Who we are

Laudes Infantis was founded in 1998, by a group of young social workers with
direct experience helping street children in main Colombian cities.
For many years the founder has worked with an umbrella organization
called "El Programa".
"El Programa", an official district organization, is known for its innovative and
successful methods of rehabilitating street children into mainstream society
and has been a benchmark for other organizations involved with homelessness
around the world.

Funding

Laudes Infantis is raising funds in order to promote its vision and mission and
create desperately needed projects in Santa Fe de Bogota.
Funds are collected through private donations. Our objective is to become
a self-funded organization. In 1998, with the help of private donors,
the foundation bought the plot of land on which we built our first project:
a primary school"La Escuelita"in El Oasis.

Why we do it

Laudes Infantis works directly with families who have been displaced by Colombia's
ongoing conflict, which is taking place in rural areas. In order to flee the violence,
people are forced to abandon their homes, land, and villages, and arrive in cities
with few resources and inadequate education. As a result, they are settling in
underdeveloped areas, called "invasiones" or land invasions.
This extremely precarious living situation is leading to family disintegration and is
contributing to a growing number of youth leaving their homes to live on the streets.

What we do

Our primary objective is to create a more humane environment in these marginal
neighborhoods and to prevent family disintegration by helping the communities'
youth build up their self-esteem, confidence and talent through art, recreational
and educational activities.

Our programs include:

-Art and recreational activities
-Vacation programs
-Community leadership development through seminars
-Educational seminars
-Social services and counseling facilitating communities to access public social
and medical services

Our goal is to collaborate with local communities at different levels and adapt
our projects to each individual situation.

How we do it

Each project begins with a field trip to a target community
( located in the most remote areas of Ciudad Bolivar and Usme).
We gather first hand information by visiting families and/or community leaders.

We assess the situation and the children's needs and, in collaboration with
the community, we put our program in place (plan arts, recreational and
educational workshops).

We follow-up with regular visits during our program.

Finally, we turn the project over to its community.


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