Child sponsorship update from Rionegro, Colombia

Update for child sponsor child sponsor supporters from the SOS Children's Village Rionegro, Colombia from Winter 2008.

Dear friends,

On behalf of the SOS Children’s Village programmes in Antioquia - Department: SOS Children’s Village Rionegro, the Social Centre San Antonio and Social Centre Chocó, we share with you news about girls, boys, youths and their families in our programmes. There are not doubts that your support is utmost important to strengthen his or her existing family through strengthening programmes or provide a home and family in an SOS Children's Village; with your help we also ensure access to quality education and advocate for child's rights and development. Of course, together with community partners and your social responsibility we work in communities where more children are at risk ensuring the quality and impact of our programmes.

SOS Children Colombia has worked jointly the national strategic planning 2009-2016 in August, doing an alignment to the International planning and keeping in mind the global motto: Together for ONE million Children. This national plan was done based on inputs like an analysis of the child situation in Colombia among other topics.

The strategic objectives defined for Colombia are:
12.213 girls, boys and youths protected integrally exercising their child’s rights
Co-workers and board members of National Association expert and committed to achieve quality results.
Local funds and SOS friends fund the 60% of the running cost

We have finished this year successfully because most of our purposes planned at the beginning have been achieved. The main goal in all our programmes was approached toward a permanent good treatment that hope becomes a culture of respect and brotherhood. In this way, we keep working the process of grief in girls, boys and youths through recalling their life histories. Therefore, many activities have been done, both at the SOS Children’s Village and Social Centres and that we would share to you.

SOS Children’s Village Rionegro in numbers…
During 2008 we have welcomed 12 boys and girls: 9 children among them have come at the beginning of the year and the other three have come lately and they are under adaptation process. It means, 131 girls and boys in total (62 boys and 69 girls).

There are 7 youths in youth community living together with their birth families. Two of them are living independent with the SOS Children’s Village Rionegro support.

Most of the boys, girls and Youths participate in one social activity (youth groups, artistic or sport groups) being participation in the football school highlighted. Regarding co-workers, there are 10 SOS mothers, 5 family responsible, 8 aunts, 5 members of the pedagogical and administrative team including the village director, a secretary, administrative assistant and 3 persons for general services.

Growing up at Rionegro, Colombia

SOS mothers, aunts and educational team, clue for girls, boys and youths development
During the first term of the year, we carried out a training process for the grown up community of the SOS Children’s Village Rionegro. We reflected on mothers and aunts roles regarding birth motherhood and social motherhood, controversial topics in the SOS Children’s Village, but useful to learn about participation, essential in the children’s right approach. It is not possible for them to permit children to participate, if we do not exercise and motivate participation of everyone.

Week of the youthfulness
Different activities were done where the protagonists were the youths who belong the different families at the Village; families responsible of their learning, socialization and integration within society. One of the activities was the competition called Smart Youth Families: Whole the families participated but leaded by youths… we had outdoor competences by groups, table’s games, and mind games from Monday till Thursday when the family winner was whose score was the highest.

On Friday they went for a walking to a recreational place where they enjoyed everything but they were responsible of themselves without a SOS mother telling them what to do. It was a successful experience for them because they showed that their self-control let them to have a good behaviour.

Social & working skills
Since the previous year it was identified that youths being in process of Independence are lack of communicative and working skills. So, it was a project developed during this year, through training workshops regarding items like how to fulfil a curriculum vitae?, what to do in an interview? Rules and guidelines; everything was done with practical exercises where the educational staff simulated a personal selection process where the youths applied filling all requirements; then, they carried out a feedback finding and analysing strengthens and weaknesses to be better the next time. Referring with communications, they learnt about importance of communication among the environment they are living, within family, friends, neighbourhoods, schools, etc.

Cultural Week
Since five years ago we have been celebrated the cultural week during September; the purpose of this week is to show children’s gifts (talents) in field like artistic skills: Painting, drawing, caricature, poems and tales or stories. It is amazing to see some works from girls and boys that year by year are improving their skills. For instance, we should talk about Juan Carlos painting, or Sebastian drawings or Alejandro’s writings. These boys come from the countryside or from the mountain and have shown that the natural environment awakes art skills.

Working in partnership with communities at Rionegro, Colombia

Birth Families Meeting
Based on the international guideline: The cultural, religious and family background of each boy and girl are respected and cultivated by the SOS mother. They keep relationship with their birth parents and relatives, if it is possible and look for the child superior interest. (Organisational policy like development central idea)

Along the year, birth families were invited by the pedagogical staff and the SOS mothers to the SOS Children’s Village Rionegro to emphasize in well treatment, to know something else about their own daughters and sons, to support them on difficult situations. In the same way, we motivated birth families to strengthen family bonds with the purpose to make short or long term commitments to help SOS mothers in making-decisions and coeducation. Some birth families came from far places from the town, many hours by bus, but they are engaged with this programme.

This is a practice that we will continue doing because it is a good strategy to generate co-responsibility for the education of girls, boys and youth welcomed in our SOS Children’s Village.

Social Centre San Antonio
The Social Centre San Antonio de Prado has 168 girls and boys participants (143 first infancy and 25 of second infancy).
The boys and girls at first infancy go to the Social Centre from 8:00 a.m. till 4:00 p.m. They are accompanied by the community mothers who are trained all the time by the pedagogical team. They make their own plan to work with children.

All the projects have been aimed toward creating and strengthening networks regarding children’s rights; so that, the infancy committee of the town is set up.

The Social Centre guides mothers of the girls and boys to design their own plans to improve their quality of life like a family… working for the grown up women empowering to build opportunities for them and their daughters and sons . Moreover, we have involved fathers into the workshops in order to invite them to participate in equality of conditions on daughters and sons’s upbringing, changing their authority figure in a lovely and support figure.

It is time to tell to you THANK YOU! You make a difference in life of many girls, boys, youth and their families; we value your help and confidence in our work in favour of many children. Hope our report has given you an idea about the impact of your contribution, we wish you

¡ A MERRY CHRISTMAS 2008 AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!

Kind regards,
Claudia María Restrepo
Village director