Progress reports

Report 14- November 2008

Projects

• Improving communication skills 1 and 2 •Vocational program •Teenage Mothers •Homework Clinics- Cali School •Las Palmas School •After Shool Program - Tunja • Teresa Toda homes for abandoned girls • De la Cruz School

Events/Miscellaneous

April 19, 2008 come and join us

See our last events

Some special People

Now you can give a double gift Make a donation in somebody's name and contribute to a child's better future.
Find out more...
Visit to the Altos de la Cruz School

Buy holiday cards-designed by the children and t-shirts with Colombiacare logo

Why Help the Children of Colombia ?

Inocent children are being affected by the conflict in Colombia and, without help they will become part of the problem. more

Welcome to ColombiaCare

A non-profit organization dedicated to help Colombian children affected by the on-going Colombia conflict. It is estimated that more than 1 million children have been displaced in the last 15 years in Colombia as a result of the armed conflict. At least two thirds have witnessed the brutal murder of a close family member or friend. They have lost the certainty of a place to live and access to education, and have been forced to live in conditions of extreme poverty. Once displaced, education in particular becomes very difficult. More than 85 percent of displaced children do not receive a primary education. Children who are unable to go to school lack basic employment skills, and often choose recruitment into armed groups, gangs, drugs or crime as an alternative to poverty. See more details on the situation.

Our Mission To provide help and support to Colombian children whose families have been displaced by the ongoing armed conflict in Colombia . The focus is on specific educational projects that can be measured and monitored to ensure that we have an impact.

A Difficult Time for Our Children

The community we work with is located in the outskirts of Cali, in the hills surrounding the city. We work with the local schools in that community for the Communication and Homework Clincs projects. For more than three weeks during the month of February, these projects were on hold because of bad weather conditions. Since the end of last year and the beginning of this one, an unusually long and strong rainy season (due to the “Niña” phenomenon) has caused innumerable problems. The fact that most of the streets aren't paved makes the access hazardous at best and impossible in many cases. Typically, strong rains often make the area very muddy, and the teachers and children can't make it to school. However, in February the situation became catastrophic. With the accumulated impact of the continuous rain, some of the houses have literally fallen down. As a result, some of the children don't even have a place they can call home. See more details.

Grants

We obtained two continuation grants for the Vocational project and for the Homework Clinics project. The former will continue to train young people in Carpentry, Construction, Welding and Sewing and the latter will continue with the after-school programs.

An Ecological Theme

On a brighter note: there is a very touching story to share with you. As you may remember, ColombiaCare had paid for the construction of a retention wall for one of the schools we work with. By the way, if that wall hadn't been built, it is possible the school would not have survived the strong rains, fortunately, it did. The school developed an ecological theme, taking advantage of the location of the school and the retention wall and as part of the Communication project. This ecological theme is carried through all of the subjects taught. In addition, there are special days in which all the children have outdoor activities to help the environment and apply the knowledge acquired in the various subjects. The program has been very successful. It has facilitated the integration of our Communication project with the teachers and their regular program. But most importantly, it has provided for an increased interest on the part of the teachers for their classes, and an increased motivation in the children. The pictures say it all. Those smiles are the ones that keep us going. See some more pictures, they are beautiful.