Education Ecuador Project #32549

Support 22 Kids w/ Special Needs at OSSO Orphanage

by Fundacion Hearts of Gold

Project Report | Oct 2, 2018
Supporting the Orphans of OSSO

By Maria Lorena Tello | Director of OSSO

IN ENGLISH (En Español abajo):

Our project Los Pequeñitos of OSSO continues to serve children and youth with severe disabilities. On September 6, we welcomed a new member, a very sick and extremely small child of 20 months, who has a severe disability. After his arrival we now again host 22 children with disabilities, after the death of our little Anthony in April of this year.

During the month of August, one of our children and two of our young people attended a summer camp where they were able to observe and participate in some daily activities. These activities allowed all children to leave the orphanage daily and to share with other children and youth in the community. Every Tuesday and Thursday we have scheduled activities with the two houses so that we can compare them to each other.

On July 31st, María José Orellana of Hearts of Gold and Carina Jara visited to get to know the children and thus start a project to get donors and volunteers for the OSSO project from our Foundation. After this visit, during the months of August and September, we received some groups of people who were accompanied by staff from the Hearts of Gold Foundation. Some of them donated diapers, medicines as well as formula milk, which has helped us to feed our new child. The purpose of these visits was to share our work and its beneficiaries and offer the opportunity to serve as volunteers at different times according to the needs of the orphanage. We welcome volunteers on the weekends, and encourage more individuals to get involved.

We are very grateful to the Hearts of Gold Foundation for all their support and for helping us find people willing to serve in a personalized way. Thanks to the intervention of the Hearts of Gold Foundation and its Community Assistance Program, we have received knowledge from the workshops offered. We are now better known in the community and therefore have better possibilities of obtaining the support we need.

We look forward to continue working with Hearts of Gold side by side to be able to serve our children and young people with disabilities in the way that they deserve.

EN ESPAÑOL

Nuestro proyecto Los Pequeñitos de OSSO continua atendiendo a niños y jóvenes con discapacidades severas. El 6 de septiembre acogimos a un nuevo integrante, un niño muy pequeño y sumamente enfermo y frágil de 20 meses, quien tiene una discapacidad severa. Con la llegada de él volvimos a tener 22 niños y jóvenes con discapacidad luego del fallecimiento de nuestro pequeño Anthony el mes de abril de este año.

Durante el mes de agosto uno de nuestros niños y dos de nuestros jóvenes asistieron a una colonia vacacional en donde pudieron observar y participar en algunas de las actividades programadas diariamente. Estas actividades permitieron que nuestros chicos salgan diariamente del orfanato y puedan compartir con otros niños y jóvenes de la comunidad. Cada martes y jueves hemos programado actividades con las dos casas para que puedan compartir entre ellos tanto los niños como las “tías”.

El 31 de julio recibimos la visita de María José Orellana de Hearts of Gold y de Carina Jara para conocer a nuestros niños y así poder empezar un proyecto para conseguir donantes y voluntarios para el proyecto Los Pequeñitos de OSSO de nuestra fundación. Luego de esta visita, durante los meses de agosto y septiembre hemos recibido a algunos grupos de personas que vinieron acompañadas por personal de la fundación Hearts of Gold o referidos por la misma. Algunos de ellos donaron pañales, medicinas así como leche de fórmula, la cual nos ha servido para alimentar a nuestro nuevo niño. El propósito de estas visitas fue el presentarles el proyecto y a sus beneficiarios y ofrecerles la oportunidad de servir como voluntarios en diferentes horarios según las necesidades del orfanato. En la actualidad una de esas familias presentadas por la fundación Hearts of Gold está prestando sus servicios voluntarios durante una hora y media los días sábados. Existe el interés de otras personas deseosas de prestar su servicio en otros horarios.

Estamos muy agradecidos con la Fundación Hearts of Gold por todo el apoyo que está dando a nuestro proyecto y por ayudarnos a encontrar a personas dispuestas a servir de alguna forma. Estamos conscientes de que hace un año atrás éramos una fundación no muy conocida por la comunidad de Cuenca, pero que gracias a la intervención de la Fundación Hearts of Gold y al hecho de ser miembros de su Programa de Asistencia Comunitaria y al conocimiento recibido a través de los talleres ofrecidos, ahora somos más conocidos y por lo tanto con mayores y mejores posibilidades de obtener el apoyo de la comunidad.

Esperamos continuar trabajando hombro a hombro con la fundación Hearts of Gold para poder servir a estos niños y jóvenes tal como ellos lo merecen.

Cuenca soccer team visits OSSO

Celebrating birthdays

A few children at a time head out for the day

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Jun 6, 2018
These orphans are getting the support they need

By Kelly Mitchell | Hearts of Gold Program Manager

Children play at an inclusive park

We would like to first say thank you to the supporters of this project, who are helping the children at the OSSO orphanage live a healthier, fuller life!

OSSO is a special place where orphans with severe special needs can feel at home. They receive the medical care they need to survive, and the personal, therapuetic, and educational support that gives them an enjoyable life.

The funds raised so far have gone to support the children at OSSO with critical medicine needs. Lorena, the Director of OSSO, shares with us, "These funds were a relief for us and really allowed us to take care of the children’s medical needs and continue with our work. With this money we acquired more medicines of continuous use to treat our children who have Gastrostomies."

This work is not always easy. Sadly this past month OSSO lost one of their children, who died from severe health challenges at just 7 years old. Their work honors the lives of all the orphans and children with special needs who need support and quality care.

In order to best achieve their mission, OSSO has also entered into Hearts of Gold's Community Assistance Program (CAP) to receive training, educational workshops, and mentoring, thanks to extra support from a corporate sponsorship. As nonprofit leaders and a nonprofit organization, OSSO will be working to make their institution more sustainable and impactful in the work they do! So far the directors, Lorena and Rodrigo, have attended workshops in Volunteer Management, Leadership and Communication, Strategic Planning, and Self-Love.

Rodrigo shares, "Learning about different types of leaders, leadership styles, delegation of tasks, feedback, etc. helped me understand that it is possible to improve and meet higher, more challenging goals. I have already applied what I learned when dealing with employees who need support in order to improve their attitude and motivation. Having learned and practiced how to listen and recognize how people communicate is helping me to understand the needs and concerns of others, and to look for effective ways to solve problems."

Thank YOU for making the children at OSSO smile brighter today. Stay tuned for more updates!

* Please note that due to Ecuadorian law and protection of orphans, photos of the children's faces cannot be published online. We will share with you the best images we can given the restraints of legal protection.

Where children call home

The directors of OSSO, Lorena and Rodrigo

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