used to like talking to him, watching television, and playing games, but recently she hasn't liked the games that he has wanted to play. He also makes her promise not to tell anyone about his visits or their games.













That evening her whole family is together but she is in a bad mood and doesn't want to talk about anything. When her mom asks her if she got her homework done, Joana just gets even more mad and runs off to her room.




























Joana's mom talks with Joana and tells her that sometimes it is okay to have secrets, but if a secret makes you feel bad then it isn't a good secret to keep.





















This is a board game to play with the 12 year olds and older. This games involves working through a wide range of situations and prejudices.