A supporter visits SOS Children in Colombia - A child in school
I became interested in the work of SOS Children in Colombia whilst studying Latin American history and politics for my Modern Languages degree.
- Investing in lives – my visit to SOS Children in Colombia
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Christina Lowe - SOS Children Supporter
I became interested in the work of SOS Children in Colombia whilst studying Latin American history and politics for my Modern Languages degree.
This summer I was able to make a one-month visit to the country, and I wanted to find out how some of the bigger international NGOs are working to alleviate poverty and encourage social development. SOS Children is one of the major NGOs and has been present in the country for 40 years so I was very keen to see their work first-hand. I had the opportunity to visit some of SOS Social Centres in two locations in the seven regions where SOS Children work: Cartagena, on the Caribbean Coast and Bucaramanga, in the eastern Santander region.
I was shown around the two branches of the SOS Cartagena program by Yocabet, the area’s director since the project began three years ago. The day began with an enthusiastic musical introduction at the SOS Social Centre in the marginal Pasacaballos district- the children aged one to five years old start the day with songs and dancing. I think some of the kids put even more energy into their performance when they saw me watching!
The Social Centre in Cartagena (and indeed in all the SOS locations) had a great atmosphere, both in terms of the energy levels of the children and staff, and in terms of the bright, constructive wall displays, which was a real contrast from the rundown neighbourhood outside.
The Social Centres provide much more than just daycare. Not only does the daycare mean that the parents (including lots of single mothers) can work with their young children well looked-after, but the charity also works with the parents directly in a Family Strengthening Program. The program aims to address the often very severe problems of the families, such as domestic violence, alcoholism, unemployment, and poor living conditions.
Bucaramanga is a region that has been very badly affected by the conflict in the country and has an extremely large displaced population. The SOS director of this area, Marta, showed me around one of the Social Centres, in the neighbourhood of ‘El Reposo’. I particularly enjoyed chatting to the kitchen staff who accomplish the impressive feat of making breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack for over 100 children who attend the daycare and also for around 200 students from the district who are provided with lunch from the centre every day at almost no cost. In a deprived area where children may be encouraged to leave school to try to earn money instead, this is an important scheme that increases the possibilities for them to obtain a proper education.
From what I saw, SOS Children is a charity that invests effectively in building platforms that improve individual lives on a daily basis and create sustainable social development on a much wider scale.
Thank you to everyone working with the organisation who made my visits to Colombia possible - it was a wonderful experience!
- The impact of global learning should not be underestimated…
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Helen Elmerstig – Education Coordinator, SOS Children UK
The headline from thinktank IFS is enough to give any parent of children attending UK schools a stomach ache
‘Education budget faces deepest cuts since the 1950s’. Cuts like that are bound to have real effect on the quality of education children here in the UK receive. But it is perhaps less obvious that it will also have consequences for children much further afield than the UK.
Encouraging global learning is an important part of the UK work of many charities. By working with UK schools to tell young people about global issues, charities like SOS Children seek to inspire action for a better world. A popular way for schools to engage in global learning is to invite representatives from charities working with global issues to give talks or workshops. Not only do children often get excited about having outside speakers, but it’s also a way to access information which isn’t in the text books.
When our SOS volunteers visit schools to give assemblies and talks about the issues facing children in other parts of the world they are met with great enthusiasm from young people as well as teachers. Children’s curiosity and interest in learning about the daily lives of the children living in our SOS Children’s Villages is often touching: they are quick to see similarities and find an immediate kinship as they discover that other children enjoy similar free time activities and dislike the same school subjects as they do! When learning about the challenges that poverty, disease and natural disasters affect them, they are keen to discuss different ways in which to help.
However, global learning currently finds itself in a challenging position. Upcoming changes to the curriculum are predicted to include abandoning the international dimension of the curriculum, no longer making it compulsory for schools to engage students in global issues. Many charities which make important information available to schools are also forced to charge a small fee for carrying out school visits and assemblies. Budget cuts, together with the fact that global learning is no longer compulsory, has heightened the risk of teachers being forced to abandon engaging their students in global learning.
So while the predicted education budget cuts are certainly a big worry for the quality of education school children receive here in the UK, we should not underestimate the effects they may have for children further afield, and on development and prosperity in poor countries in general. As the often repeated but none the less true saying goes, the children of today are the future of tomorrow.
At SOS Children we of course continue to deliver school assemblies to encourage global learning free of charge, but welcome any fundraising initiatives young people chose to engage in. Find out more about our work with schools.
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