Empower 40 Colombian kids in extreme poverty

Dear Donors,

In January our country representatives Andrea and Rosanna flew to Colombia to monitor the Hogar San Geronimo project which aims to improve the psychological and living conditions of 40 children and teenagers.

The Hogar San Geronimo center in Tunja is partly financed by the school fees of the institutes managed by our local partner, Somaschi Fathers. During the trip, Andrea and Rosanna met Father Carlos, a key figure of the association with which we collaborate on-site, who showed his concern regarding a high increase in prices that is occurring in the country. Due to this increase, many parents cannot afford to pay their children's school fees. As a result, fewer funds will be available that can be reinvested to finance the Hogar San Geronimo center.

Andrea and Rosanna reported an increasingly worrying territorial overview regarding poverty and crime during the monitoring trip, especially in the capital. Bogotá has always had a complex history with crime, which has been influenced by various factors, including drug trafficking, poverty, economic inequality and internal armed conflict. In recent years, there have been significant deteriorations in security levels. Colombian youth have been forced to live with forms of crime since childhood. Some of the main concerns include theft, robbery, drug trafficking and extortion. In 2023, 147,666 robberies were committed in Bogotá out of the 364,531 that occurred across the country - positioning the capital as one of the Latin American cities with the highest crime rate.

Due to growing crime, it is increasingly important to keep Colombian children and teenagers off the streets. By supporting our project, you will guarantee 40 kids a protected place to stay where they will receive psycho-social support and education for a better future!

Thanks for your help!

Dear Donors,

with this report we would like to update all of you about our project in Colombia. These months has passed quickly, children have started to attend school lessons after the summer break and they have to get used to this routine. Most of the children that take part in the activities offered by the center come from vulnerable families with socio-economic problems, have lost their family or are ragged children. Every one of them has to face obstacles and challenges, but we are glad to share that all the children, boys and girls supported are in good physical health conditions.

After many years, learning meetings have been organized and they have been focused on specific topics, which are fundamental for the minors’ growth: for example, the first session has been dedicated to the family “as place where you can learn love, where you can grow and where people take decisions”; other meetings have been titled “Manejo de mis pensamientos” (“how to manage thoughts”) and “Reconciliarme con mi pasado” (“Make peace with my past”). Boys and girls had the possibility to make questions and to share their ideas, strengthening themselves as a group and as individuals.

This center is a very important place for many boys and girls in Tunja and all the courses offered are an extraordinary opportunity for them to acquire skills and competences really useful also in the word of work. Thanks to different training classes they can easily find a job and become more independent. However, the Colombian government has set new standard regarding structural characteristics of this kind of centers and regarding specific equipment that they have to provide. For these reasons, the center needs funds in order to renovate and expand the structure and to buy new equipment: till that moment, the center cannot be recognized by the government as a training center and cannot issue professional certifications to the young recipients. That’s why your support is so important!

Thanks to your help we will be able to ensure a better future for many girls and boys of Tunja!