Category: Children of Colombia News

We’d like to give a very big thank you to the owners of Dede Tailoring Boutique and their customers for filling our collection box to the brim with cash donations for Children of Colombia.

Dede Tailoring Boutique offers top class dry cleaning and tailoring services at 4 Lyndwood Parade, St Luke’s Road, Old Windsor, Berkshire.  They have kept a Children of Colombia collection pot on their counter and raised a whopping £121.71 in notes and coins.  This is a record amount for our collection boxes and will be an important boost to funds for the three foundations in Colombia who do so much to care for and educate children and young people.

If you live in the Windsor area, do look out for Dede Tailoring and support them – as they support us!

Rico and his mother Mrs Kahlon have already received a new collection box in the post – their third to date! – to keep their amazing efforts going.

Thank you again.

 

This is the amazing and beautiful new roof on Natutama‘s roundhouse – or Kiosk – in the Colombian Amazon.  Funding for the repairs to Natutama’s environmental education and visitor centre were made possible thanks to generous donations to Children of Colombia’s Christmas Appeal – so a huge THANK YOU to all of you who kindly supported our campaign.

The roof is made of natural palm thatch and built by local craftsmen using traditional construction methods.  Now the team will start work on the floor of the building which was damaged by rain and weather when it was left unprotected from the elements.  The floor will be repainted with bright patterns of local flora and fauna, including many rare and endangered species native to the Amazon.  The centre is used to host community events and for weekly educational activities for local children keen to learn more about their environment and culture and how to protect themfor future generations.

Repairs to Natutama’s Visitor Centre in the Colombian Amazon are well underway thanks to funding from Children of Colombia.

Natutama is a Colombian foundation focused on environmental research and education.  The Amazon is rich in biodiversity but its complex, delicate ecosystems rely on the ebbs and floods of the river and the support of local communities and visitors to protect endangered species such as river dolphins, turtles and manatees.

The Covid pandemic and particularly devastating floods impacted the area very badly, reducing income from the tourism and causing great poverty with shortages of essential food and medical supplies.

Natutama’s Visitor and Education Centre suffered badly and there was no money for essential repairs.

Thanks to your very generous response to our 2021 Christmas Appeal, Children of Colombia was able to transfer enough funds for Natutama to buy materials and labour to repair its iconic roundhouse – or “Kiosk”.  Built of mainly natural materials – such as palm thatch for the roof – and in traditional style, it is very eco-friendly but also requires regular maintenance as the construction deteriorates rapidly in the wet, humid climate.

Work can only go ahead in the dry season when conditions are right.  Once complete, the roundhouse will be open again to welcome visitors from far and wide as well as local schoolchildren and the community who come together to learn about their unique environment and how to conserve it and pass on local traditions, crafts and folklore to preserve and celebrate their cultural heritage.

It’s Double Donations Week at Give as you Live.  Such an easy way to raise important extra funds for Children of Colombia when you shop online at no cost to you!

Give as you Live has raised over £18 million for UK charities with 5,500 High Street and big name stores giving free donations every time you shop.  Your weekly grocery shop with Sainsburys, Asda or M & S could add £s to Children of Colombia funds.

It’s very easy and completely free.  Just go to https://www.giveasyoulive.com/,up and select Children of Colombia as your chosen charity.  Each time you shop online participating stores will give a per centage of your spend to help Children of Colombia.

And this week you can raise even more – up to £100 if you book your holiday with Tui online.  Top brands John Lewis, TK Maxx and Made are also offering extra donations with purchases this week.  So why wait – help yourself and the children in Colombia by shopping online this week with Give as you Live.

Students on Fundación Fénix’s education and support programme achieved excellent academic results and personal triumphs in 2021 despite the challenges of a particularly tough year in Bogotá, Colombia. 

“Lockdowns, protests and riots, street violence, curfews, job losses, classes online, fear of disease, the proximity of death, increased cost of living and decreased income and opportunities, have all made the past year extremely daunting and stressful,” writes  Fénix director Timothy Ross in the 2021 Annual Report.

“But Fénix members have gained surprising strength and determination, with great achievements and advances, growth in insight and self-knowledge, and improved family relations.”

