Give at-risk Colombian children a safe home

Hello everyone! 

2023 is coming and with it the expectations of a new period of training for life for the 250 children, adolescents and young people we protect each year in our boarding programs, who thanks to the commitment of our beloved GlobalGiving community and their generous contributions, have comprehensive care headed by professionals in nutrition, psychology, pedagogy and social work.

After overcoming the ups and downs of a difficult last semester, marked by aggressive and undisciplined attitudes, especially among adolescents, we closed the year with a substantial improvement in their behavior. Evasions were notably reduced and there was a greater sense of ownership of household items and their personal use. School attendance definitely favored the academic results of the whole group, and the university students also achieved better results than in previous periods of virtual learning.

Thanks to the strengthening of our work with families, we were able to successfully reintegrate 38 children and adolescents into their homes, fulfilling one of the fundamental objectives of our programs, which is to generate a lasting impact on family groups through our work with their children and young people.

At Christmas time only happiness, joy and many signs of solidarity, love and company for the children in the festivities.Our choir, as every year, opened Christmas season at the Hotel Sofitel Victoria Regia. Many friendly families and big-hearted companies such as Asesoftware, Microsoft, Envía, Education First, Arroyo Consulting, Publicis Groupe, Infinity   among others, offered nice celebrations with gifts, snacks, recreation, and most importantly, their volunteers shared with our children with affection that made them feel really loved.

The alumni celebration was attended by around 250 children (sons and daughters) of former participants of the programs. We are proud to see this second generation of young people achieving high school and college degrees. Some of them have been sponsored by our donors. 

Finally, we would like to tell you about one of our challenges for 2023. We are going to participate in an important Institutional Strengthening exercise that will last six months, led by Compartamos con Colombia, a non-profit multi-business corporation that focuses on transferring knowledge and creating capacities in organizations with the purpose of increasing their contribution to social development. Will keep you informed ....

We say goodbye with special gratitude for your generosity and commitment throughout these years. Thank you so much for all you do for our children, and for believing in our dream of building a better world for our Niños de los Andes!

Papá Jaime, our directors and our team wish you Happy Holidays and we hope to continue strengthening our bonds of love during 2023!

All the best,

Patricia González

Community Relations Manager

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!

Starting the month of May, we love to greet you with a report of normality the activities carried out in the programs. It has been four months of reactivation of the training strategies for children, adolescents and youth from the dimensions of body, mind and spirit, according to the principles of our founder's SER Philosophy, which have made them feel very motivated and full of expectations. Thanks to your permanent support, they began their school, technical, and university year in February with their uniforms and necessary supplies for a good academic performance.

We are happy to share with you some special moments of this quarter:

• The Annual General Assembly was held on March 23, in which our General Director Diana Zamudio presented the results of 2021. With a total of 620 adolescent and young children living in the boarding programs, and 376 families, one of our main challenges for 2022 is to prioritize the family strengthening program to fortify the bonds affected during the pandemic.
• This past April 4th we participated in “Little by Little” Campaign. Thanks to our donors we raised $685 USD, plus an additional $287 USD matching from GlobalGiving, for a total of $972 USD. We are happy with the result of this joint effort, which ranked us number 202nd among 5,936 projects participating. The money raised will be used to renovate the crockery and much needed items of the dining room.
• Now that the city is up and running, we have taken advantage of the opportunities that different entities have offered us to take part in recreational and cultural activities outside the homes. As in Colombia, we celebrate Children's Month in April, they were invited to spend a day of total fun at the Mundo Aventura Park, the Universidad del Bosque prepared a cultural activity in which they toured the entire campus, the library and the zoo. They also had a snack and ended with a didactic film. Several restaurants that participated in the Burger Master annual contest, for the best hamburger in Bogotá, sent delicious hamburgers to our homes.
• The vegetable garden of the Nuevo Amanecer home, became a training space in which we want children to raise their awareness about the importance nature, and to reinforce their contact with it. Crops of lettuce, kale, coriander and other vegetables are already consumed in their daily meals. Each child is responsible for the care and growth process of their own seeds.
• We want to highlight the story of Christian, one of our young university students from the St. Patrick’s home. With a difficult family history of poverty and consumption, he joined the program 7 years ago. At the beginning, he had difficulties respecting authority figures, but with time and the support of the team, his responsible and collaborative temperament began to emerge. He finished high school, became a systems technician at SENA and little by little he focused on clear objectives of professional study. Today, he is in his sixth semester of Systems Engineering at the Catholic University and at the same time he works part-time at STT technology company. With his income, he helps his younger sister to finish her studies and he bought a motorcycle on credit to get around. He practices volleyball on weekends and his development has been very positive in all areas.
• In the context of the pre-electoral moment that our country is experiencing, we attended the Conversation "Childhood Does Not Wait" at the University of the Andes, in which the presidential candidates spoke with children from different regions of the country. On behalf of all the most vulnerable children in Colombia, they asked for actions to improve mental health, nutrition, malnutrition rates, and the improvement access to quality of education.

