Day Centre is a way in which IAS wants to improve single parents’ prospects of receiving self-help through education and job training in San Ignacio, Paraguay. The Day Centre is established in a former church building, which contains premises for nursery, training of single parents, offices, and activity room.

It is running with help from volunteers and employees from the co-operation partner in South, Iglesia Filadelfia, which is the local Pentecostal Church in San Ignacio. This is the setting for activities and courses aimed on single parents and their children.

There is great unemployment in the region. For this reason, many men move to other areas, especially to the larger cities, in order to get jobs. Many men come home only occasionally or they stay away permanently because they start new families at places close to their new jobs. On this background it is obvious that most women (approx. 80%) end up in the difficulties it is to be single parents. Due to an increasing number of single parents and the lack of financial support it is practically impossible for single mothers to have jobs outside the home as they have no place to send their children during the daytime. Since the families have a low income and typically 6-13 children it is impossible for the children to attend school.

Several activities are expected to be implemented in 2004-2005 in order to reach the target. Firstly, the Day Centre must be established and adapted. Secondly, the children must be enrolled in the Day Centre which again will increase their prospects of being enrolled in the primary schools. Thereby the single parents are released from babysitting and are free to be taught job training and practical subjects. Thirdly, single parents receive help for self-help through education offers and job training. The aim of the training is to give single parents increased chances of getting jobs and thereby increasing the finances of the families. Fourthly, Iglesia Filadelfia and the employees of the Day Centre are strengthened and capacity built to better handle the rights of the weak and the marginalised. Fifthly, advocacy will be carried out through dialogue and co-ordination meetings in order to influence the community and the education sector in a positive direction.

- Assist 100 children aged 0-6 years from single parents’ homes. These are expected to complete the training programme of the Day Centre.

- 100 single parents will receive help for self-help through courses relating to men and women.

- 20 employees and teachers at the Day Centre will be trained in four courses on how to handle the work of the Day Centre.

The project started in 2003 within the framework of IAS and the expected results will be visible in 2004. The originator of the project has been the Pentecostal churches in Roskilde and Mariager in Denmark, who have carried on mission activities in Paraguay for many years. The number of citizens in San Ignacio is 20.000 people.

Solfrid Bracher Project Coordinator solfrid.bracherias-intl.org