Child Development Center
Cartago, Colombia
Welcome to Mission Life's Child Development Center in Cartago, Colombia!
Expanding our outreach to Cartago holds special significance. Cartago is the hometown of Mission Life's founder and has remained unchanged since his departure 25 years ago.
Cartago is a municipality with limited economic opportunities and is facing numerous challenges. These include the pervasive influence of narcotic cartels and drug micro-trafficking, which have severely impacted the city's youth. This influence has led to increased violence, corruption, teenage pregnancy, early school dropouts, drug use, and other criminal activities. The lack of educational and employment opportunities, combined with the absence of preschool programs, tutoring, organized sports, and a church, has perpetuated a cycle of poverty and community decay.
Our dream is to establish a full development program to the children in Cartago, and the sponsorships support their education, nutrition, mental healthcare, and spiritual development.
The program is designed to be hand-on, offering a safe space where children receive daily meals, school supplies, tutoring, and engaging activities to help them discover talents and gifts, while learning Biblical values and principles.
Sponsors and local participants will work together to run the program, improving communities by transforming the lives of children and youth.
The program targets critical issues in the area, situated where 1,744 households live below the poverty line and 271 in extreme poverty. Initially, the center will serve about 45 neighborhood children, and will expand to as many as 400 children from the four surrounding neighborhoods. It will begin in collaboration with "Voy a Cambiar el Mundo," a local organization already active in the community.
The expansion of this project will include a church plant and the child development center operating out of the same place. We are seeking to obtain a long-abandoned church building in this community to renovate and provide space for more activities. This project has garnered community support, benefiting children and re-establishing a center for worship, thereby strengthening families and the community.