We are so thankful for your permanent commitment to make these results possible! We know that, with everyone's help, we can continue building a more just and inclusive country; in which the rights of children become a priority and to be able to continue meeting the needs of the most vulnerable, especially adolescents, who are most exposed to social risks if they do not have timely intervention.

On behalf of Papá Jaime, the entire team, and specially our children, receive our gratitude for your usual support and generous contributions.

All the best,

PATRICIA GONZALEZ

Community Relations Manager

Links:

• If you want, follow us on social networks
• We kindly invite you to visit our instagram

We are more than excited to start this new year, alongside each and every one of our donors. Our hopes are that this year brings more normality especially for our children, who are eager to enjoy their school year, meet new friends, and work on their inner transformation process. 

We’d like to share with you, some of our major events since September, and a few goals we are looking forward to meet this 2022:

• A special success story that makes us very proud was the graduation of Carlos Obando as an Economist at the Universidad Politécnico Grancolombiano. As we mentioned in the previous report, Carlos completed his seven-year training process at our St. Patrick Headquarters and he is starting his professional career in a renowned company. His example is very motivating for the rest of the children of the program, who see the possibility of fulfilling their dreams as they work on their life projects with our team of professionals.  
• This past November 30^th, we participated in “Giving Tuesday”. Thanks to our donors, we raised a total of $9,829.00 USD, which will be used to purchase a backpack, jacket and pair of shoes for our 102 children and adolescents in the in-house residential programs. Unfortunately, the purchase of these gifts has been delayed until the end of the month due to a COVID-19 outbreak in our staff and children, who cannot return to school until the beggining of February. 
• Despite bio-safety concerns, the children enjoyed the loving company of many people to celebrate the Christmas holidays. The children's choir opened Christmas at the Sofitel Victoria Regia Hotel and companies such as Asesoftware, Otto Tours, Evertec, Forum Latam, HandsOn, accompanied them with gifts and celebrations in each of the venues. For instance, Autoniza invited them to skate on his ice rink, an activity they fully enjoyed. Likewise, volunteers and close friends of the Foundation offered them delicious New Year's Eve dinners. With so many activities, and gifts, our children were more than happy with the way things turned out this past Christmas!
• We are honored that in December 2021, our GlobalGiving corporate gift card donations increased to 30 donations vs. 17 in December 2020. With this in mind, we’d like to not only thank the donors, but also the companies that provide the opportunity, for these donations to happen. And of course, GlobalGiving we thank you for being the bridge that unites our cause with well-respected companies around the world. 
• Our purpose for 2022 is to always think about what we can do better in terms of providing attention for the the children, adolescents and young adults we protect in our programs, according to their ages, needs and dreams, and to provide support and accompaniment to their family groups on how to maintain the guarantee of their rights, aligned with the global trends of the UN and international guidelines for protection. The challenge is to improve the integral development of children, generate sustainable changes in their family environments in order not to avoid any recurrence of violation of their rights, and start their process in the Foundation with a view to the future from their entry and reception in our programs.
• In terms of fundraising we hope to continue expanding our community, inspiring everyone to join from their possibilities to achieve our common goal of transforming lives and fulfilling thousands of dreams.

