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Transforming the lives of Colombia's street children

The dynamism, love and immense enthusiasm, that radiates from Father Gabriel Mejia makes one realise how he has been so successful in helping the abandoned street children in Colombia. Over the last 25 years his Centres (Fundacion Hogares Claret) have helped tens of thousands of children find a way to live healthy, happy and purposeful lives.

Father Gabriel MejiaFrom small beginnings the project has grown and there are now 52 Centres in Colombia and throughout Latin America, which serve more than 3,500 children at any given time. Some of the homeless children are as young as 6 years old and many have resorted to sniffing glue, to escape the torments of their existence.

Initially the children are offered shelter and a good meal at the Centres, and are free to come and go as they please. Father Gabriel has learnt that the desire for change from their old environment, where they may be addicted to drugs, must come from the children themselves - and it may take time for them to break free from their dependencies.

As part of the rehabilitation process the children learn Transcendental Meditation. Father Gabriel learnt the technique himself in the late 1980’s and subsequently became a teacher of Transcendental Meditation. As soon as he learnt Transcendental Meditation he knew that this simple but very profound technique would be able to release the traumatic stress these children had experienced, and allow them to go on to live more balanced and fulfilled lives. As he says "When a child closes their eyes and begins to meditate they open themselves to a field of all possibilities ... The world opens for the child and then the child discovers their essential nature which is love."

Today many of the staff helping to run Father Gabriel's Foundation were street children themselves. Some of the shelters provide a longer term environment where children can live as families with older mentors and receive an education. In recent years, as the power of the drug cartels have waned in Colombia, it has been easier to provide more shelters. Father Gabrielle's centre of operations in Medellin is now the former home of the infamous, now deceased, drug baron, Pablo Escabar.

Recently, some funding for Father Gabriel’s projects has been donated by the David Lynch Foundation (set up by the famous film director). The Foundation's video production team - directed by Stuart Tanner, an award winning documentarian who formerly worked with the BBC - travelled through the streets of Medellin in Colombia to film a documentary about this incredible story. In the short video clip top right you can experience the unbounded love and support that Father Gabriel gives to the children and in turn feel the great affection that the children have for him.


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