Cielo Abierto

Caritas Internationalis is a humanitarian institution embracing different countries, inspired and supported by Catholic faith. Caritas is the helping hand of the Church, reaching out to the poor, vulnerable and excluded, regardless of race or religion. Caritas Internationalis has its headquarters in Rome. In Argentina, it includes 165 centers of assistance, development and social services. They offer help to those socially excluded, giving them lodging, food and basic services for a few days.

VFS was part of the Project Cielo Abierto (it takes place in a jail and offers different services to the prisoners of a maximum-security institution). The objective has been to help prisoners to reintroduce themselves into society and prevent recidivism. The jail is located in the outskirts of the Capital City, in an area of extreme poverty, approximately 30 Km from the city of Buenos Aires. Frequently, the volunteers have assisted the prisoners in parts of the jail quite close to the cells, and with a guard for their protection.

Flower Essence Therapy occurred on a monthly basis and was for those who sought it out. Unfortunately, for bureaucratic reasons at the Provincial Penitentiary Service , and then for security reasons, the VFS could not continue working. Nevertheless, there remains the satisfaction of the achievement of many successes over this time.

Therapists dealt fundamentally with anxiety, insomnia, depression, family alienation, concerns about the upbringing of their children who were in the care of other family members, personality traits that made living with other prisoners, problematic, and self- destructive behavior. Then, it is important to mention, the problem of manipulative personalities even with the therapists themselves.

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