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Transform a child’s future in La Guajira, Colombia

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A safe, loving childhood starts with you

Every child deserves the chance to thrive.
Yet children in La Guajira, Colombia, are struggling just to survive each day. 

By sponsoring the children in La Pista, Guajira, you provide vulnerable migrant, indigenous and local children with the dignity, stability, protection and opportunities they need to reach their full potential. Your support ensures they receive nutritious meals, quality education, trauma-informed care and a safe environment to grow up healthy, happy and full of hope for a brighter future.

Children in Guajira need you

GUAJIRA: A province in crisis

La Guajira is at the heart of Colombia’s ongoing migration crisis. Over the past decade, approximately 7.7 million Venezuelans have fled their country, with 3.7 million seeking refuge in Colombia.
Every child deserves to grow up safe, loved and with the resources they need to thrive, but the challenges of the migrant crisis—intensified by extreme poverty and scarce resources—threatens children’s well-being and limits their opportunities to reach their full potential. 

· One-third of malnutrition deaths in Colombia occur in La Guajira.
· Indigenous Wayúu families face extreme poverty, food insecurity and lack of access to education. 
· Thousands of migrant children lack legal documentation, leaving them unprotected and unable to enroll in school or receive medical care.

SOS Children’s Villages works diligently to provide the care and resources children in Guajira need. With the partnership of generous friends like you, our dedicated teams deliver essential services to migrants, indigenous communities and local residents alike.

We ensure a safe, caring and supportive environment for children, helping them thrive despite the hardships they face.


Life in La Pista

In Maicao, the largest border town in La Guajira, thousands of displaced migrant families live in a shantytown, called La Pista (The Airstrip). In homes constructed from scrap wood and metal, families struggle to survive. Children are extremely vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking and continued poverty.

In addition to migrants, the region is home to a significant indigenous population, the Wayúu, who live in the desert that spans much of the province. The Wayúu have faced decades of poverty, limited access to essential services and a lack of educational opportunities. 

Your sponsorship provides the holistic support underserved migrant, indigenous and local families and children in La Pista, Guajira need—like food assistance, economic empowerment, education and more—so they can build brighter futures.

Your sponsorship provides hope

With your annual sponsorship of $2,500, you provide the children of La Pista, Guajira with immediate, life-saving aid—including essentials like shelter, nutritious food, trauma-informed mental health support, medical care and so much more.
And, as children and families stabilize, your partnership provides the long-term support they need to heal, recover and begin to rebuild their lives, including:
 

Our impact in 2024

In 2024, with the support of compassionate donors like you, SOS Children's Villages served:

More than 1,000 children and young people.

312 families.

children and families with six different projects in Riohacha and Maicao.

 

What do you receive as a sponsor?

Your impact

When you sponsor the children of La Pista, Guajira, you'll receive updates throughout the year, showing you the incredible impact of your support, including:

— A welcome package with photos of some of the children you're sponsoring, with details about their lives and services they receive.

— Update reports twice a year, including messages from staff and participants from our programs in La Pista.

— Emails with new photos, videos and other updates throughout the year.

— The option to take a life-changing trip to visit SOS Children's Villages in Colombia and learn more about your impact directly from our local priogram staff.

— The chance to offer refuge and hope to children and families who have experienced the hardships and trauma of migration, and allowing more young people to build their own futures.

A child in La Guajira is waiting for your support. Your sponsorship isn’t just a donation—it’s a lifeline that helps children thrive now—and far into the future.

Sponsor now

Meet the children of La Guajira

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Agents for Change

Empowering the next generation of leaders

A sponsored girl in Africa called Nani

 

Lina* and her friends have recently become Community Agents for Change after completing a series of workshops focused on leadership and child safeguarding. These workshops are designed for teenagers and older children in Maicao, empowering them to take on leadership roles within their community and to assist other children if they identify potential risks. Lina also contributes to planning and organizing activities in one of Maicao’s Holistic Spaces for Children.

"I started attending meetings twice a week because we learn here, we can play and do many fun activities. Then we became Community Agents, and now we have the responsibility to stay alert to what is happening around us, helping children if we see they are going through something they shouldn't. I love it because I have learned so much, and I enjoy my role. Plus, it’s a great place to be because my friends are here, we have a park, and we always do cool activities," she shares.

Take action

Contact me to learn more about your sponsorship: Eranga Fernando, Donor Experience Manager at efernando@sos-usa.org or (202) 300-9126.
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