Give at-risk Colombian children a safe home

Receive special greetings wishing you a 2016 full of new opportunities and challenges to meet. Here at Niños de los Andes, we are confident that this will be a special year for our project and for the children we serve.

Visiting New Dawn, one of our centers, earlier this year was a very motivating experience. It houses 60 children and adolescents of both sexes, separated from their families for various reasons but all equally traumatic, whom could be a disaster if they spend most of the day at home, however we found a neat house, well cared , fully decorated that breathes love.

Immediately we could see how the activities and celebrations at the end of the year generated positive changes in the group. Children, who months ago came home with a blurred smile by the pain of not being able to be with their family at Christmas, today showed us proudly the harvest of their vegetables garden.. "We planted them ourselves with the teacher" told us Edwin, 10, who began the program six months ago because his parents had big trouble with the law. “When I grow up I can sell them to help my parents ", he said. This kid will surely see other crops, because the situation of his parents doesn't seem to have short term solution and he shall be with his siblings under our protection for an indefinite time.

In a peaceful and harmonious environment adolescent girls get ready to start their school year. The psychosocial support received during the previous year helped them to improve their attitude towards study and personal care. "I am very happy because I was elected as Personera by a vote of all the children," told us Luisa, 16, who has spent a year and a half under our care. "I'm close to graduation and it will be a good experience, “she said.

The Personera is the responsible one for leading group discipline through recreational and motivating activities. Luisa, who is a great dancer and dreams to be a dance teacher, wondered us with the presentation of her first project as a Personera. It’s called “Happy Hearts" and is a proposal to improve the behavior and attitudes of the group through non-conventional therapeutic disciplines as Bio-dance, Yoga and art therapy. We found Luisa´s initiative interesting to support because 30 years experience handling children in difficult conditions have taught us that the most effective way of personal transformation is through stimulating activities. We will seek help to finance this project, hire instructors and acquire the necessary inputs such as sound, mats, dance costumes etc. We are more than happy to invest in our own abilities that carry us forward and help our children gaining social stability, furthering love and belonging, self-esteem, and ultimately self-realization.

The Ministry of Education reports that in Colombia, each year more than 300 thousand children and teenagers especially from the population groups with lower income and therefore increased risk of vulnerability, drop out of school for barely useful and attractive content which takes away the ability to build successful life projects. In consequence, we work to secure and satisfy our children’s higher level of needs in becoming sounder and fitter individuals. We look forward every day to inspire them so that through their dreams, our hands and with your support, they could change the course of their lives.