 |
| Click on the map to enlarge it |
We are located in the heart of Colombia, South America in the city of Bogotá, that rests on a high plateau 2,600 m (8,000 ft) above sea level, in the Andes Mountain Range.
Our ministry aims to transform radically and permanently the lives of children at risk and focuses specifically on children and their families living on the streets or who spend most of their days begging, selling, stealing, recycling or surviving from day to day on the streets.
We provide education, food, teaching of biblical principles, recreation, clothing, shelter, counseling and emotional support, together with love and acceptance. We serve initially children between 0 and 12 years old and accompany them until they are adults who love God and are trained in principles and values that enable them to contribute positively to society.
We currently operate with a group of Colombian and foreign volunteers with either a short or long term commitment, in 10 houses located in Bogotá and its surroundings.
In the last three decades, a multi-stage program has been developed as follows:
1. "FRIENDSHIP AND TRUST":
We approach the child, his family and his community where they are found and we offer them our friendship, some food, first aid, and Christian oriented recreation. We are now building ties of friendship and trust in downtown Bogotá on the street known as “The Bronx” and in the prostitution district of the Santafé neighborhood.
2. "THE OTHER WAY"- Drop-in Center:
It’s a drop-in center in the Santafé neighborhood, where the children can bathe, have their clothes washed, eat breakfast and lunch, play games, participate in crafts, receive Biblical teaching, literacy lessons, basic health care, etc. In this phase, we screen the children who want to get off the street and change their situation forever.
In this same neighborhood we have “The Jungle”, which is an auditorium adapted with recreational activities, where the children receive therapeutic stimulation and begin to build confidence in themselves through play.
In the south of the city, in Altos de Cazuca, near Soacha, we have the “Friends’ Club”, where boys and girls from the area have the opportunity to do crafts and enjoy fun Fridays; while on Saturdays, values are taught through songs, dramas and Bible stories.
Connected to the "Other Way" is the "Crisis Shelter". Boys and girls who are in a serious crisis situation have the opportunity to receive immediate protection 24 hours a day. They live in this home for a short time while we seek concrete solutions for their future.
3. "THE OASIS"- Transition Home:
It’s a transition home where the child lives full time while being prepared to live in a family. A child’s stay in this home lasts from 3 months to two years depending on the child’s background. At this time the home is not functioning for the lack of a house and the volunteer staff available to run it. There is a long waiting list of infants and children who need to receive this residential care now.
4. "LIGHT AND LIFE" - School:
This school is where children who cannot attend a formal school due to learning difficulties, emotional instability, inappropriate behavior, differentiated intelligence, age, or rejection by their peers, are formed comprehensively. The aim of this re-educational "bridge" is to eventually integrate the child to community schools or to other training programs.
A step of Light and Life is "Continued Education". This is for students that have passed through our school and are ready to enter into normal community schools.
Through sponsorship their school fees are paid. After school, we give them one on one school reinforcement, tutorials, and continuity in their spiritual formation.
5. "THE RESTORED HERITAGE" – Residential Care:
This is our long-term rehabilitation phase within a family setting.
In Bogota, we have the house known as "The Chamos" where the children who are in the process of reintegration into their families of origin can live and receive help and support. We also have in Bogota a group of "Foster Families", which are part of our volunteer staff that foster children in their own homes.
On the road to the town of La Calera, we have our country homes ("The Kiwi house," "The Vineyard house " and, soon, "The Oaks house"), where the children live full time, play sports, do basic maintenance work, household chores, agriculture, socialization, and community development activities, but primarily, it models healthy family life.
6. "FAMILY RESTORATION":
We are committed to an extensive work with the biological family. In each phase that the child goes through our team works with the family helping them to solve problems and learn to be good parents. The goal is to unite the family, in so far as possible. If this does not occur, we seek an adoptive family or long-term foster family, or we commit ourselves to be the family for life for the child.
7. "EAGLES PROGRAM” — Follow-up of the Young Adult:
We do not say goodbye to our youngsters when they reach adulthood. We gradually facilitate the departure of our high school graduates from the "nest" in our phase "Eagles", offering them different options like attending a discipleship training school, a vocational training program, mandatory military service and/or the university, completely socialized to contribute to society, at peace with themselves and with God, unable to send their own children into the streets.
"AWARENESS" — Community and Ministry Development:
In addition to working directly with vulnerable children from the streets, we work hard to raise awareness to society at large about our responsibility towards children at risk. We bring this message to groups of concerned citizens, whether in clubs, churches, public groups, universities or colleges.
Annually we run the "Children at Risk School" aimed at people with a call on their lives to work with high-risk children, their families and future generations. We conduct intensive courses, and offer practical work, seminars and conferences on the subject of children at high risk and give effective solutions for a complete restoration.