All of our accomplishments, have only been possible thanks to the continuous support that our donor community network has provided in 2021, which in turn gives us the chance to continue our day-to-day operation and thus be able to set goals for the future. It is very fulfilling to know that even in the most uncertain times, we can count on our donor community, who of course will always be a part of the Fundación Niños de los Andes’ family. With that being said, we wish you all the best in your future endeavors and kindly invite you to visit our website for updates about our cause. 

On behalf of Papa Jaime our founder, Board of Directors, Diana Zamudio General Director, our children and staff we'd like to wish you a happy 2022, and thank you for your commitment. 

Best regards, 

Patricia Gonzalez 

Community Relations Manager 

Version Español

Estamos muy emocionados por comenzar este nuevo año, junto a todos y cada uno de ustedes, nuestros queridos donantes y amigos. El 2021 significó un año de muchos retos y aprendizajes y no queremos dejar pasar esta oportunidad para agradecer su confianza y apoyo. Esperamos que este año traiga algo más de normalidad, especialmente para nuestros niños, que están ansiosos por iniciar su año escolar, conocer nuevos amigos y trabajar en su proceso de transformación interior. 

Nos gustaría revivir con ustedes lo mejor de 2021 y algunos objetivos que esperamos cumplir este 2022:

• Un caso de éxito especial que nos tiene muy orgullosos fue la graduación de Carlos Obando como Economista en la Universidad Politécnico Grancolombiano. Carlos realizó su proceso de siete años de formación en nuestra Sede St. Patrick y como les contamos, en el reporte anterior, está iniciando su carrera profesional en una reconocida empresa. Su ejemplo es muy motivador para el resto de los chicos del programa, quienes ven la posibilidad de cumplir sus sueños en la medida que trabajen sus proyectos de vida de la mano de nuestro equipo de profesionales.  
• El pasado 30 de noviembre participamos en "Giving Tuesday". Gracias a nuestros donantes, recaudamos un total de $9,829.00 USD, que se utilizarán para comprar una mochila, chaqueta y par de zapatos para los 102 niños, niñas y adolescentes que atendemos en los programas de internado. Desafortunadamente, la compra de estos regalos se ha retrasado hasta finales de mes debido a un brote de COVID-19 en nuestro personal y niños, que no pueden regresar a la escuela hasta principios de febrero. 
• A pesar de las inquietudes por temas de bio seguridad, los niños gozaron de la compañía amorosa de muchas personas para celebrar las fiestas Navideñas. El coro de los niños abrió la Navidad en el Hotel Sofitel Victoria Regia y empresas como Asesoftware, Otto Tours, Evertec, Forum Latam, HandsOn, los acompañaron con regalos y celebraciones en cada una de las sedes. Autoniza los invitó a patinar en su pista de hielo, actividad que disfrutaron plenamente. De igual forma, voluntarios y amigos cercanos de la Fundación les ofrecieron deliciosas cenas de fin de año. Los niños, niñas y jóvenes estuvieron realmente felices después de mucho tiempo sin visitas. 
• Nos sentimos honrados de que, en diciembre de 2021, nuestras donaciones provenientes de tarjetas de regalo corporativas de GlobalGiving aumentaron a 30 donaciones, frente a 17 recibidas en diciembre de 2020. Por esta razón nos gustaría no solo agradecer a nuestros donantes, sino también a las empresas que brindan la oportunidad para que estas donaciones sucedan. Y, por supuesto, a GlobalGiving le agradecemos por ser el puente que une nuestra causa con empresas respetadas en todo el mundo.
• Nuestro propósito para 2022 será siempre pensar en entregar algo mejor a los niños, niñas, adolescentes y jóvenes que protegemos en nuestros programas, de acuerdo con su edades, necesidades y sueños, y brindar apoyo y acompañamiento a sus grupos familiares sobre cómo mantener la garantía de sus derechos, alineados con las tendencias globales de la ONU y las directrices internacionales para la protección. El reto es mejorar el desarrollo integral de los niños, generar cambios sostenibles en sus entornos familiares en procura de que no se repitan los hechos de vulneración, e iniciar su proceso en la Fundación con una mirada de futuro desde su ingreso y acogida en nuestros programas.
• En materia de recaudación de fondos esperamos continuar ampliando nuestra comunidad, inspirando a todos a unirse desde sus posibilidades al logro de nuestro común objetivo de transformar vidas y cumplir miles de sueños. 

