SOS Children's Villages in Colombia

December 16, 2010: Over the past few weeks, torrential rains in Colombia have caused devastating floods and landslides that have killed more than 240 people and left almost 2 million people homeless. According to Reuters, President Juan Manuel Santos estimates that the cost of the damage to infrastructure and croplands could reach $5.2 billion.

The rains are Colombia’s heaviest in more than four decades of record-keeping. The Associated Press reports that President Santos has declared a 30-day state of emergency, triggering emergency government funds to help manage the disaster. The Inter-American Development Bank has offered the country a credit of $350 million to deal with losses in the coffee, coal, and agriculture sectors.

SOS Starting Efforts to Help Children and Families

SOS Children’s Villages, caring for vulnerable children in Colombia for almost 40 years, has a history of offering swift emergency assistance during times of crisis such as Colombia’s 1999 terrible earthquake.

An emergency team of SOS staff and experts has made an initial assessment of the situation, finding that help is not reaching affected children as quickly as it should. SOS has identified 90 children without adequate food or adults to care for them. Many adults have been busy identifying dead bodies and holding funerals.

Food, Psychological Support, and Recreational Outlets for Children

Children are provided with nutritious food at the SOS Emergency Care Center in Bello, Colombia

Since December 7, five SOS staff members have been providing basic nutrition to 82 children and their families in the municipality of Bello in Antioquia Province. SOS has set up an emergency care center to offer educational and psychological support for children and families traumatized by the loss of family members and homes. The center is also providing recreational activities for children whose parents need to take care of pressing family matters.

At the same time, SOS staff are identifying highest-need families in order to better coordinate support coming from SOS Children's Villages, the government, and other organizations.

SOS runs five Children’s Villages across Colombia as well as a large complement of SOS vocational training centers, schools, clinics, and social centers that help bolster families so they are better able to care for their children.

Help SOS feed and counsel children and families who’ve lost loved ones, homes, and livelihoods.

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