The Colombian department of Boyaca, 130 km northeast of Bogota, is one of the territories with the greatest poverty and indigence in the country. Serious poverty is combined with the high level of domestic violence against women and the worrying number of children who, despite having parents, are forced to spend whole days on the street without safety and protection. Their loneliness destines them for acts of violence, sexual abuse, exploitation or prostitution, denying them the right to go to school and grow up in a peaceful environment.

Thus the “Hogar San Jeronimo” project, managed by the Chierici Somaschi,  wants to restore hope to these children and teenagers, providing psycho-social support and guaranteeing their education and training.

Alongside pedagogical and educational activities, there are different courses in carpentry and electronics, and a cutting and sewing course for some mothers of the supported children.

These workshops allow older children to learn a trade and find a job more easily, while they become one of the tools used to overcome the trauma experienced by the young children or to prevent social distress.

• reach the quality operating standards set by the ICBF and obtain the recognition from the Colombian government;
• encourage the moral and psychosocial recovery of accepted children and young people;
• guarantee  a qualified and professional education aimed at facilitating the entry into the labor market;
• promote the empowerment and the sense of responsibility of young people accepted;
• counter violence against minors and the number of children abandoned to the dangers of the road;
• promote the economic independence of the families of the children received.

• 40 children and teenagers, between 6 and 18 years, without healthcare, protection and who has been violated in their fundamental rights;
• Families of children and you people hosted.

• $10: can contribute to the purchase of materials for educational activities and training courses
• $25: can help guarantee the training courses for the children / teenagers hosted in the center
• $50: provide materials for educational activities and training courses;
• $100: can pay for a training courses for the children / teenagers hosted in the center;
• $200: can provide psycho-social support for the abused children.