Colmena

Colmena, from the Spanish means “Hive”. In Marigliano in the province of Naples there is a “Hive”, but it is not like all the others. The small working bees are actually all minors at risk of the Neapolitan reality.

The Community Colmena is in fact a reality that houses minors who have committed crimes of the criminal and administrative area. The community, as an alternative to prison, seeks to learn the teachings of youngsters through the operators who try not only to make them respect the rules, but also to make them understand that they are still in time to change their lives.

These guys come from the most popular and disadvantaged neighborhoods of Naples and its province and most of them come from families where the illicit is the daily life. Many of them have parents in prison and in many cases families live in total illegality. The boys who have passed through Colmena have committed all types of crime: trafficking, theft, robbery, attempted murder, stolen goods, brawl. It’s very difficult to start from scratch with these guys, but the operators  of Colmena try to hold out a hand, to understand what is right and what is wrong in life. So everyone at work in the “Hive”.

In the morning some guys go to the carpentry workshop and in the afternoon they have to go to school. Everyone has the same tasks in the house, cleaning, cooking and washing rooms. Here in Colmena the rule is important because it is still hoped that these guys can have a better future.