Give at-risk Colombian children a safe home

There are many things to tell you: This year we dedicated our efforts to improve the houses furniture in all areas. As you already know, thanks to your contributions through Global Giving, we finished the playroom and we got our brand new bus. As a result, our children in 2019 will be able to get to school safely. Also, we changed 63 beds of Nuevo Amanecer and 30 of St. Patrick, as well as the mattresses, the sheets, pillows, shoemakers, entrance mats and lockers. Without your help, this simply would not have been possible. You should have heard Jonathan 6 years old when he saw the mattresses: "We're not going to want to get up in the morning," he said. We would love that you could come someday to learn about the program and share the achievements obtained thanks to your commitment to this cause.

Fortunately, by the end of this period, 52 of the 145 boys and girls who began their process earlier in January were successfully reinstated to their families. We wanted to briefly share with you this special story of a group of siblings who stayed for two years in the program. Three siblings, Sara 9, Jennifer 11 and Andrew 12, were withdrawn from their family because their mother, head of household, was not a guarantor of their fundamental rights. Her work in prostitution to get the minimum resources to feed them, forced her to leave them in the care of the elder, which is a common situations of poverty. The result: The ICBF took away the children and were sent to our protection program. During these two years they joined more than ever, returned to school with normal difficulties for the little assistance and attention of their mother.

"If you knew how hard it is to get a decent job, you wouldn't take the kids away from me, instead, you’d help me find one." These were  Mercedes’s words when she first came to visit her children at the foundation’s home.  Over time, each of the mother's visit was a surprise for her: The children were gaining weight, had good grades and she was involved with discipline from the workshops dictated on Saturdays by the psychologist. She had to make great efforts to successfully pass home visits to the team and be able to recover the children, but with the support and advice of the institution achieved it a month ago. In Colombia, 50% of children entering protection have single-parent families in the head of women with very low educational level.  

Through 30 years of experience, one thing we have clear: Parents always wants to be with her children despite their shortcomings and difficulties. This premise led us to chart the course for 2019: With the help of all of you, we will significantly strengthen the support and training of families and prepare them for family reimbursement when the children leave the foundation. Family groups should be accompanied more closely to achieve a sustainable impact on the quality of life of families. Thus, the Parent School Project "The right seed" will be underway.

Thank you again for your support for our project. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments or ideas at calidad@ninandes.org

Kind regards,

María Camila Matíz  

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Hello dear GG Donors

Welcome to August! Time runs very quickly; It’s amazing seeing how we’re already halfway through with 2018!

This recent Bonus Day was quite amazing. Thank you all for your early and great contributions which were matched, to help our children build their self-esteem and confidence through our Happy Hearts project. It’s a pleasure to show you how things are going with your generous donations. We have been able to speed up the progress for the remodeling of our recreational space. Since then reached significant progress in the paint jobs, furniture acquiring and creative designs on the walls that provide additional tools to challenge children’s creative mind.

A few weeks ago, Andres one of our children in Nuevo Amanecer, experienced an emotional crisis. At the age of fourteen, he has lost the feeling of being loved as he grew up in a violent household, where his father throughout his entire life physically and verbally abused him. Witnessing this abuse, he felt like violence was simply the only form of expressing such feeling, causing him to struggle with managing his emotions and even worse lacking motivation in everyday activities. During his crisis, he resorted to violence in which he attempted to physically hurt other children. Once the situation was controlled, the psychologist mentioned how he has a wall built upon pain and emotional trauma from abuse, where he does not allow anyone into his heart. Getting through this wall, is the ongoing challenge the team is currently facing, but there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Such light consists of his recently given opportunity to start school, which gives him a sense of distraction and self-confidence.

We deeply believe that this new space we are building with your active participation, will grant Andres, and all the children coming from family hardships, a positive, inspiring and motivating ambient to channel their emotional difficulties into a creative manner. Similarly this space will encourage them to complete their daily homework tasks and thus further develop any talents they have discovered during their time at our Foundation’s program. With the help of volunteer participation and guide of our professional team we have been able to provide our children with creative techniques that do not employ the use of violence and as a result build their sense of confidence through personal achievements.

 We'd love to get some feedback on our project, so feel free to let us know how we have done. Again thank you so much for your commitment with our at-risk children in Colombia.

Kind Regards,

Patricia Gonzalez