Identity papers for children

When we were overseas, we were surprised to find out that there are some countries that require official national government identity papers for every person within their borders regardless of age. It does not matter whether one was born there and is a citizen, one’s birth certificate is not enough, nor any other “local” identification, one must have an additional national government identification card or internal passport. Obviously, if one is not a citizen, one has to have national papers on you showing a visa, but that is also true in just about every country in the world (the exception are those countries that allow travel between themselves with just a driver’s license).

This creates a problem in countries that have large poverty populations because these papers always cost money, money which the very poor do not tend to have or do not wish to spend. We encountered this in both Bolivia and Perú. Below is a report from a diocese in Perú which talks about the type of help they are giving to the poor and why it is necessary.

Many countries do not have official GOVERNMENT IDENTITY PAPERS, but Peru does.

Yet many children and adults, especially in poor areas, do not have them. This will be a great handicap as they grow up. For example, they won’t be able to find proper work, receive medical treatment, gain educational qualifications, or drive a car.

Yet many parents are reluctant to take the necessary steps to provide their children with a formal identity… they don’t know how to fill in the forms, it takes too much time and they can’t miss work, it costs too much, they don’t live near the child’s place of birth, and a host of other reasons. It is estimated that one third of children in Peru do not have their papers, the majority being among the poor, who then get further disadvantaged.

The government has a programme aimed at the problem, but parents are not taking it up.

Now the Diocese, through its NGO, COMMUNION-PERU, is involved in helping parents and educating them about the importance of their children being registered. In its first campaign the Diocese helped 415 children and some adults to get their official papers, their DNI, as it is called.

The work is led by the Diocesan Social Worker, Erika Montoya, and the 415 represent much hard, dedicated work. But success breeds success, and the next round should be a little easier as many parents, seeing what has been done for their neighbours’ children, are asking for the same help. Well done Erika and her team of volunteers.

[Erika was trained as a social worker through a USPG grant.]

As you can see from the spelling, there is a large English contingent there, supporting the diocese in its work. When I was in Perú, a set of identity papers could cost close to the equivalent of one month’s minimum wage. Can you see why the poor might have been rather loath to get out identity papers until necessary? In many rural areas or in the shantytowns, one could live a long time without having to make use of national identity papers. But, if you do not have them, you are shut out of advancement in Perú. And, if you want them you were still faced with the problem of giving up close to one month’s minimum wage in order to get them.

Now, please note that you needed these papers in order to get a driver’s license. In this country, we use the driver’s license as our main identity document, after the birth certificate, which is given to us free (at least the first copy). Did you notice that without the document they might not be able to receive medical treatment or even gain educational qualifications? And yet, that is the law there to this day, despite the fact that one third of the children do not have papers. I can personally tell you that there are many adults in the same situation.

The work this diocese is doing here is not part of what one would normally see as “preaching the gospel.” But, I guarantee you that the people who are receiving the help see it as indeed being good news. And, having received those good news, they are much more open to hearing from the diocese about the “other” good news.

So, I encourage you very strongly to support the various social works in which mission agencies are involved. I do believe in supporting church-planting and missionaries who go do such. But missionary social works are all too often the step-children of missions. So, go find yourself a missionary social work that appeals to you and calls out to you and begin to support it.