WILLEMSTAD – Minister of Social Development, Labor and Welfare (SOAW) Charetti America-Francisca has visited community centers in Soto, Tera Kòrá, Brievengat and Kustbatterij to support children preparing for the new school year. The visits also marked the launch of “Bario ta Famia,” an initiative aimed at bringing the ministry closer to families and communities across Curaçao.
The activities focused on children between the ages of 8 and 12 from families with limited financial resources. The children received school bags as well as a specially developed coloring and activity book titled “E kaminda ta largu, pero bo ta yega si!” — “The road may be long, but you will get there!”
The program also provided opportunities for activities, personal interaction and conversations with children and their parents.
The activity book, developed at the initiative of America-Francisca, encourages children to think about their dreams, talents, goals and challenges. Its central message is that the circumstances in which children grow up today do not have to determine their future.
“The road can sometimes be long or difficult, and not everything works out immediately. But I want our children to know that they can continue believing in themselves, try again and move forward step by step. Their situation today does not have to be their situation tomorrow,” America-Francisca said.
The initiative also has a personal significance for the minister. Before taking office, America-Francisca said she was already personally involved in supporting children from families with fewer financial resources around the beginning of the school year.
“This is not something I started because I became a minister. I was already doing this before, based on my personal commitment to children and families,” she said. “Now, from my responsibility as minister, I want to connect that same commitment to something bigger: being closer to people, listening to what is happening and, where necessary, making the right connections.”
America-Francisca stressed that distributing school bags does not solve Curaçao's broader poverty problem. Instead, she described the initiative as a practical contribution within a much larger social challenge.
It complements existing SOAW assistance for families that lack sufficient financial resources to pay for school uniforms and other essential needs for their children.
The broader objective of Bario ta Famia is based on the idea that neighborhoods are more than collections of houses. Families form neighborhoods, neighborhoods form communities, and together those communities form Curaçao.
According to the minister, strengthening families therefore contributes to stronger neighborhoods and ultimately a stronger Curaçao.
Through Bario ta Famia, America-Francisca intends to visit communities more frequently, not only to provide assistance but also to listen to residents, identify social problems at an earlier stage, make information more accessible and connect people with SOAW services when necessary.
Community centers are expected to play an important role in the initiative because of their direct connection with residents and their potential to reduce the distance between communities and government social services.
“Good social policy is not created only behind a desk,” America-Francisca said. “We need to know what is really happening among our children, parents, elderly people and families. That is why we want to be present and accessible in the neighborhoods — not only to give, but also to listen and determine together what is needed.”
The back-to-school activities mark the beginning of Bario ta Famia. America-Francisca plans to continue visiting different neighborhoods in the coming period, with future activities focusing on other groups and social issues depending on the needs identified within individual communities.