Wendy lives with her father and her mother. At home, duties include running errands and cleaning. Her father is sometimes employed and her mother maintains the home. There are 2 children in the family.
Wendy is not attending school because she is too young. Playing with dolls, playing ball games and playing group games are her favorite activities. She also attends Bible class regularly.
Because of your sponsorship, Wendy will have new opportunities to learn and grow physically, mentally, and spiritually. Thank you for your concern and prayers.
Wendy lives in the coastal community of Comuna 2 de Apartadó, home to approximately 35,600 residents. Typical houses are constructed of cement floors, brick walls and tin roofs.
The regional diet consists of beans, bananas, plantains and rice. Common health problems in this area include skin diseases, malnutrition and respiratory illnesses. Most adults work on plantations and earn the equivalent of $126 per month. This community needs paved streets, schools, employment opportunities, parks and libraries.
Your sponsorship allows the staff of CDI Shalom Dios de Paz to provide Wendy with Bible classes, sports, health care, self-esteem workshops, special celebrations, academic support and music and art workshops. Forty-six percent of the children in this project are not attending school because they are underage. The center staff will also provide conferences and workshops for the parents or guardians of Wendy.
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 Medellín