Todos nuestros logros, solo han sido posibles gracias al apoyo continuo que nuestra comunidad de donantes ha brindado en 2021, lo que a su vez nos da la oportunidad de continuar con la operación diaria y así poder establecer metas para el futuro. Es muy gratificante saber que incluso en los momentos más inciertos, podemos contar con ustedes, que por supuesto siempre serán parte de nuestra familia Niños de los Andes. Dicho esto, les deseamos todo lo mejor en sus esfuerzos futuros y los invitamos amablemente a visitar nuestro sitio web para obtener actualizaciones sobre nuestra causa. 

Papá Jaime nuestro fundador, nuestra Junta Directiva, Diana Zamudio Directora General, el equipo y por supuesto nuestros niños, niñas y jóvenes, les deseamos lo mejor para 2022 y agradecemos su gran compromiso. 

Cordialmente,

Patricia González 

Proyección a la Comunidad 

2021, has brought a whirlwind of emotions for our organization and for our children who continue to wait for the day this pandemic will be over. Fortunately, the COVID-19 peak has slowed down and we are excited to announce that all of our staff are fully vaccinated, allowing us to slowly host small corporate events with few volunteers. Similarly, all of our children in St. Patrick have resumed presential classes with so far very few infection cases, permitting a smooth transition into what we hope better days for their education experience. 

Since we last reported in June lots has happened, and we are eager to share a few of the following successes and upcoming event for the end of the year!

1. "Bonus Day" was a huge sucess. We raised $11,338, with a matching fund of $1,428 from 7 donations. With these funds, we were able to fix two major plumbing issues, mend several snapped trees and buy a new roof for the trash and pantry room in Nuevo Amanecer. We are truly happy that we can count on such a loyal donor network committed with the present and future of our children. 
2. Here is a success story: Eight years ago, Carlos Obando arrived to our Foundation, lost, unmotivated, and with no desire to forgive and forget his past, and much less to grow into a strong independent young man. However, after many ups and downs, through our Founder's philosophy, we were able to transform all of his anger into a passion to have a better future, after all he is one of the brightest minds we have ever met. Today, we can happily share that he has finished his career in Politecnico Gran Colombiano University as an Economist, and better yet he has been hired to be a Data Analyst in a well renounded company in the city of Bucaramanga. This achievement not only resembles his brilliance, dedication and passion but also stands out as despite the socio-economic issues as a result of the pandemic, he got a job!
3. The happiness of the children and adolescents of the Foundation is in our hands. This past August, UPS volunteer hosted "Kites to the Wind" activity, where our children took their new kites took the sky at the Nuevo Amanecer home.  This activity marks the first corporate volunteer experience that we happily welcome as we slowly have been allowed to recieve such, in this new normality.
4. As the year comes to an end, we look forward to hopefully having a more "normal" set of celebrations. As you may know, December is the most important and joyous time at the Foundation. As the new normal approaches, and more people get vaccinated we hope that some generous companies and families come together and celebrate the time of year that each and everyone of our children eagerly await.

Results like these, show us that together we can increase the impact in our problematic society and thus positively transform childrens' lives.

