Charity Project 2007

M+R Spedag Supports "Hogar Bambi" Project
 
Every year, M+R Spedag Group - instead of presenting individual gifts to clients - makes a donation to a selected charity organization. This year choice is the Colombia based 'Hogar Bambi' project.

The Swiss Foundation "Help for Children", active in Colombia since 1985, was founded by Swiss physician Dr. Rupert Spillmann. Under the name 'Hogar Bambi', the foundation today runs a total of eight homes for children - three in Bogotá, three in Cali, one in Darién and one in Medellín - providing shelter for unprivileged children, from birth to the age of six.

The  homes give the children a roof over their heads, love and affection and all the care that children need for their welfare and development.

More than 9,000 children, affected by the economic crisis, abandoned by their parents or orphans, have so far  been given care in the "Bambi" homes. A child stays at a Bambi home until his or her mother finds the means enabling her to fulfill the child's basic needs. Orphans, relatively few in number, will have a new life thanks to adoption through the official agency of the state organization "Bienestar Familiar" with which the foundation maintains excellent contacts.

 

 

Since the year 2000, the foundation has a professional training program in place for the parents of  "Hogar Bambi" children. The project was enabled first through the Schmitz-Hille Foundation, then by the association "Frères de nos Frères" and currently by the "American Friends of Bambi Homes in Colombia".

The organization in Colombia has been headed since 2005 by a local director, who is in charge of the coordinatin between the individual homes, allocation of donations and local fund-raising. A total of 80 people are employeed by the organization in Colombia. They include the directores of homes, welfare workers, kindergarten teachers, physicians and auxiliary personell.

Donations to the foundations are fully remitted to the "Bambi" homes. The Swiss Foundation covers about 60% of the total cost and the remaining 40% are raised locally in Colombia. This partnership remains precarious, as the country is facing a constant increase in social and other problems.

More information can be found on the organization's website:

http://www.fondation-aide-enfants.org/

 
Monday, December 17, 2007 - M+R Spedag Switzerland