Help Eradicate Child Labor in Colombia

These three months have been awesome for us. We did lots of activities to eradicate child labor in Colombia and, now, we are very excited to show them to you.

In Medellín, and thanks to a partnership we established with the recreation and sports institute of this city (INDER for its letters in Spanish) we led a festival called ‘Festival Proniño’ aimed to children from all town. And they had so much fun! Videogames, rope jump, chess, family games and more were some of the things they could do all together to occupy their free time.  

Meanwhile, in Bogotá, the capital of this beautiful country, 40 boys and girls from different schools located in at risk neighborhood, participated in a sports workshop. The idea was to show them how they can learn values while they play with friends. Families and leaders of the community were present during the event. And they were so glad to see those smiles in those tiny faces!

That isn’t all. Just a few days ago, we celebrated the World Day against Child Labor taking the beaches of Cartagena and spreading the word about the need of getting rid of this problematic issue. Tourists and visitors took it very well and all were part of a national campaign started by the Ministry of Labor of Colombia named ‘Stuck out your tongue at child labor’. It was great!

We have so much to tell you but we don’t want to bore you. What we really want is to see the months keep going like this. To make it happen, we need to your help. Please feel free to share our projects with your friends, family and other contacts. Our kids will be grateful with you forever as they skip the child labor and grow happily ever after.

THANK YOU!

Colombia is a soccer country. Here, we live soccer, we breathe soccer, we even ‘eat’ soccer when we scream in from of the TV every time our team plays. Since we are little, our parents, especially our dads, teach us about the importance of the ‘futbol’ (it’s how we call it) in the Colombian culture. We learned how to see it, how to understand it and, of course, how to play it.

Many children in our country dream about being a professional ‘futbol’ player to overcome their difficulties and, maybe become one day like James Rodriguez, the superstar who is making us all cry, scream and feel together the passion of the national sport.  And one thing is truth: being a professional ‘futbol’ player is always better than work when you are still a child.

In Juntos Construyendo Futuro we are sure of that and for that one and other many reasons (as keep the body healthy and become committed to something) we encourage kids and teens  that are at risk of being put to work or leaving school to see in the sports a good way to spend their free time.

During these months we had four soccer championships in different neighborhoods of Bogotá. 248 children participated and strengthened their sports skills, teamwork, respect and social skills while they had fun. Meanwhile, in Valledupar, a city in the north of Colombia, 120 girls and boys were playing ‘futbol’ after school to spend their free and internalize rules to live in society and help preserve the environment, all this THANKS TO YOU!

After every championship, the players were awarded for the effort and participation. They are always very excited to get a prize, even if they didn’t win. The biggest reward is witness their faces full of happiness and joy and, time ahead, seeing them making their dreams come true.

Andres was a boy at risk from Cartagena who, with your help, made posiible his dream of develop a professional career in ‘futbol’. Now, after using his free time to train and play, he is part of the junior players team of Club Deportivo Real Cartagena, the soccer team of his city.

Your donations are responsible for lots of smiles here in Colombia, not just the kids’ but their families’ too. We are hosting workshops with more than 1600 families all year long to teach them, though recreation activities about family communication, quality of education and cultural transformation. That way we can reach together the eradication of child labor in the country.

Thank you again for your support!