Joining Hands to Build a Home

Ivon Cuervo - Posted on September 24, 2010

One-hundred-eighty additional children recently started to be sponsored by the World Vision sponsorship program in Nueva Esperanza. Dayanis, 5, is one of them. We invite you to know how she and her family live and the World Vision’s programs that exist in order to help this and other families living in poverty in Colombia.

Dairo, Marlidis and their daughter, Dayanis, 5, live in a room made of plastic, pieces of wood, with a dirt floor and old pieces of corrugated metal tiles for the roof. An open drainage canal, carrying what would go to a sewer, runs along side their house. They also share a common wall with their neighbor’s house.

In order to go to the back side of the lot, where the latrine is, Dayanis and her parents have to be careful while walking across the pile of bricks which are set on top of residual waters. At this time of the year, the rains have made the level of the water in the open drainage canal rise and almost overflow. This is a big health hazard not just for Dayanis’ family, but also for their neighbors.

The unhealthy conditions of the environment threaten them with skin and respiratory infections. “When we came to live here [a year and a half ago] Dayanis got a skin infection,” says Marlidis, her mom. Furthermore, the humidity of the room they share has left the girl living with flu-like symptoms almost all of the time.

Marlidis says that she also has health problems and that she is working hard so the family can have access to a health service.

Dairo works part time as an auxiliary in a garage. His work is the only source of the family’s income and it is not enough to cover even their basic needs. “This hut is frightening,” says Dayanis. When it rains, the water gets into the house and damages the little furniture they have.

“I want to live in a house of bricks with more bedrooms,” says Dayanis who currently sleeps in the same bed with her parents.

In order to favorably change the living conditions of this and other families, the commitment of all of us who are involved in the social transformation is fundamental.

Therefore, we constantly encourage both parents and children to participate in trainings and seminars in areas such as health protection, the practice of their fundamental rights and duties, the demonstration of good treatment, the appropriate care of the environment, as well as in training to develop skills for carrying out different tasks that contribute to generate employment.

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