Samara lives with her father and her mother. She is responsible for making beds and running errands. Her father is sometimes employed as a farmer and her mother maintains the home. There are 2 children in the family.
Samara is not attending school because she is too young. Playing house, playing with dolls and hide-and-seek are her favorite activities. She also attends church activities regularly.
Because of your sponsorship, Samara will have new opportunities to learn and grow physically, mentally, and spiritually. Thank you for your concern and prayers.
Samara lives in the coastal community of El Reposo, home to approximately 7,500 residents. Typical houses are constructed of dirt floors, wood walls and tin roofs. The regional diet consists of beans, plantains and rice.
Common health problems in this area include skin diseases, malnutrition and respiratory illnesses. Most adults in El Reposo work on plantations and earn the equivalent of $168 per month. This community needs paved streets, schools, libraries, employment opportunities, hospitals and parks.
Your sponsorship allows the staff of CDI Jehová Shammah to provide Samara with Bible studies, sports, nutritious snacks, health education, games, academic support and bakery classes. Fifty-seven percent of the children in this project are not attending school because they are underage. The center staff will also provide meetings for the parents or guardians of Samara.
Surrounded by the Andes Mountains, Colombia's terrain ranges from the cooler highlands to the tropical coast along the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. Vast stretches of lowlands east of the mountains are thinly populated and only partially explored.
Two of Colombia's main exports are coffee and oil, though drug trafficking is a serious problem. About 73 percent of the population is urban, and most Colombians are Catholic. The racial makeup includes mestizos (Spanish and Native American), Europeans, those of black and white ancestry, and those of black and Native American ancestry. Spanish is the official language. Compassion works in Colombia's most populated northern regions.
Since its liberation from Spain in the early 19th century, Colombia has violently struggled to find its identity. In 1886, Colombia established its first constitution, which was modified and updated in 1991. The document established the basic present-day government structure consolidating the central government, ending rivalries among political factions, and creating the oldest democracy in Latin America. Yet peaceful coexistence among the multiethnic and multiparty groups in this country remains elusive. Despite a growing sense of confidence in the economy helped in part by a free trade agreement with the United States, Colombia resides in a perpetual state of political and social turmoil. Warring factions have battled for control since independence. Thousands of political figures have been massacred, and paramilitary groups that formed have installed a legacy of terrorism that ravages the country today. The National Front brought a measure of stability in the 1960s, but for all the gains made, Colombia is still plagued by political corruption, drug wars, guerrilla activity and terrorist violence.
Map of Colombia
Child's Location: Northwest of Medellin
