Toy library provides safe place for children

Diego is a 13-year-old boy who decided to be an agent of change in his community after he realised that children have rights and potential, no matter their economic situation.

Some time ago, I was walking around the neighbourhood and suddenly I heard someone yelling and hitting her son. I didn’t think twice and I knocked at the door and said to the mother, 'Madam why don’t you send your son to the Toy Library?'” remembers Diego Trejo.

He remembers the incident as something that changed his life. He used to be very shy and never thought he would be able to face a situation like that. However, he felt courageous and confident to defend another boy like him.

He has been sponsored since he was a baby and grew up participating in several programmes implemented by World Vision in the area of Ventanilla, a peri-urban district of Lima. 

In 2009, he was invited by a friend to attend the Toy Library, which was starting in his community at that time. At the beginning he just used to play with the toys available there and step by step got more involved until he became a leader. Now he teaches, plays and guides other children younger than him.

“Before the Toy Library, I used to get bored at home. I wasn’t allowed to play outside, since it was dangerous. There were [dangers] from 'piranhas' (child thieves) to drug addicts around the park. You could hear foul language all the time,” he tells.

Diego works in the Toy Library where he used to go as a child. 

The Toy Library is a safe place where children can play and learn through different toys, games and activities organised by teen leaders, trained by World Vision. Parents also participate through the support committees that look after the administration and security of the facilities. In the last 10 years World Vision implemented 15 Toy Libraries in the same number of communities in Ventanilla. 

Currently there are over 100 teen leaders like Diego who share their activities through the volunteer work they do at the Toy Libraries.

Diego lives in a small pre-fabricated wooden house in the middle of a sandy hill, next to the ladders that connect the road with the remotest houses. Every day he has to get down the ladders and walk for 15 minutes to the school, under the sun in summer and with a lot of dust in winter. 

Diego is currently attending the second grade of high school. He also helps his mother with the chores and babysits his two month-old baby brother, William. They see their father only at night because he works all day long.

He has a plan for the future. “I want to study gastronomy and support my mother,” he says. 

Football is also his passion. He plays as defence with his friends every time he can. “I’ve witnessed the fights between wild gangs – hooligans- of the main football teams of Peru: Alianza Lima and Universitario de Deportes. I’ve seen how they get drugs and intimidate people. But I’m not afraid any more.” 

As a leader of the Toy Library he is aware of his influence and committed himself to become a role model for other children, and to take care of them. He knows that the streets are not completely safe yet, so he doesn’t want the younger children to play outside. He also knows that children have rights and is keen to defend the ones who are mistreated.

“Now, the boy I helped when his mother was yelling and hitting him is my friend and goes to the Toy Library,” he says. Thanks to the Toy Library, Diego had the courage to knock on that door. Thanks to the Toy Library children can play and learn in a safe place.