Cúcuta

Cúcuta | Norte de Santander | Colombia |

Smile Colombia Foundation and Fundacion Juventud Lider have joined forces in this project to benefit the kids of “Los Olivos” neighborhood. This partnership consists of raising enough funds to support a full year “Los Olivos“ scholarship for two children. In addition, SEF offered a matching program, which consists of providing resources for another two scholarships matching each contribution dollar by dollar. In other words, every dollar donated to this program was matched by Smile Education Foundation.

The Salesian Ministry of Cúcuta is actively working in this community and has established a social assistance program in the Juvenile Center Don Juan Bosco. The majority of the activities here are linked to soccer, the main sport in Colombia and a real attraction for the children benefitting from this program.

Community Overview

The children who will benefit from this scholarship live in the poor “invasion” neighborhood within the Cuidadela de San Juan Atalaya in Cúcuta, Colombia, named Los Olivos.

Colombia has been the site of a continuous internal war, where guerrillas, drug traffickers and paramilitary groups fight without regard for the rural population. These populations are forced to take refuge in urban areas in order to escape the violence, thereby creating so-called “invasion” neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city. The children within these communities have little access to education and are exposed to anti-social behavior, crime and violence.