The Prout Research Institute of Venezuela

The building of the Community center "Centro Madre"

CENTRO MADRE (formerly CENTRO AMURT) BARLOVENTO, VENEZUELA The two-storey, 160 square-meter Community Center is located on three and a half hectares of agricultural land. The project began in the year 2000 putting Prout into practice. A two-hour drive from Caracas, this model “Master Unit” serves the five nearest rural villages of Barlovento, which are very impoverished, through education, health, agriculture and cooperatives.

RECENT EVENTS

Children in Madre Vieja
receiving their Christmas gifts

At the beginning of the school year (August 2006), for the second time, the Center presented a notebook and pencil to 370 primary school students, and a large notebook, pencil, eraser and extra paper to 150 high school students in the surrounding villages.

Christmas was celebrated in five villages with 450 children from 0-12 years old, who made decorations, participated in a Christmas play, shared food and received gifts. Both children and adults enjoyed the program. This was made possible thanks to the generous donation of the British International Group and Scottish Ball Association.

MUSIC

Children learning to play drums

Some of the members of the drum group that was started by the Center have started a cooperative to produce drums. They also are experimenting with different items that they hope to sell in the Center’s future tourist stop.

The music program which started a year ago teaching how to play recorder to 10 children in La Guairita is now getting support from an organization called “Artistas para Barlovento YA.” This was started by Eduardo Villegas, a local professional musician who lived for twenty years in Germany. He will send a music teacher to continue to teach the children

ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURE

Working with the bees

Hundreds of papaya, passion fruit, noni, mandarin trees produce fruits year round. Hundreds of beautiful ripe mangos are harvested each year, and many are frozen and produced into mango jam.

During the last six months we have sold more than 150 bags of dried neem leaves in two natural food stores. In the local market we are selling every Saturday morning eggplant, passion fruits, mandarins, noni, neem leaves, honey and papaya.

“Vita Lotus”, a company designed to market the natural products of the Center, has been registered. Honey, dried neem leaves and noni juice are being sold successfully in three retail stores in Caracas. Every Saturday morning these products plus fresh fruits and vegetables are also sold in the nearby San José farmer's market.

A small successful sewing cooperative for three years has provided income for five women, of whom some are very poor. They are excited about the prospects of selling their products at the tourist stop the center will construct this year. They are sewing tourist items with the cloth that was donated by Crate and Barrel of Miami. They also continue to make cup covers for an order from the United States.

INCOME GENERATION PLAN FOR THE CENTER AND FOR THE LOCAL PEOPLE

During the weekends, many tourists from Caracas drive on the road in front of our land on their way to the beach. Our plan will be to set up a tourist stop by constructing a churuata (a round indigenous housing structure with a roof made of palm leaves) on our land. We will sell our Vita Lotus products such as honey, natural juices, medicinal noni juice, neem leaves, neem oil, organically grown vegetables and other fresh produce. We will also sell products from the drum cooperative, the sewing cooperative and others. In this way we can support cooperatives and other money-making initiatives of the local people.

CHANGE OF NAME

Being a community project, we have felt the need for a while to change the name to something local people can identify with. The nearest village is called Madre Vieja (“Old Mother”) and the canal that runs right behind our land is also called this. The word “Mother” represents very well the inner spirit of the project: to nurture the physical, mental and spiritual growth of all. So we have decided to name the project “Centro Madre,” and we have started to register it as a legal foundation.

SOCIETY

Melqui dressed up as a fairy

Since Melqui came to us, her health and spirits have improved very much, and her teachers have observed a remarkable change for the better. She is eating very well, enjoys school, has a tremendous imagination and is just plain happy.

In Caraquita village, six high school students have started a lending library of textbooks. The books have been donated by AMURT and Shell. It is very successful, with more than 25 students borrowing books they could never afford to buy.

The 11 high school students from Madre Vieja and Caraquita that have regularly volunteered in Centro Madre activities were taken to see a movie as a special field trip. It was a marvelous experience for them, because none of them had ever been to a cinema before.

EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Gladys and her 2 children, studying to
finish her diploma

1) The reading program: On a regular base the Center lends children’s books to the parents of La Guairita to read to their young children. The purpose is to stimulate reading and writing, and to create positive attention activities between parents and their children. As part of this program, we have brought the mothers to the Center on a Saturday afternoon for a workshop on good parenting skills and self-esteem. This project has been very well received, and now we plan to regularize it and expand to the other four villages we serve. A volunteer has created a beautiful logo for the project.

2) Personal growth programs for teenagers and adults: This program is to help people realize that, in spite of adverse and sometimes traumatic circumstances in their lives, caused by poverty, violence and discrimination, they have the power to transform themselves and learn to use their full potential. We envision personal and group counseling, conflict resolution, how to cope with stress, raising consciousness and self-esteem, and practical life skills.

3) High school diploma course: Pay the study fees of young mothers who want to finish their high school education, but do not have access to government programs. Yuraima, a young mother from La Guairita, Gladys who is 17 years old with two children, and Franci who is 18 years old with three children, are all enrolled in special courses to complete their high school diploma. Ten more young people are on the waiting list!

4) Support for students: We will continue to encourage students in the local schools by donating school supplies, lending textbooks, and advising and assisting the teachers.

5) Village festivals: Twice a year, in June and December, we help organize a cultural and educational program for each community. These are important outreach programs between the center and the villages. We bring university theater groups, clowns, musicians and international volunteers to enrich the lives of the people and strengthen their sense of solidarity.

The Center’s director has begun a three-year professional training course in Gestalt Psychology. This will improve her skills to lead activities fostering personal growth, self-awareness, and group dynamics.

SUPPORT

Leidy, a volunteer, with our new washing machine

Different supporters continue to give monthly donations which help us tremendously. For instance, until last year we still washed our clothes by hand. When Melqui came to live with us, this became quite a burden as she used to wet the bed and loves to play outdoors and climb trees. Supporters of the Center came to the rescue and donated the money to buy a washing machine. This made a tremendous difference for all of us. Donations with money, goods or volunteer time allow us to serve more. ---------------------------- Hendrika Renkers, Director Centro Madre Carretera Mamporal - San José de Barlovento Caserío Madre Vieja Barlovento, Estado Miranda Venezuela Tel. 58.234.514.5663 Cel. 58.416.834.3772 Email: amurtve@cantv.net