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Colombian projects focus on education

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

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

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

Creative expression is essential

In Antioquia and Cartagena, creative expression plays an essential role in the development of the children. Artistic outlets such as dance and art courses are helping the children grow in many positive ways and giving them hope for a better future. These activities are benefits that go beyond the basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter to give the children tools that help them along the path of their own self-sufficiency.

Click the photo to watch a video

Health care brings dignity

The Hope for a Family sponsorship program in Colombia provides health care services in the form of medical and dental clinics, as well as activities and programs that promote and teach healthy habits to sponsored friends and their families. The projects also assist with medical needs such as glasses, medicines and appointments with medical specialists.

In Cali, one elderly man, Miguel, underwent surgery for cataracts that had made him nearly blind.

The surgery was a success and allowed him to see once again. This was a miracle for him. When he got out of surgery and was able to recognize the people around him, he cried, saying, “Thank you, I can see! Thank you, praise be to God, I can see!”

Access to health care is a luxury for those in poverty, so this particular benefit especially gives a sense of dignity and empowerment.

Sponsorship fosters nurturing environment

Juan Pablo is an 8-year-old boy who loves playing with trucks. Since his parents can’t afford to buy him toys, Juan Pablo creates his own “Happy Trucks,” as he calls them, using cardboard boxes and school supplies from his Hope for a Family educational benefit. His parents often help him, which allows them some time to bond as a family.

The imagination and play shown by Juan Pablo are simple wonders of childhood. But more often than not, children living in poverty do not get to experience fully the joy of childhood. Older siblings are very often the caregivers of younger siblings. Their poverty puts them in a situation where they are making decisions parents typically face..

“We see children … having to worry about child care or which child in the family gets to attend school,” said Dan Pearson, CFCA director of international operations. “It forces them to grow up at an earlier age. They don’t have the opportunity to be a child for very long.”

Sponsorship has helped alleviate some of the pressures on Juan Pablo and his family, and fosters a nurturing environment in which he can focus on being a child instead of worrying about where his next meal is coming from.

See Juan’s truck-building process on our blog.

An urban challenge

More than 7 million people live in Bogota, the capital of Colombia. In a city where roughly only a quarter of the residents own their own car, traffic is still heavily congested, especially during rush hours.

It’s also dangerous. In what is known locally as “Guerra del Centavo” (Penny War), buses used for public transportation speed perilously through the streets, trying to be the first to the bus stop, in competition with other buses for passengers.

To help regulate the traffic of this bustling city, a system called Pico y Placa, which means “peak (hours) and (license) plate,” was introduced. Travel during peak hours is restricted to certain days of the week based on the digits of the license plate. This regulation has helped decrease traffic.

Judith Bautista, Bogota project coordinator, says that travel in the city is still difficult, even with Pico y Placa. The Hope for a Family sponsorship program serves approximately 7,000 sponsored individuals and their families in 35 communities within the Bogota area. Traveling from the project office to a community only 25 miles away can take nearly two hours.

The sheer time commitment of traveling from work to home means that children are often left unsupervised, or in the care of a sibling not much older.

“The children are vulnerable to many factors when they are left alone,” Bautista said. “They are exposed to physical dangers both inside and outside the home. Also their homework suffers, and they have free access to unsuitable adult television shows.”

So, although travel is a challenge, staff visits are all the more important to the children.

“Conducting regular home visits is an important way for us to say that we care,” Bautista said. “It’s also a beautiful way of really locating the child inside his or her own environment. It allows us to listen to their problems, look for alternatives and offer workshops.”

Hear from project staff

Read a letter from the Cali project coordinator.

Read a letter from the Cartegena project coordinator.

Read a letter from the Bogota project coordinator

Read a letter from the Madre Paula project coordinator.

Become a sponsor

You can now select your sponsored friend on our Walk2gether site.
View photos and read profiles of children, youth and aging who are waiting for a sponsor.

Sources:

World Factbook