Projects
ColombiaCare started its fundraising and project activities in April of 2004. Since then, we completed four projects. Currently we are working on three other projects see Current Projects below. This page gives a brief summary of the projects and points to links where more detail can be found.
Our Projects:
Gato de Monte Project
This
project takes place in a small village with about 70 children between
the ages of 5 and 12. These are mainly indigenous people who have left
their mountain villages as result of
the Colombian conflict. There is a small school for the younger children
with only two classrooms. The older children go to a neighboring village
school. We started a library and an after-school program. We took advantage
of a small unused building next to their small school for this purpose.
See more detail on the Gato de Monte Project here
Girls Sport Project (2009)
We believe that girls are the weakest link in the cycle of poverty that exists in the area we work with. Girls are the most affected by the family's displacement and precarious financial situation. To address this issue, we created a project that focus on girls. This project, Girls-Sport, trains teams of girls to play soccer. The training is three days a week. This project seeks to give girls self-esteem, discipline, drive, rewards and sense of setting objectives for themselves, through sports. See more detail on girls situation and the project by going to Girls-Sport Project here.
Improving level of writing, reading and communication Skills First program (September 2005-June 2006) Second (September 2006-June 2007) Third (September 2007-June 2008)
This project focuses on improving the level of verbal and written communication of the children that attend the school. This is a joint effort with the Jera Foundation and the University of Valle (located in Cali**). The project covers the children, teachers and parents. The first project went from September 2005 to June 2006. Given the success of the program, we are continuing for another academic year. We are aslo doing the program in a different school.
(See details, pictures and progress here)
Vocational Program (October 2005 - July 2006) & (January 2007 - December 2007)
This project is very special to us since it is our first grant. The objective of the program is to provide vocational training to young people who for many different reasons are not attending school. Very likely these young people are wandering in the streets exposed to all kind of dangers and temptations. They are between the ages of 13 to 18 and are at the highest risk in this area of poverty and few job opportunities. The target area are "communes" 18 and 20 which are located in the outskirts of Cali**. These are one of the most impoverish areas of this region. For this project we are also teaming with Foundation JERA. The project started few weeks ago identifying vocational institutions that we will be working with, defining the areas of training that make more sense for job opportunities in the area and defining selection tools for the potential trainees. The first project trained 120 young people in Welding, and Electricity. The second project will also train 120 students in Carpentry.
(See details, pictures and progress here)
Teenage Mothers (January 2007 - September 2007)
This program is based on a grant received at the end of 2006, and its main objectives are: to facilitate pre and post-natal care to teenager mothers; to provide education on how to care for the babies and how to assume the responsibilities that come with having a child; and to provide skill training that would allow the mothers to generate some income. The educational aspect of the program also includes learning to respect their own bodies and to ensure that their bodies are respected by others.
(See details, pictures and progress here)
Homework Clinics in Cali (September 2006- June 2007)
The objective of this project is to provide a safe and fun environment to some children in Cali**. As in other projects in Cali, we are working with the Jera Foundation. For this project we received a grant of $36,000. In addition to the after school activities, which includes homework and other activities, the project also works with parents and local members of the community to ensure coordination and continuity of the effort. We will started this project in September 2006 with academic year.
(See details, pictures and progress here)
Las Palmas School, Special Project (February 2007)
During a visit to the projects in January 2007, we went to the Palmas School where we are doing the Communications project. This is a very poor school in an area where the new displaced people are arriving. The school is on a hill and the area where the kids play is in two “terraces” in dirt. That is, there is neither retention wall nor pavement or any thing to hold the terraces, therefore, the terrain is exposed to significant erosion when it rains. Both the school and the playgroung were in danger of colapsing. Thus, we decided to help them build a retention wall. We are providing the funds and the community is providing the labor. Work is on going and we will report in progress soon.
(See details, pictures and progress here)
After School-Program in Tunja (April 2006- March 2007)
The objective of this project is to provide a safe and fun environment to a group of very poor children for their after-school activities. The project is taking place in Tunja* - Colombia. The project is lead by a group of teachers who want to ensure the children have adult supervision after their school day and at the same time expose them to other activities in art, music, dance, etc. that they wouldn't be otherwise.
(See details, pictures and progress here)
Our Second Project: Maintenance of Teresa Toda, homes for abandoned girls (February-March 2005)
The girls (ages 6 to 16) who habit these houses are hard to adopt because of age, race or physical or mental disability. Each house homes 10 girls and an adult-guide. Depending on the girls' situation, they either go to school or receive some training at a workshop also run by the organization. The houses are managed by nuns of the order Teresa Toda. The organization is approved by the Colombian government. In fact, most of the girls are brought to these homes by Bienestar Familiar - a government agency that is the equivalent of a Social Department in the US . The houses are located in Bucaramanga****, in the North-East of Colombia. Bucaramanga* is also one of the cities that have had an influx of families running away from the armed groups that are in the neighboring mountains. Girls are the most vulnerable among of those displaced families.
(See details, pictures and progress here)Our First Project:
Remodeling the Altos de la Cuz School in Cali [May-October 2004]
Our first project was the remodeling of the school for the displaced children in the commune of Altos de la Cruz, one of the poorest areas of Cali**.
Improving this school addressed
a real need for these children. For this project, we worked closely
with the organization Fundacion JERA#. We finished the project at the
end of September 2004.
(See details, pictures and progress here)
Map of Colombia
* Tunja is the capital of the State of Boyaca, North-East of Bogota. It has approximately 200.000 people.
**Cali is the capital of the State of Valle del Cauca, a state in the South West of Colombia (see map). It has a population of approximately 3,000,000 people.
***Tierradentro is an indian region in the South-West of Colombia. This region has been particularly affected by the Colombian Clonflict
****Bucaramanga
is the capital of the State of Santander in the North East of Colombia
(see map). It has a population of approximately 1,000,000 people.
# Fundacion Jera is a non-profit organization based in Cali that sponsors
several projects for the improvement of Cali's poorest communities.