Tunja is a small town North-East of Bogota. Its population is approximately 200.000 people. Tunja is the coldest city in Colombia. Its yearly average temperature is 52 F. Tunja is very important in the history of Colombia.

We want to recognize the First Presbyterian Church, Circle 5 from Freehold, NJ under the leadership of Lori McCoy and Wendy Harman, who provided ColombiaCare with a great number of supplies for the children in the Tunja Project. Below some pictures of the children enjoying the new supplies.

Our Fifth Project: After-School program in Tunja -April 2006 - March 2007

This Project is being managed by a group of teachers concerned with the well being of poor children once their school journey is over. The objective is to provide a safe environment for after-school activities, and explore and discover their hidden talents in music, art, dance, etc.

The target population is children of very poor families that don't have the means to pay for after school activities or adult supervision. These children tend to wander the streets where they are exposed to all kind of temptations. The project is starting with 20 children. Six of them, are displaced children from areas where the Colombian conflict have destroyed their homes. These six children are currently in a Home for temporary stay run by a group of nuns: Hemanas Milagro de Amor . The other 14 children are from very low income families. Most of the children exhibit some difficulties in social behavior. Some are extremely shy and quiet while others have serious discipline and listening issues.

The group of teachers, lead by Maria Clemencia Buitrago , will be working closely with the parents to ensure a coordinated effort.

The project started April 17,2006 . ColombiaCare's contribution to this project is $5.000 for materials and equipment.

Update July 2006

Early July 2006, Carlos and Victoria Perez visited Colombia and had an opportunity to visit this project and meet in person Maria Clemencia and her team and some of the children. Even though, not all of the children were present (they were on vacation), we could appreciate the talents and progress made by the children that were present. They gave us a demonstration of their dance and music skills. As you can see by the following pictures you can understand how impressed we were with them. The work that this team of teachers is doing, is remarkable.

The children doing a dance and singing for the visitors	Giving a sample of their theatrical skills
Working in their art and crafts	so attentive and careful!
Sample of some their work	more detail of their work

Update June 2006

The program is progressing very well. The change in the children's attitude is noticeable. For example, the children have a cleaner personal appearance than at the beginning of the program, they show up on time, but most of all, they look forward to arrive at the program. There is a great deal of participation by the children and they seem to enjoy all of the activities. With ColombiaCare's support the leaders of the program have bought several musical instruments and material for arts and craft.

The children are now preparing a public presentation for the end of July where they will be dancing, singing, and playing some musical instruments. The children are actively participating in designing the program. The pictures say it all. Enjoy them!

 The following pictures are from the first day where they had a small welcoming party. The children are proudly wearing sweat suits donated by the local Red Cross.