Hijos de Amor Foundation was created on August 11, 2017. Its headquarters were established in the community of the Altos de Santa Helena sector. Altos de Santa Helena is designed to offer solutions to safeguard the integrity of residents of the jarillón (embankment) who must be relocated.
Like many foundations, its founders decided to base the organization on important teachings. As they explained to us, the word of God. The decision to create a foundation based on the word of God is quite interesting. We will delve into this point later.
Background
In 2016, the youth of the La Casa del Padre congregation in Cali were undergoing a youth training that encouraged working for the city. They had a collective moment of reflection about how to invest their talents and time in something valuable. Initially, they aimed to create a safe space for the productive use of free time, focusing on children and adolescents. This was the beginning of what would become the Hijos de Amor Foundation project.
To raise awareness, they held an outreach campaign called “United for Life,” in which they distributed gifts, snacks, and Bibles.
In 2018, they officially started their work. They organized a collection of school kits for a campaign called “EStuDIOS.” The school kits were distributed in various sectors of the city (Altos de Santa Helena, El Retiro neighborhood, and single mothers).
On this occasion, we had the opportunity to speak with Ingrid Rocío Calvache, who is responsible for executing the work in the community as part of the Hijos de Amor Foundation.
Laura Viera A: You talk a lot about God and His love. Why is this so important?
Ingrid Rocío Calvache: Love is the purest source to build something. God is love, and only through Him can we, as human beings, love freely and build our lives in fullness.
Love is tied to giving; only the one who loves gives, and the one who is loved receives. There are four necessary aspects to being a healthy person in every way: love, security, identity, and purpose.
Laura Viera A: For the children to receive help, is it necessary for them to belong to a specific religion, or are all children welcome?
Ingrid Rocío Calvache: We don’t have any admission filter. The only factor that prevents us from receiving more children is the space available at our headquarters. We have a limit of 30 children in each shift, morning and afternoon, for a total of 60 children.
The “Community Neighborhood” project was carried out by establishing a food bank and a wardrobe, with significant emphasis on the wardrobe. Donations were received from generous people from the La Casa del Padre Church and others who, upon learning about the purpose, joined the cause.
On the first Saturday of each month, clothes and household items are offered at a very low cost, benefiting the community and using the proceeds to finance the activities with the children.
All the financial contributions to the foundation come from people who, with love, sow into us. The food bank is currently on hold.
The “Youth with Purpose and Happy Families” project will begin in the future. It focuses on strengthening the bond between young people and their families.
Similarly, the work done by the foundation, like everything, has had its difficult moments. However, the hardest part has been forming a consistent work team.
It’s painful to hear a child talk about how people are killed at the corner of their house or how a parent never returned. It’s equally touching to see the joy on their faces when they receive cereal and milk.
At this moment, Ingrid Rocío Calvache is the only permanent staff member, and the others who support the foundation’s work are temporary volunteers, helping according to their work schedules and other commitments. We understand that the foundation can’t offer payment, so everyone is a volunteer.
On the other hand, the easiest part has been establishing empathy with the children who are part of this beautiful project. Over time, we see progress in their behavior, and relationships of affection and a sense of belonging to the Foundation have developed.
Laura Viera A: Have you faced any absurd or “complicated” realities?
Ingrid Rocío Calvache: When we first began our work in the Foundation, we had many expectations about what it would be like to engage with the children and their families. But one thing we strongly noticed was the naturalness with which these children, with eyes full of hope, speak of a reality that often hurts our hearts: violence, deaths, divorces, absent parents. All of this encourages us to continue because God has brought us closer to them.
What We Lack
Calvache assured us that what our country lacks is the establishment of true families, not just in lower social classes but across our entire society. We need healthy families, parents who truly understand and live out their parenthood with wisdom.
The family is the fundamental component of any society. It is within this familial context, starting from childhood, that skills and values are acquired.
We lack homes where the security of feeling loved can shape lives with identity and purpose. We also need greater awareness of the importance of education as a vital tool for advancement.
Education opens doors to a better future. Government support for this issue should be absolute.
Education has been a source of knowledge for millions of young people around the world.
Most countries understand its benefits but fail to apply it correctly. Therefore, developing a strategy for education should be obvious. Although it’s difficult and mistakes are made, it must be clear that education is the primary tool for progress.
Education in the 21st century is not the same as in previous centuries. It has evolved. Completing primary school is no longer enough. The more advanced the education a person has, the greater the opportunities for better-paying jobs.
Thus, a country’s intellectual development increases and poverty is reduced. Furthermore, a country improves when its population has more job opportunities and a better quality of life.
What’s Necessary to Help
Laura Viera A: Why is it necessary to help minors?
Ingrid Rocío Calvache: As we know, they are the hope for a better country, a fertile ground for good things to grow and multiply. That’s why it’s important to support those who will sow love into the hearts of our children. We recognize that we are not the only ones doing this, and that makes us happy. There is hope for our beloved Colombia.
For now, the foundation only works in Cali. However, they hope that one day their vision and execution will be perfected through experience, and that they will be able to expand to other places. For now, they understand that they must remain faithful to the work here while dreaming of reaching beyond current limits.
**Hijos de Amor Foundation © Solkes**
They have several goals. Immediately, they want to work more intensely on effective parenthood. They do this through workshops and other activities with the parents of the children attending the Foundation. They also want to support the children in their academic progress, as many of them have very low performance. Additionally, they aim to have a larger group of sponsors to support their work.
In the medium term, they want to structure the foundation’s work more thoroughly through training. They also plan to improve their headquarters, needing at least a TV, Wi-Fi, acoustic improvements, air conditioning, and tablets or PCs for working on technology-focused projects. They aim to complete the establishment of the social projects proposed by the Foundation.
Their future plans are numerous, but they have some in mind. They want to establish a school to extend the hours for the children and provide everything they need for integral formation. During free time, they want to offer extracurricular workshops to ensure the children spend less time exposed to the streets, where they are vulnerable to gangs and addictions. They also want to develop more intentional work with the parents to strengthen homes, change the culture of domestic violence, and promoting responsible parenthood.
The Final Idea
At the end of the day, the group behind the Hijos de Amor Foundation would like not to depend on money to exist and help.
Ideally, they would like to have more resources to care for more children and, above all, improve each day’s work, becoming more effective.
They are forever grateful for what they achieved in 2018 but hope that 2019 will be a year to advance in this dream.
Their vision is to be transformative agents of realities. They are a group of people who dream of a generation rising up to establish the love of God in their surroundings. They want people to not only love their neighbors but also themselves. They want to be agents of change with a healthy mindset, free from resentment, selfishness, and fear. The work the foundation is doing in Cali is important for the community. We believe it is essential to share this vision with others who wish to contribute to the development of a better country.
