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Community Corner

A Tale of Two Rotary Clubs

The Laguna Niguel Rotary Club joins forces with another Rotary in Bogota, Colombia.

Thanks to Laguna Niguel Patch reader Carlos Saenz for sending this story in.

In 2004, at the suggestion of Jaime Jaramillo, chief executive officer of Fundacion Ninos De Los Andes (featured in CBS television program 60 Minutes in the 1990s), the engaged in a commitment to rehabilitate, furnish and support a home for homeless women and their children in Bogota, Colombia. 

To the above effect, a dilapidated house in the outskirts of Bogota (a city with a population in excess of 8 million) was donated. With funds raised by the Laguna Niguel Rotary Club, and also contributed by the cooperating Rotary club, The Bogota Laureles Rotary Club, the house was refurbished, furnished and equipped to receive homeless mothers and their children. The house would accommodate 15 mothers and approximately 30 children. While not always fully occupied, most of the time it was.

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As the case is with most large cities, in Bogota there is a substantial homeless population. Many of the homeless, as featured in 60 Minutes are children who live in the sewers, as their shelter.  Witnessing the situation prompted Mr. Jaramillo to begin his Fundacion Ninos de Los Andes, which operates throughout Colombia and has reportedly saved as many as 17,000 lives of homeless children.

While not exclusively, many of the homeless women that came to Fundacion Lazos De Amor (links of love foundation),  were raised in the sewers and streets of Bogota.

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At the Fundacion Lazos De Amor home, a social worker and psychologist was permanent staff to help the women learn to adapt to a healthy social model as mothers and members of society.

To enable them to transition into the work place, and to help support the home, a sewing training facility was equipped at the home with professional equipment. The women were trained in the trade of sewing and at the conclusion of their stay which would last six months to one year, they were placed for employment in industry, and assisted in finding living arrangements, while continuing to receive social and psychological support from Fundacion Lazos De Amor.

From 2004 through 2010, there were many success stories, while some of the women also returned to their former environment. Perhaps the most successful of all was that of a young lady, mother of two little girls met a young man, from Holland, a volunteer (through Rotary). This young man fell in love with the young woman, married her, adopted her two little girls, put the young lady through school and bought a house for the family.  This is a case of Cinderella, all over again.

Over the years, about $170,000 were spent in the above effort, and while it came to a conclusion, a new project has been adopted by the Laguna Niguel Rotary Club and The Bogota Laureles Rotary Club. In two separate years, Rotary District 5320 (to which the Laguna Niguel Rotary Club belongs) contributed funds through a simplified grant.

The new project is Casa Veronica, a home for orphaned or abandoned children, victims of HIV. Currently, the two Rotary clubs are cooperating in a “matching grant” from The International Rotary Foundation to purchase a van to transport the 21 children who live in the house of Casa Veronica, to and from school daily. The home incurs a significant expense in paying for transportation of the children. These funds will now be redirected to meet other needs.

Casa Veronica was established over 20 years back by The Eudes Foundation, in cooperation with The Bogata Laureles Rotary Club. One of its first child, a little girl, abandoned by her mother at the age of 2, will be soon graduating from medical school and will devote her life as a medical doctor to help the children of this home.

Fundacion Lazos De Amor, ceased operations in 2010 due to excessive crime in the streets where the house was located. The equipment for the sewing factory/school, was transferred to Manizales, another city in Colombia, where Fundacion Ninos de Los Andes has a similar operation. 

The Laguna Niguel Rotary Club and The Bogota Laureles Rotary Club dedicated their joint activity in 2006, when Rotary International celebrated its Centenial, to a Centenial Club project. A stone plaque celebrating the joint effort has been transferred to Manizales, where it is permanently mounted on the wall where the sewing factory/school is.

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