Fénix supports students from very poor, vulnerable backgrounds through education mainly in social and health care.  To qualify in these caring professions requires long, disciplined studying, smoothing out background family problems, and money to pay for fees, books, uniforms, materials, internet, fares, rent, and food.  Your kind donations to Children of Colombia help make these things possible.

To celebrate their achievements, Director Béatriz and María Eugenia treated a group of girls to an outing to see the new Disney film ‘Encanto’ – set in Colombia – and enjoy ice cream.

Read the full report and find out more about the work of Fundacion Social Fenix by clicking the highlighted text to go straight to their page on this website.

“Our thanks go to the people who believe in us and

our personal and professional commitment to becoming

better people and contributing to a better country”. (Indira, Fenix student)

 

 

 

 

A huge thank you to everyone who supported the “Save the Amazon Education Centre” appeal in December 2021.  The campaign raised just over £1500 – way more than the £1000 target set.  The funds have already been sent to Colombia so work can start on repairing the roof of the roundhouse, one of the two main buildings that make up Natütama’s Education and Visitor Centre in Puerto Nariño in the Colombian Amazon.

Natütama is a Colombian charity dedicated to the sustainable management of resources and biodiversity in the Amazon. It runs education, research and conservation programmes from the Centre on the banks of the river in the Amazon rainforest.

Young people from the region, mainly of the Ticuna ethnic group, work closely with the local community – farmers, fishermen and especially schools and families – to teach them how to protect endangered Amazonian wildlife and habitats while continuing to live and work in the same environment.

Due to the lack of tourists during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Centre’s income dropped dramatically over the last two years which has made it very difficult to maintain the buildings which require constant attention. The need for massive re-roofing reached crisis point towards the end of 2021 but with funding from the Save the Amazon Education Centre Appeal and other donations re-roofing can now go ahead. The walkways and bridges are also being repaired and other painting work remains to be carried out.

While the number of visitors increased to 1.608 in 2021, this was still very low compared to normal years, when Natütama would have expected 6000 to 8000 visitors. Nearly half of the visitors last year were local adults and children, who do not pay an entrance fee.

Many people from the Amazon area make repeat visits to the Centre and one of the tasks for 2022 is to update the exhibits with new material.

 

 

 

 

There is still time to donate to our SAVE THE AMAZON EDUCATION CENTRE campaign and end a tough year on a high note!

This beautiful illustration of the rare, gigantic pirarucu fish in the Amazon River was painted by one of the team of young educators at Natütama’s Education and Visitors’ Centre at Puerto Nariño in the Colombian Amazon, now in desperate need of urgent repairs.

Natütama is a Colombian charity dedicated to the sustainable management of resources and biodiversity in the Amazon. It runs education, research and conservation programmes from the Centre on the banks of the river in the Amazon rainforest. Built by local craftsmen using traditional construction methods and mainly natural, locally sourced materials, the Education and Visitor Centre is environmentally friendly but also needs regular repairs as the palm thatch and timber deteriorate quickly in the hot, wet climate.

Because of the pandemic, the Centre has received almost no visitor income since March 2020. There has been nothing available for maintenance. The roundhouse, constantly in use for activities, is leaking in many places and needs substantial re-roofing with palm leaves. The floor is also peeling in places and needs painting.

Young people from the region, mainly of the Ticuna ethnic group, work closely with the local community – farmers, fishermen and especially schools and families – to teach them how to protect endangered Amazonian wildlife and habitats while continuing to live and work in the same environment.

Please click here to donate today so Natütama’s important education and conservation work can continue into 2022.

 

 

Congratulations to three Fundacion Fénix students who achieved remarkable academic grades this term.

Indira and Angélica have finished their semesters with outstanding grades and at the top of their classes. Indira completed the first half of a higher education certificate to qualify in care of older adults and Angélica has finished the second year of a five year degree in social work. The two sisters come from a difficult and troubled family, with their mother and grandmother  dying recently.  Despite the problems both are remarkably caring and generous spirited girls. Their academic fees are paid by ‘godmothers’ donating through Children of Colombia.

Now over half way through her higher education diploma in physical education, Angélica Abril finished this trimester of classes as a straight A student, with a grade point average of 90%.

“We are, as you can imagine, hugely proud of them,” says Timothy Ross,  founding director of Fenix, the Colombian NGO dedicated to providing psychotherapy and educational support to vulnerable young women from troubled and abusive backgrounds.