Health
Food shortages are a common problem in Lomas, where 33% of children under five are chronically malnourished. Most do not eat nutritious foods like milk, meat and fresh produce, because their families can't afford it.
Many people have farm animals like goats or chickens, having brought them to Lomas when they moved from the countryside, but in the adjustment to urban life, they struggle to make a productive livelihood from them. Others attempt to plant vegetables and grains, but don't know how to adapt their farming practices to their new urban setting. Lack of basic health care and sanitation services, along with poor understanding of basic hygiene at the family level, leads to frequent sickness. Teenage pregnancies are also common, but most young women are not instructed about potential health risks for expecting mothers, or preemptive, healthful strategies. Without access to proper pre-natal and post-natal medical care, infant and maternal deaths are common.
Education
Achieving quality education is a challenge for Lomas children, starting at a very young age. Many mothers are left to provide for their children alone when husbands abandon their families. Without supervision, children fend for themselves during the day, and all too often end up working to support the family as well. As a result of this, their education suffers and dropout rates are high.
Since parents are often absent, children often don't receive the nurturing they need for their early development, or the support they need to excel at school. As a result, many of Lomas children lag behind in both education and basic life skills.
Unfortunately, the local schools also struggle to provide quality education. Classes are overcrowded, teachers can't improve students academic performance, and they lack necessary resources for learning, like books and furniture. Older students are given very little support in terms of career counselling and planning for the future.
Child Protection & Participation
The community of Lomas from local government to teachers to the youth themselves has yet to fully understand children's rights to grow up safe and secure. Lomas youth are often exposed to violence, gang activity and child labour.
It's not unusual for them to be left on their own for ten hours a day while parents work. Since there aren't programs or safe places for youth to spend their time, they are likely to be pulled into gangs, and become vulnerable to drugs and drinking. Children themselves are often required to work to help sustain their families.
Broken homes are common in Lomas a discouraging result of economic hardship, alcoholism and domestic violence. Six out of ten children in this area have grown up with violence in their homes. These negative patterns have been passed on to Lomas youth over generations, but the community is now recognizing that this culture of abuse needs to be changed.
