Give at-risk Colombian children a safe home

Thank you infinitely for the support received this semester through your monthly donations, for your motivating feedback on our reports and, especially, for your wonderful response to our call to participate in GlobalGiving campaigns.  We extend a warm welcome to those who have recently joined our cause and a special greeting to those who have accompanied us during the last 10 years making a difference in the lives of many children and young people in the Foundation's programs. You have been an incredible support to fulfill our mission!  

Many of you know that we have been working for more than thirty years with street children and others who have been victims of domestic violence, abuse, child labor and other problems associated with extreme poverty. More than 65,000 children have transformed their lives through our programs and we have helped more than 100,000 people on the street with our rescue patrols.

But we still need to increase efforts to strengthen Colombian families and get them to build environments of love and peace that ensure a happy development for their children. So far this year, 5,000 cases of child victims of violence and neglect have been registered. These acts occur mostly in their own homes with the risk that they will replicate them at school or in the institutions to which they are referred. 

We have seen this reality reflected in the increase of boys and girls with markedly aggressive and violent behavior who have arrived to the Nuevo Amanecer home, a fact that has destabilized the group of children who have been in the program for the longest time. The adequate management of situations of rebellion and aggression among the boys has been a challenge for the caregivers, who also attribute this situation to the after-effects of the confinement during the pandemic. However, the psychosocial team has been attentive, making personalized interventions, creative activities and dynamics to stabilize the group.

As a support strategy, Papá Jaime, our founder, in his mission to inspire the team of professionals, caregivers and collaborators to acquire an adequate management of these irregular situations, conducted his workshop, called Manejo de Emociones, at our two homes. Throughout three sessions, there were moments of reflection guided by his knowledge and life experiences, teaching everyone how, from love, we can achieve the unthinkable with children. He gave us guidelines on how to control impulses, act with tolerance and resolve everyday conflicts. We learned that we must understand our emotions instead of repressing them, live and BE happy and thus be able to make the children we protect, train and educate in our programs happy.

Finally, we want to tell you that on Bonus Day we were able to raise USD$7,217 dollars, plus a bonus of USD$2,931 from GlobalGiving, for a total of USD$10,000 dollars, which, as you know, will go directly to launch the project focused on developing creative entrepreneurship skills in teenagers about to graduate from our programs.

We are very happy with this wonderful result, but, in a special way, we are thrilled to feel the commitment of you, who are an integral part of our Niños de Los Andes Family, and who, even from a distance, are always supporting Colombian children and youth who have lacked opportunities.

On behalf of our board of directors, Papá Jaime and our entire team, we send you our warmest regards,

Thank you once again,

Patricia González

Community Relations Manager

Links:

• Visit our facebook and share more activities
• Learn more about our project!