The Need: Sanitation

• About 55 percent of families in Nueva Esperanza lack adequate housing. Homes are mostly located in low-lying areas along unpaved roads, and severe overcrowding is typical. During the rainy season, the dwellings are flooded with dirty water.
• There is no city sewage system and most families make use of septic wells or latrines. It is common to find garbage and every kind of trash along the drainage ditches surrounding these communities.
• As a result, insects sometimes invade the houses causing respiratory and skin diseases.

The Response

• With World Vision’s help, 400 families now have better housing and sanitary conditions as a result of their participation in house and bathroom self-construction projects.
• The Health Agents organization provides training to help mothers learn practices that lessen the risk of preventable diseases among their children.
• The community has participated in clean-up campaigns organized by the groups of children and youth who participate in a training program.
• The health project vaccinates children and provides treatment to eliminate parasites and lice.

The Need: Teen Pregnancy Prevention

At present, programs to prevent early pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases among young people are very scarce:

• Pregnant adolescents have higher health risks than mature women, and they often ignore prenatal care. Children born from adolescent mothers tend to be premature, to have low birth weights, and to experience more health problems.
• The child mortality rate with adolescent mothers is higher for newborns and children younger than five.
• Adolescents of both sexes also have a high risk of  contracting sexually transmitted diseases, and a high incidence of promiscuity exists among adolescents.

The Response

• World Vision has established agreements with universities for interns to carry out programs for adolescents in order to prevent early pregnancy, drug-addiction, and diseases.
• Youth groups take charge of communicating this information directly to families, education centers, and community groups. The youth groups also share experiences with young people of other regions and cultures.
• World Vision programs also encourage young people to continue their studies by providing scholarships so that promising students can attend technical, technological or professional training.

The Need: Economic Development

The main income-producing activities of the people in these communities are related to the community’s informal economy: 

• Selling vegetables, cooked food, water, candies or handicrafts. 
• Working as maids, washer women, or baby sitters.
• Running small stores.
• Driving public transportation vehicles (moto-taxis).
• Doing temporary jobs in the business sector.
• Any activity that generates income.

Only 30 percent of the working people have a job, and wages are minimal; 70 percent are unemployed. In most cases, women are in charge of providing for their families due to a high incidence of single mothers.

 The Response

• World Vision helps the community identify training needs and provides basic business education on how to start and manage a small business.
• This program helps women and youth increase their potential and competencies to compete for jobs and to have access to goods and services needed to start their own small businesses.
• Organized groups receive seed capital to start businesses in agricultural products, cleaning products manufacture, and other occupations.

The Need: Strengthening Family Relationships

• Unemployment, lack of opportunity for generating income, and the internal displacement of people from rural to urban areas due to armed conflict within Colombia all contribute to extremely difficult living conditions in Nueva Esperanza.
• Stress on families leads to drug-addiction, organized gangs, alcoholism, and family violence. 
• In a culture where violence is commonplace and considered part of discipline, children are especially vulnerable to abuse.

The Response

Over 500 families have participated in World Vision’s Family Schools. The Family Schools have contributed to improved relations among family members; have nurtured mutual respect, love, communication, and the development of positive family roles; and have reduced domestic violence and child abuse. The Family Schools provide:

• A safe space to encourage communication and understanding.
• A foundation of Christian principles.
• An opportunity to learn skills that contribute to peaceful solutions.
• A place where community members learn to work together and to love and help each other.

The Need: Education

• Public education has become more readily available, course content has improved, and schools have more supplies available for schoolchildren. 
• However, there are still not enough teachers, and the quality of education is in great need of improvement.

The Response

Within the community, 90 percent of school-age children who are sponsored or waiting for sponsors are involved in the formal education system (preschool, elementary school, secondary school, and college). The ASODESI School, built by World Vision:

• Gives children the opportunity to receive a quality education.
• Has become a center to train teachers in the city. 
• Provides training workshops for parents where they increase their knowledge about the State’s responsibilities related to the education system.