C O M M U N I T Y
M O T H E R S
As If They Were My Own Original Title: Como Si Fueran Mis Hijos Based on the Documentary Clip “As If They Were My Own” by Los Otros Producciones SAS. ©2013 Los Otros Producciones SAS
Editorial Design Los Otros Producciones Photography: David Lozano/Oscar Gómez/Sebastián Navarrete All rights reserved Los Otros Producciones SAS. Bogotá, Colombia. (571) 2497190 / 6944187 (57) 320 4315332 / 311 4620872 e-mail: contacto@losotrosproducciones.com www.losotrosproducciones.com
Las Brisas Thousands of children in Colombia, between the ages of 0 and 5 years, are taken by community mothers at their own home. These women work to improve the quality of childhood pupoluation lifes in their neighborhoods and districts, providing, with the help of government institutions, food, education and proffessional care. The content inside this book was inspired by two community mothers of the neighborhood Las Brisas, in the district Santana, Pereira city. Amparo and Luz Marina, two sisters with endless passion and love for children, received us to show and tell the importance of their labor in the social construction with the hopes of creating a better country.
David, the most quiet boy in town.
The street, the playground.
Our favorite camera operators: David, Camilo and Juliana.
Santiago, the little one with big eyes.
Juliana, the future actress.
This is Amparo, the woman who invited and showed us how is a day of a community mother. Around 5 a.m. she has to wake up, in order to organize the house for the kids, make the snack and get ready. The day tasks are cooking, teaching, and taking care of these kids, without forgetting that everything must be done with true love, a special gift God gave these women. That is the reason why childrens feel she is their second mother.
Lunchtime Food rations are established by the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF) nutritionists and they must be complied with. Cream of squash soup, beans and protein like chicken, egg or meat are served frequently. Legumes such as chickpeas, lentils, beans and peas are alternated weekly.
The program covers a value, a moral duty and a right. Especially during meals, attention is focused on moral values. Taking care of these kids means helping them form habits, for instance, with regard personal hygiene. Because some of them are not even taught to brush their teeth three times a day. They definitely learn a lot with us. It’s as if they were at home.
The Neighborhood
Š2013 Los Otros Producciones SAS all rights reserved