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Santiago's Children: What I Learned about Life at an Orphanage in Chile
by Steve Reifenberg

Santiago's Children: What I Learned about Life at an Orphanage in Chile Cover

About This Book

ISBN13: 9780292717428
ISBN10: 0292717423
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Unclear about his future career path, Steve Reifenberg found himself in the early 1980s working at a small orphanage in a poor neighborhood in Santiago, Chile, where a determined single woman was trying to create a stable home for a dozen or so children who had been abandoned or abused. With little more than good intentions and very limited Spanish, the 23-year-old Reifenberg plunged into the life of the Hogar Domingo Savio, becoming a foster father to kids who stretched his capacities for compassion and understanding in ways he never could have imagined back in the United States.

In this beautifully written memoir, Reifenberg recalls his two years at the Hogar Domingo Savio. His vivid descriptions create indelible portraits of a dozen remarkable kids--mature-beyond-her-years Veronica; sullen, unresponsive Marcelo; and irrepressible toddler Andres, among them. As Reifenberg learns more about the children's circumstances, he begins to see the bigger picture of life in Chile at a crucial moment in its history.

The early 1980s were a time of economic crisis and political uprising against the brutal military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Reifenberg skillfully interweaves the story of the orphanage with the broader national and international forces that dramatically impact the lives of the kids. By the end of Santiago's Children, Reifenberg has told an engrossing story not only of his own coming-of-age, but also of the courage and resilience of the poorest and most vulnerable residents of Latin America.

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aaaaaaaaaaaa, April 16, 2008 (view all comments by aaaaaaaaaaaa)
Steve Reifenberg's narrative of his first years in Santiago is a remarkable tale of those who are among the most vulnerable and hopeless children on the planet and the woman who loves them and molds them into a family of sorts. It also tells of those, like Steve, who contribute of themselves to make a decent life possible for those kids. Santiago's Children interweaves anecdotes of mirth and sorrow over a backdrop of power politics and bureaucratic intransigence. Ultimately, it is a tale of how persistent love and determination do prevail.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780292717428
Subtitle:
What I Learned about Life at an Orphanage in Chile
Author:
Reifenberg, Steve
Foreword:
Farmer, Paul
Publisher:
University of Texas Press
Subject:
Orphans
Subject:
Orphanages
Subject:
Public Policy - Social Services & Welfare
Subject:
Anthropology - Cultural
Subject:
Humanitarians
Subject:
Children's Studies
Subject:
Latin America - South America
Copyright:
2008
Publication Date:
May 2008
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
226
Dimensions:
895x604x69 92
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