Lhe Ludoteca Hermana Eucaristía, belonging to the nuns of Mary Immaculate, better known as the nuns of the Monte María Cristina neighborhood, is celebrating its tenth anniversary. A period of time in which these facilities have become a reference in Melilla for education, social assistance and commitment.
At present, thirteen people work in this toy library and there are two people in charge of coordinating the activities, both in the mornings and afternoons. One of them is María Eugenia Legido, who tells us about the work carried out by this organization, which is truly commendable: “the work we do is to support the neighborhood, both socially and culturally”.
At the beginning, this toy library was created with the youngest children in mind, but over time the vision changed: “we saw that women also needed our services, since the sisters have literacy classes in the afternoons and there were mothers who could not attend because the children do not have school in the afternoon. So we decided to have classes in the morning and the truth is that, even during the pandemic, the teachers worked, sending them online exercises.
The Ludoteca Hermana Eucaristía serves more than 200 people, 150 children and 60 women, and is currently running a course for the care of children and the elderly.
To commemorate these ten years of life, various activities have been planned and these began in the morning with a festive meeting between all the people who work or had worked in this place.
The work carried out by this toy library is fundamental and for this reason, one of its coordinators, María Eugenia Legido, hopes that in 10 years’ time, the same life will continue in these facilities: “I would like to see them as we have had them to date and that there will never be a lack of women and children, although it is complicated to attract, fundamentally, women. It is a little more difficult for us to attract them, since women come here from the shelter and we have to support them and listen to them a lot”.
The event was also attended by the Councillor for Citizen Security, as well as the Councillor for Education, Youth and Sports, Miguel Angel Fernandez who did not want to miss this event: “this toy library was the pioneer in the area and it was 10 years ago when the Imbroda Government bet on this center that is not only a cultural, sports and social center but also fulfills a function worthy of praise because the work they perform has a lot of merit that transcends the cultural and academic, and is the social work with people who need to be heard and make functions of social integrators and psychologists and, moreover, they do it with love and unquestionable dedication. Their work is very necessary and we hope that it will last not 10 years but 100 years more”.
Originally, the Ludoteca Hermana Eucaristía was dependent on the Department of Education, but today it is financed by the Social Policies area through subsidies.
It is enough to look at the smiles of the sisters and professionals who work in this center to understand the love they pour into their work. From here our most sincere congratulations and gratitude for being an example of empathy and solidarity.