We wish you all the best in your future endeavors and kindly invite you to visit our website for updates about our cause. 

On behalf of Papa Jaime our founder, children, staff and Board of Directors, we thank you again for your donation and commitment!

Best regards,  

Patricia Gonzalez 

Community Relations Manager

El 2021, ha traído un torbellino de emociones para nuestra organización y para nuestros niños que siguen esperando el día en que esta pandemia haya terminado. Afortunadamente, el pico de COVID-19 se ha ralentizado y nos complace anunciar que todo nuestro personal está completamente vacunado, lo que nos permite organizar lentamente pequeños eventos corporativos con pocos voluntarios. Del mismo modo, todos nuestros niños en la sede St. Patrick han reanudado las clases presenciales con hasta ahora muy pocos casos de infección, lo que permite una transición sin problemas a lo que esperamos sean mejores días para su experiencia educativa.

¡Desde junio, última vez que enviamos reporte, han sucedido muchas cosas y queremos compartirlas con ustedes junto con los próximos eventos para fin de año!

1. "Bonus Day" fue un gran éxito. Recaudamos $11,338 dólares, con un fondo de contrapartida de $1,428 de 7 donaciones. Con estos fondos pudimos solucionar problemas importantes de plomería, reparar varios árboles caídos, comprar nuevo techo para los cuartos de basura y despensa y realizar otras obras urgentes de mantenimiento en la sede Nuevo Amanecer. Estamos realmente felices y agradecidos de poder contar con una red de donantes tan leal y comprometida con el bienestar de nuestros niños y niñas.  
2. La felicidad de los niños y adolescentes de la Fundación está en nuestras manos. En agosto pasado, el grupo de Voluntarios UPS organizó la actividad "Cometas al viento", en la que nuestros niños elevaron sus nuevas cometas al cielo en la casa de Nuevo Amanecer. Esta actividad marca la primera experiencia de voluntariado corporativo que acogemos con satisfacción, ya que poco a poco se nos ha permitido llevarlas a cabo en esta nueva normalidad.
3. Para este final de año esperamos tener un conjunto de celebraciones más "normal". Como ustedes saben, diciembre es el mes más importante y alegre para los niños de la Fundación. A medida que más personas se vacunan, esperamos que algunas empresas y familias generosas se unan y celebren la época del año que todos y cada uno de nuestros niños esperan ansiosamente.
4. Y cerramos con una bella historia de éxito: Hace ocho años, Carlos Obando llegó a nuestra Fundación, perdido, desmotivado y sin ganas de perdonar y olvidar su pasado, y mucho menos de convertirse en un joven fuerte e independiente. Sin embargo, después de muchos altibajos, y apoyados en los postulados de la filosofía SER de nuestro Fundador, pudimos transformar toda su ira en una pasión por tener un futuro mejor, después de todo, es uno de los muchachos más brillantes que ha pasado por nuestros programas. Hoy, podemos compartir felizmente que ha terminado su carrera de Economía en la Universidad Politécnico Gran Colombiano y mejor aún ha sido contratado como analista de datos en una importante empresa de tecnología en la ciudad de Bucaramanga. Este logro, no solo es resultado de su inteligencia, disciplina, dedicación y pasión, lo es también de su habilidad en las entrevistas de selección, pues a pesar de la escaza oferta de empleos resultado de la pandemia, él logró obtener su trabajo.  

Resultados como estos, nos demuestran que juntos podemos lograr un gran impacto en la sociedad, transformando positivamente la vida de muchos niños, niñas y adolescentes en riesgo.

Te deseamos lo mejor en tus futuras tareas y te invitamos amablemente a visitar nuestro sitio web para que conozcas información actualizada sobre nuestra labor. 

En nombre de Papá Jaime, nuestros directivos y especialmente los niños y niñas de los Andes recibe un afectuoso saludo,  

Patricia González

Directora de Proyección a la Comunidad