Location: Bogotá, Colombia

Originally founded in Bogotá in 1986, Fundación Creciendo Unidos (CU) is a non-profit organization advocating for the rights of children as healthy, educated, and well-rounded human beings. The organization has participated in the “Coalition Against Children’s Recruitment into Illegal Armed Groups” and has been outspoken against child labor.

Fundación Creciendo Unidos tries to bring the problems of Colombia’s children to the forefront of the country’s social consciousness. In CU’s three houses in Bogotá and one in Cúcuta, the organization offers a wide variety of programs including various workshops geared towards school reinforcement and vocational readiness.  Each year over 3,000 children from ages 8 to 18 enjoy school tutoring as well as workshops in carpentry, leatherwork, computer assistance and bread making with the hope of mastering these skills for future employment. The organization’s specialized technical curricula for its trainings have won the recognition of the Secretary of Education.

Since 2006, Genesis Foundation has supported the Casa del Niño Trabajador, founded in 1997 in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Cúcuta. This center offers school reinforcement, an academic leveling program, and technical training in leatherwork and bread making.  Additionally, students are provided with nutritional support throughout the day.  The hope is that similarly to its predecessor in Bogotá, the program in Cúcuta will touch hundreds of children’s lives and allow them to live up to their potential as young people.

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