Give at-risk Colombian children a safe home

What a year it has been so far! Half-way through 2019, and we already have so much to share with you all! We would like to take the chance to offer our sincerest gratitude to each and everyone of you. Thanks to your generous support we have been able to grow as an organization this year, and learn new ways in which we can expand our impact on our at-risk children. 

We are excited to inform you about the following achievements:

• We formed an alliance with MAPFRE's corporate volunteer program, which develop activities for people that live in vulnerable situations and suffer from extreme poverty. Our St. Patrick boys were invited to participate in their “Providing Opportunities for Working life” project, that has been recognized as one of the best human resources practices for the employment inclusion of people belonging to vulnerable social groups. These activities also took place in our other program, Nuevo Amanecer. 
• Worked with a volunteer group “Ante Todo Colombia”, where the volunteers worked with the children on various workshops based on entrepreneurship, gender equity, and technology management. These workshops took place in 2 of our programs in Bogota during a time period of three months. The cycle began with a workshop in St. Patrick, on “Life project based on entrepreneurship”, where 22 students participated, of which were either finishing high school, doing technical and/or university studies.  “I always dreamed of running a business and being my own boss, but I thought it would be impossible for me, but this workshops along with my college education motivate us, help us grow personally, construct our capabilities expand our visions about our professional future”, said Pablo* (20 years old).  He has been in the St. Patrick program for over 4 years, and is currently studying Business Administration at Politecnico Gran Colombiano University and takes advanced English courses. 
• As you are aware, during the week of April 8^thwe participated in the Little by Littlecampaign, where all donations from $10 to $50 were matched at 60%. Although we did not have much of a successful campaign, it was a great opportunity to expand our donor community network and our small contributors, thanks to the support of ten advocates selected among our most committed donors. 
• On Saturday April 13^th, Andrea Juliao a professional dancer, lead an integrated activity through dance and aerobic exercises with our children and their visiting families. The purpose of this activity was to facilitate the integration of family members with their children, strengthening bonds and relationships amongst them. 
• To finalize International Children’s Day celebrations, we received a visit from Francisca Werth Coello, a Chilean writer and narrator who was invited to Bogota for the Book Fair known as FILBO. Francisca carried out two dynamic workshops of reading, creative writing and crafts with a formative and multicultural context for our children at Nuevo Amanecer and Casacorazones programs. 

*His name was changed to protect his identity. 

Let us know your thoughts on our achievements so far. We would love to know ways in which we could improve, whether it’s advice or an opinion, feel free to contact us! We are eager to finish the rest half of this year strong.