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

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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

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