What we do
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Let The Children Live! is a charity registered with the Charity Commission No.1013634 through which people can respond to the needs of the street-children in Colombia; children sometimes referred to as the 'disposable ones’. It aims both to safeguard the lives of children from the violence and poverty of the streets, and to make their lives worth living by giving them love, education and a future. The charity was founded in 1992 by Fr Peter Walters, who first became involved with the street-children in 1982 when they helped him after he became temporarily stranded in Colombia. It is a charitable ( not-for-profit ) organisation and does not engage in political activity. “We recognise that the phenomenon of the street-children is the product of complex social problems to which there are no easy answers. Our aim is to support the Colombian people as they take the initiative in caring for the most disadvantaged of their children,” says Fr Peter. “They are making the most of their limited resources, but they need support from abroad for this work to continue and grow. Because the children have no-one, they really belong to us all. Unless we help them, these children will remain ‘disposable ones’: throwaway kids with no future at all.”
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Let The Children Live! is a Christian charity and is strongly pro-life. We believe that no human being is ‘disposable’ and that every person is precious to God.We are concerned to ensure that each child is cared for as an individual, with his or her own special needs and can experience life ‘in all its fullness’.
Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, the lives of many children have already been preserved and made worth living through the provision of love, care, education and training.
But it is never ending work, for whenever some children leave the streets, others take their place.
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Let The Children Live! does not run its own projects directly but uses most of the funds it raises to support Fundación ¡Vivan Los Niños!, which is known as Funvini for short. Based in Medellín, Funvini was set up in 1994 to be the main partner of Let The Children Live! in Colombia and to enable it to finance new initiatives for the children there. It has been granted legal recognition as a charity by the Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar. Funvini is currently helping some 317 children through its various programmes
Until 2008 the number of children being helped by Funvini totalled 800 but in June 2008 that number had to be cut to 600 due to the fall in the value of the pound, which had started in 2007. As the pound continued to remain low so did the exchange rate with the Colombian peso and eventually we had to reduce 600 children to 500. Now, after 4 years of consistantly low exchange rates, and having made all the economies we can, we have been forced to reduce the number of our children yet again, this time from 500 to 317. The cost of this work is currently £42,000 a month, based on the present exchange rates. This means that every month Let The Children Live! must transfer £42,000 to Funvini in Medellín. This is a considerable sum of money and a serious responsibility for the charity, since the lives and safety of 317 children depend on it. During the economic downturn, with many losing their jobs, prices rising and austerity measures in force we understand the difficulties faced by our donors. The value of the British pound is still very low on the International Markets and as a result we are effectively losing £20,000 every month, due solely to the low exchange rates which result in us receiving many less pesos for our pounds than we used to. This is a situation over which we have no control. Prices in Colombia, however, continue to rise and the children continue to need us. At the moment the numerous gangs which are in control of the shanty-towns are recruiting children as young as 10 and using them as killers. The children we can no longer help will be prime targets for these gangs. We are very conscious of the fact that we need your support more than ever.
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