Child Sponsorship background from Bucaramanga, Colombia

SOS Children's Village Bucaramanga

The fourth Colombian SOS Children's Village is located in the province of Santander in the city of Floridablanca, near the Venezuelan border. The capital of the province, Bucaramanga, is situated just 2 kms to the north of Floridablanca.

The SOS Children's Village lies on a plot of 18,000 square metres, and comprises 13 family houses which provides over 115 children with a new home. Furthermore, it comprises a village director's house, a house for the so-called SOS aunts (SOS Children's Village mothers in training, who assist SOS mothers and substitute them in the case of illness or during holidays) and an administrative building.

Other SOS Projects in Bucaramanga

In January 2006, an SOS Youth Home for girls was set up in the city. It accommodates up to seven youths from the SOS Children's Village. Young people usually move from the SOS Children's Village to an SOS Youth Home when they start a vocational training course or go on to higher education. With the support of qualified youth workers, the young people develop realistic perspectives for their future, learn to shoulder responsibility and increasingly make their own decisions. They are encouraged to develop team spirit and build up contacts with relatives and friends, as well as with the relevant authorities and potential employers.

Since January 2006, an SOS Social Centre also forms part of the SOS Children’s Village Bucaramanga. The SOS Social Centre is run as a day-care centre and has a capacity of up to 150 children from 0 to 12 years. The day-care centre is particularly valuable to single mothers from the area as it enables them to earn or at least contribute towards earning money for the family, safe in the knowledge that their children are being cared for by trained supervisors. Information events are held on health, balanced diets and other health issues. Supporting women is also a central concern. Further vocational training in a range of manual work is available for women, so as to improve single mothers' qualifications and therefore increase their income and improve their societal status.

Background to Bucaramanga

Bucaramanga is a municipality and the capital city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth largest city economy and sixth population in Colombia, with 1,212,656 people in its metropolitan area.