Our partner organisation, ACADESAN, has harnessed the power of football to keep children and young people away from armed groups and illegal activities. This article explores the method and principles29 November 2021
READ MORE…and young people that are survivors or are at risk of the most neglected issues in Colombia.
WHAT WE DO
Our partner organisation, ACADESAN, has harnessed the power of football to keep children and young people away from armed groups and illegal activities. This article explores the method and principles29 November 2021
READ MOREColombia Colores is the first project implemented by CCC in London, aimed at the children of the Colombian diaspora that teaches about the richness of Colombian culture through music, art29 November 2021
READ MOREWe want to celebrate Teacher's Day and value their important role in the menatl health of children, to also thank them in this year's Mental Health Day.
READ MOREWhether you make a donation, fundraise, volunteer or come to one of our events, you will be helping Colombia’s most at risk children and their families to challenge poverty, inequality and violence.
Over 72,942 children to overcome the trauma of poverty, armed conflict, displacement, and lack of education.
This has been achieved through collaborations with grassroots social organisations in Colombia. To date we have raised £15 million to fund 68 projects.
Children of the Andres (COTA), now known as Children Change Colombia (CCC), was born in 1991 following a documentary by Desmond Wilcox about homeless and at-risk children living in the sewers of Bogotá. This tragedy sparked an emotional response from many around the world.
COTA built a children's home near Bogotá where 300 children lived, attended school, and learnt trades such as carpentry, weaving, baking, and leatherwork. The centre offered a complete education, trade training, health care, and recreational programmes.
COTA supported the Flying Doctor Service (North West of Colombia) which fought against life-threatening diseases in children such as malaria and cholera. Surgeries for those with disabilities were provided, and a Blindness Prevention Programme was implemented against diseases that affect eyesight.
The centre was a peace-building and youth initiative that sought to engage children in gangs in Usme in dance and music. The children practiced many different kinds of artwork, dance, and recreational activities. By the 2000s, the center implemented rap and breakdance workshops with street gang members.
COTA began working with Colegio del Cuerpo. This social dance project used dance to help children recover from the trauma of witnessing war, increase their sense of self-worth, and cope with life as displaced young people. The reports showed that the programme improved school attendance, behaviour, academic performance, and the ability to deal with conflicts.
The goal of this organisation was to help families displaced by conflict start a new life. Through the "PeaceBuilding Community" set up in Apartadó with the support of COTA, more than 7,700 people received direct therapeutic, nutritional, educational, and vocational help.
We started working with the Fundamor foundation which provided medical, educational, and emotional support to orphaned and abandoned children affected HIV/ AIDS.
Fundacion Carvajal worked to help children develop the skills to protect themselves against violence and keep them off the streets by improving their educational performance. It addressed low attainment levels in five schools in Buenaventura by working with 500 children aged 6 to 11.
In 2016, COTA now named Children Change Colombia (CCC) supported Fundescodes in Buenaventura, which was a strategic area for the armed actors in Colombia's conflict. There, many children were exposed to the violence of the illegal armed groups. Fundescodes worked to protect children's rights and support children suffering from the conflict.
CCC has been supporting ACJ (Bogotá) since 2010. ACJ provides recreational workshops for children and young people, as well as their families where they learn about their rights and how to protect themselves from sexual exploitation. They also work with young sex workers and their children, helping them to find alternative employment.
Since 2013, CCC has worked with Tiempo de Juego (TDJ) in Cazucá, Soacha. TDJ runs a project to generate vital skills and positive role models for children through activities like football, dance, and a work creation programme. Today, TDJ uses its activities to work against the recruitment of children into armed groups and preventing young people from joining gangs.
CCC has worked with CRAN since 2015 to reintegrate children and young people who have been part of illegal armed groups (including FARC) into civilian life in Bogotá and Villavicencio.
CCC began a new partnership with Círculo de Estudios in Quibdó to reduce the risk of conflict-related sexual violence against children and young people. They currently work with children and young people in Quibdó and Cartagena.
ACADESAN works to prevent the use of child labour in illegal mining, deforestation activities and coca farming in the rural regions of Chocó & Valle del Cauca by tackling high student dropout rates and improving the quality of education in local schools.
El Origen provides access to education in the Northern Caribbean region. El Origen works with five schools to help teachers create fun and educational lessons for the children through an app that works offline and so can be accessed in rural regions.
Misión Gaia works in schools in Magdalena to improve the quality of education through teacher training, the provision of resources and extracurricular activities and classes in order to improve social skills as well as vocational training.