Berkley Center

Background: As part of the Education and Global Social Justice Project, in June 2012 undergraduate student Charlotte Markson interviewed Cristina Arlo, the coordinator of Our Lady of Fatima (Nuestra Señora de Fatima) Soup Kitchen and Parish in Montevideo, Uruguay. In this interview Arlo discusses how she became a volunteer, the growth of the soup kitchen to include educational programs, and the ways Fe y Alegría has supported the soup kitchen's work.

Can you tell me about yourself and how you came to work here?

I am a lawyer and have been coming here for the past 18 years. The Jesuit priest Antonio Caná, a former president of the Catholic University [of Uruguay], started coming to the Cerro [neighborhood in Montevideo] many years ago. He was originally from Spain, and he started coming to the Cerro every weekend starting in 1980. It was he who started getting to know the neighborhood and then installed this soup kitchen. He eventually moved here. Right now he is spending a year in Spain, but he belongs to the Cerro. I met the priest in 1994 during a reflection group, and he invited me to come visit the soup kitchen. That is how I started coming here. 

When I was still working full time as a lawyer I used to only come here on Sundays. I used to help the lady who cooked here, who passed away a very short time ago, and thereby started to get to know the parish. Eventually I started coming here during the week as well and started meeting the families and familiarizing myself with the neighborhood. Six years ago I started reducing my work as a lawyer, and this year I am retiring. Now I come here every day and exclusively dedicate my time to this project.

Can you talk about the development of the soup kitchen and parish?

The soup kitchen is more than 23 years old. Initially it was only a soup kitchen, and food was only served on Sundays. Then Saturday meals were added, and then it moved to daily meals. Now the soup kitchen is open every day, and with some on the children and youth that come to eat we have formed two groups that work on socio-educational topics. We want the children not only to come to eat but also to be able to partake in other activities, such as receiving academic support and workshops. There are four educators working on this project.

About six years ago the priest asked me to coordinate the social realm of this church’s work, which is very strong in this church, even stronger than the pastoral and evangelizing aspects. This church is in an extremely poor area, and a lot of what we do is organizing food and clothing drives, as well as support groups against addiction and suicide.

With Fe y Alegría we have been trying to give our work a more educational focus for the past four years. In 2002 there was a serious financial crisis which affected Argentina and Uruguay, and the impact was felt very strongly here, as the number of children attending the soup kitchen increased to 80. Today we have about 50 children. The government has been investigating whether or not the violence, problems in education, and other issues may stem from this crisis in 2002. Today we are not facing the same kind of hunger crisis, because the government has implemented programs to fight the hunger. That is why fewer children come to us nowadays. 

But we now see the problems in education taking on a similar urgency as hunger did back in 2002. There has been a significant decline in educational quality, and possibly also in access to education. We are now seeing youth enroll in secondary school at higher ages, but lacking sufficient skills in order to pass their classes, and the same thing is happening in primary school. So we are now facing the challenge of sustaining our educational program, which requires a lot of resources and money. It is easier to clean and cook than to find adequate staff in order to run the educational programs. Fe y Alegría has been supporting us in this important challenge.

How does belonging to Fe y Alegría impact the work of the soup kitchen and other parish programs?

Our program has not changed a lot since joining Fe y Alegría, but Fe y Alegría has helped us in structuring our programs, it has helped us financially in order to hire educators, and we have taken part in activities with other Fe y Alegría centers through leadership camps for the youth and meetings for the staff.

But Fe y Alegría is not the only institution supporting us here. The Catholic University’s psychology and law departments both see cases here through their community service department, and they offer their services mostly to families and at no charge. In addition the government program “community classroom” takes place here every morning.

You are a lawyer and live far away from the Cerro. What motivated you to come here?

I have always been concerned with social work. During my time as a family lawyer I had some clients pay me in order to cover my living costs, but I offered free consultations to those who could not pay me. My mother was a person who was very concerned about helping others, which was also due to her faith. As a Christian you can’t turn your back on poverty.