Food and care
The Ciudàd de Dios looks after the forgotten children of Columbia
Columbia holds the sad record of having the most children living on the street in
the world: 30,000 according to UNICEF. In Villa de Leyvaq many are spared this fate.
All of the generations find a home in Ciudàd de Dios, and children find financial aid
and help in starting a better life.
Poverty is at its worst in the cities of Bogotá and Medellín, but it is not only here
that the poverty of parents drives tens of thousands of Columbian children onto the street.
Many of these children get high on toxic solvents, are ill, have to fend for themselves,
turn to prostitution, do not learn to read and write and completely lose contact with their
family over time.
Anyone visiting Villa de Leyva will find it hard to believe that children live on the street
here as well. The town that dates back to colonial times is a popular destination. However,
those who are poor and cannot read and write do not find work and are unable to benefit
from the tourism. It is in particular the weakest in society, the children, who suffer.
The Ciudàd de Dios, the "City of God", was founded in 2004 by the dedicated Carmelite, Father
Josée Arcesio Escobar. A building that houses all of the generations under one roof was built
one kilometre from the centre: it houses a health centre that was opened in 2009, a day-care
centre and a care home for the poor, abandoned and sick, a baby station and a day-care centre
with a pre-school for children up to six years' old. The city is completed by new, basic but
clean homes for poor families and a spirituality centre with a chapel.
In the home five carers look after around one hundred children, and often their parents as well.
30 euros per month cover the costs of feeding and schooling one child. The Karmel
Missionsstiftung - Dr. Fernando aims, after making contributions for example for the building
of a well, to in future contribute the funds required to feed the children.