Funvini

Let The Children Live! does not run its own projects directly but uses most of the funds it raises to support Fundación ¡Vivan Los Niños!, which is known as Funvini for short. Funvini was set up in 1994 to be the main partner of Let The Children Live! in Colombia and to enable it to finance new initiatives for the children there: it has been granted legal recognition as a Charity by the Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar.

Funvini is currently helping some 450 children through its various programmes. Convinced that prevention is even better than cure, Funvini not only cares for children who are already living in the street but has also created a pioneering programme to prevent other children from becoming gamines.

The continuing war against drugs in Colombia has forced thousands of refugees to flee from the countryside into the cities. The barrios marginales (shanty-towns) where these refugees live are also very violent because of the constant battles between the bandas (youth gangs) and various paramilitary groups.

In Medellín, Funvini is working in some of these barrios with the younger brothers and sisters of the members of the bandas to try to prevent them from being recruited by these gangs or from having to seek refuge in the streets in order to escape from them.

Unemployment in Medellín is very high, and children who live in the shanty-towns are often sent out to beg or work in the street. Funvini's street-educators go out to make contact with these boys and girls when they first appear on the street. Their task is to try to reintegrate these children with their families and the school-system before they break away completely and get lost in the world of the gamines.

Casa Walsingham

Funvini's programme in Medellín is based at Casa Walsingham (Walsingham House), which is strategically located between the city centre and the northern barrios marginales. Some of the boys and girls who attend the centre are malnourished, so Funvini aims to provide about 50 children with a well-balanced diet.

The children who come to Casa Walsingham also take part in educational, artistic and recreational activities. Funvini is in the process of making structural alterations to the building to convert part of it into a special school for former street-children. The idea is not to segregate them, but to provide an intermediate stage where they can be prepared to cope with the routine and discipline of "ordinary" schools.

Ciudad Don Bosco

Funvini works closely with other local organisations and it acts as a bridge to these for the children in the street. Wherever conditions permit, Funvini tries to help the children to be reintegrated into their own homes and familes, but when this is not possible it aims to find them suitable residential care.

The largest home for street-children in Medellín is Ciudad Don Bosco (Don Bosco City), where some 700 children are cared for by the Salesian Fathers. Their programme begins with Operation Friendship, in which Street-educators make contact with the children and invite them to come to the Patio, a day-centre where they can eat, wash and play.

The gamines are most at risk after dark, so Let The Children Live! has provided funds to open a dormitory where up to 45 children now spend the night in safety - warm, dry and free from drugs. Regular attenders at the Patio and the Night-Shelters move up to the Half-Way House where they are helped to make the difficult transition from life in the streets to residential care.

The final stage is in Ciudad Don Bosco itself, where the children live whilst they receive their primary and secondary education. They are also able to learn a variety of trades in the workshops there, including carpentry, metal-working, tailoring and printing. Much of the publicity material produced by Funvini and Let The Children Live! is printed by former street-children in these workshops.