As a Foundation and non for profit organization aimed to offer early childhood comprehensive attention, with legal, technical and financial capacity and the experience required by the Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar, Hogar Integral has been authorized to operate as Social Manager of the national government strategy “Cero a Siempre” in the four Child Development Centers the Foundation runs in Ciudad Bolívar, Bogotá, Colombia. Also, the Caja de Compensación Familiar CAFAM assigns the Foundation resources from Foniñez to be used in two Child Development Centers the Foundation runs in the Municipality of Soacha, Colombia.
The Foundation receives funds set forth in contracts subscribed for that purpose, and finances the shortage obtaining funds from donations it constantly seeks. These resources coming from current and future social investors, are essential to comply with the social objective of our Foundation.
The Foundation has in place a system for budget implementation report and rendering of accounts of contracts, agreements and investment of resources received from alliances and benefactors. Hogar Integral belongs to the Sistema Nacional de Bienestar Familiar (SNBF), attached to Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar (ICBF), with Legal Person issued by the Ministry of Justice and Bylaws approved by ICBF.
The Foundation’s work is based on three pillars that, from the beginning, the Honorary Life Chairwoman has considered strategic to achieve the Foundation’s goals:
PHYSICAL NUTRITION
Our population is at high risk of vulnerability (diverse ethnics and populations). We cover 70 to 75 % of their basic nutritional and caloric needs . We have two units to produce food: industrial kitchen and bakery. Also, each unit has a kitchen where we prepare breakfast, two instances of snacks and distribute lunch coming from the industrial kitchen in two cargo vans authorized by the Secretariat of Health, which transport prepared food and supplies required. Twenty-five menus comprise the schedule of four food servings, based on the diagnosis of sociocultural characteristics and has been approved by ICBF. Likewise, we deliver basic food supplies to improve nutrition of families with highest malnutrition rates.
INTELLECTUAL NUTRITION
By structuring and implementing of the Learning Project, we get to know the history of life and environment where children and their families live. Knowing these characteristics, we design teaching strategies such as assemblies, workshops and pedagogic learning corners which promote, guide and strengthen children skills and abilities. There is an interaction among the different areas of learning in order to promote expressive languages, creating healthy and cultural habits and adequate self-care practices. Our major mission is to achieve transformations in their physical and cognitive integrity and help them to develop their potential and abilities, that they develop individual, spiritual, cultural and intellectual characteristics they need to live in harmony with themselves, others and their environment. The above is developed through games, literature, exploring the environment as primary activities that promote expressive languages, as prescribed in the Learning Institutional Project “El Arte-Sano de los Sueños Fantásticos”.
We monitored individual and group children development using a detailed recording of daily events, weekly qualitative assessment of learning actions, rating scales, observation, anecdotary and field diary, and give families a report that includes children advances, interests and needs.
SPIRITUAL NUTRITION
Usually, children’s violations occur as a consequence of ignorance and lack of accompaniment by the institutionally. For this reason the Foundation, through reflexive methodologies analyses child-rearing and care practices at family level, in order to implement new alternatives that promote change, creating stronger, united families based on love.
Learning actions and family accompaniment strategies are designed using evidences obtained from the above analysis. Our subjects of interest are related to education for peace, children’s rights, child abuse, access to the Integral Attention Route (Ruta Integral de Atención-RIA), according to active municipal and district networks, positive child-raring and self-care, strengthen and good treatment. Additionally, those arising from needs required by the diagnosis.
