Our work in Colombia

A diverse country, united by hope

Colombia is a land of magnificent contrasts: rugged mountains, high plateaus, deep valleys, and vast expanses of lowland tropical forests and grasslands. But amid this beauty, Colombia continues to struggle against guerilla warfare, city gangs and illicit drug cartels.

Against this backdrop of violence and beauty, the sponsorship of children, youth and aging members living in poverty began in 1982. Colombia was the first place where CFCA began providing hope for families.

A focus of the six Colombian projects is educating children to provide employment opportunities and keep them off the streets, away from gangs and crime. Programs that support education include tutoring, reading clubs, nutritional lunches and vocational orientation for older students. Project staff members also visit the schools that sponsored members attend.

Sponsored children and elderly also receive access to health and dental care, appropriate nutritional assistance, birthday and Christmas parties to promote celebration and unity, and more. The Hope for a Family program touches many areas of life and helps sponsored members in their physical and emotional growth.

Giving families a voice

CFCA believes in strong families where mothers feel encouraged and supported. As part of the benefits from Bogota’s Hope for a Family program, mothers of sponsored children participate in workshops to develop new skills, participate in their communities and find space for social interaction.

Lidia, pictured below, is the mother of two sponsored boys in Bogota, Colombia. She joined the "Mothers as Leaders" workshop, which prepares mothers to lead their communities and serve as project liaisons for emergencies, announcements and program activities.

Lidia's participation in the workshop has transformed her family.

"I share everything I learn in these workshops with my husband," Lidia said. "We discuss them with our children, and this is good because we all learn. Learning from others makes us a stronger family."

Lidia has discovered in CFCA a way to feel supported as a mother. Tomorrow when she rises at dawn to tend to her cows, she will know her dreams are a bit closer.

"My dream is to see my children succeeding in life, remembering their father as a hard-working man and their mother as a strong and loving woman," she said.

Encouraging families to set, achieve personal goals

CFCA is developing and strengthening programs in Bogota and other projects to provide more opportunities for families to realize their goals and dreams.

"The Bogota project is focusing heavily on community involvement and empowerment as key elements of our Hope for a Family program," said Jose Rodriguez, a CFCA project director for South America. "Along with community empowerment comes the possibility for the families in these communities to define their own goals and reach out for them."

Nelson and Maria are the parents of sponsored children in Colombia. They work in flower cultivation and earn additional income through recycling as well as cooking and selling empanadas. Their dream is to own a home. They would also like to start a food business specializing in empanadas and arepas (cornbread), as well as a carpentry workshop for Nelson.

Sponsorship benefits have relieved some pressures on the family budget so they can work toward achieving their dreams.

"The program is a blessing for our family," Maria said. "Everything that our children receive is a big help — the notebooks, the homework help and the food baskets. Also, the meetings that they have for us are a blessing from God."