FUNDACION SEMILLAS - Colombia

Fundación Semillas Amor Y Fe provides a school for children which offers community outreach programs. The primary goal of the foundation is to promote child development, and assist parents in their role.

Children in the Classroom

Project's Mission:
The Foundation holds the vision that "children are God's gift to humankind, parents' hope and the future." The project responds to the needs of the region, to promote human development starting from the discovery of the individual's talent that allows them to be an active participant in the social changes of their country. To this end, the Foundation encourages the formation of leaders, entrepreneurial spirit, and promotion of health.

The FSAF programs include:

  :School provided without cost to low-income children, especially displaced and resourceless populations.

  :The children are given meals during school hours.

  :Recreational programs are provided for children and their families.

  :School staff encourages parent self-respect and participation in the educational process.

  :The Foundation promotes health campaigns in dentistry, vaccinations, eliminating parasites and testing for hearing defects.

  :Informal vocational training for adults is provided in dressmaking, weaving, cooking and other skills.

Background/History:
Fundación Semillas de Amor y Fe (FSAF) started in 2000, located in La Cumbre outside of Bucaramanga. The program began as a kindergarten for 30 children, but has since grown to include primary grades 1 through 3, and the intention of the directors is to continue to serve their students and families by adding new grades as the physical space and budgets permit. They currently have 89 students. FSAF also works with the parents of the children, providing psycho-social support, vocational training and community workshops oriented to building a peaceful and respectful community life. The experience of fleeing violence, of the loss of homes and incomes, of re-establishing life in a new place with nothing, and of social exclusion and intolerance can be very traumatic: the project seeks to re-establish a healthy and harmonious living and learning environment for both children and their families.



Dorothy, Director of the Foundation Semillas

When in early 2005, the community was destroyed by a landslide, Dorothy and Erasmo felt that they have a special and ongoing role to play in this community. So when the community moved, FSAF moved, too. FSAF rented a small house, which it has adapted into four classrooms, a kitchen and a small office for Dorothy, the director. Yet the rent is four times what they paid previously in La Cumbre. In addition, electricity, water, gas and other services are also based on the high socio-economic level of the surrounding community, costing four times as much as had been budgeted for the year. Due to the fact that so few other schools will take the children from the community, FSAF has taken on more students.

Humanitarian Reach:
FSAF has a child sponsorship program called "Plan Padrinos" (or "godfather" plan). A donation of $35 per year provides a child in the Amor y Fe School with school supplies, school uniform, daily meals, recreational activities and health support.

A message from the chair of Susila Dharma Colombia, Marcela Moreno: "I take this opportunity to talk to you about one of the most important projects of Colombia called Semillas Amor y Fe. They are dedicated to educating children of displaced families. At the start of their attendance, these children were aggressive, unstable, without any illusions and now at this moment they have changed into happy, self confident children full of love. Last year they suffered a disaster whereby their houses made of zinc and plastic were washed away. Now they live in unfinished houses that the government gave them and the school had to start in a rented farm house to remain close to the children and families. The Foundation is going through a bad economic moment and that is why I want to promote making use of the "Godfather Plan." Through this plan the children get access to educational support such as school materials and uniforms. They also receive balanced feeding, pedagogical, psychological, and social and health services in a good moral environment. I invite you to visit this project and to personally see the development of the children."

Legal information:
FSAF was constituted legally as a nonprofit entity in Colombia in 2000, in the municipality of Floridablanca, Santander with the number 8302.

Contact Information:
Dorothy Ramirez
Sede Administrativa Carrera 5E
No. 27-22, Villas de la Cumbre II Municipio de Floridablanca, Colombia
Email: fundacionsemillasamoryfe@yahoo.com
(No Website Available)