The Charity that Smile of Medellin is supporting here:

I am supporting the work of the Fundacion Teresa de Calcuta in Medellin (Colombia). The charity is focused on providing comprehensive care and education to children of displaced families, elderly individuals who have been abandoned, and those suffering from terminal illness, through the creation of four key projects:

•School with 260 kids
•School restaurant
•Center for ill patients
•Center for abandoned elderlies

What am I doing there?

Over these 3 months I am volunteering to give English/French classes in the school as well as spend time in the care centers with the patients trying to make their day better (I feed them, play, chat...).

I am also trying to support the charity by developing new partnerships with different entities here in Medellin: partnership with a charity helping kids that have suffered sexual violence (about 20% of the kids in the school suffer or have suffered sexual violence so it's a key topic I am really focused on), partnership with a school of music... Finally I want to support the construction of the infrastructure in the school by financing the construction of a new restaurant for the kids. For that specific reason I created Smile of Medellin which is a French based charity and is focused on financing the construction of this project.

What about the school?

The school is located at the edge of the city with amazing views over Medellin. There are 8 classes with 260 kids from 5 to 16 years old. Most of these kids come from families displaced by the Colombian conflicts and live in poor and difficult conditions. The school is offering them the opportunity to learn skills and education suited to the needs they have by living in this environment. There is several critical infrastructure needs (they need new classrooms, equipment, tables...) and I have decided to focus on financing the construction of a proper restaurant for the kids.

Why supporting the construction of the restaurant?

The current restaurant is not big enough to host all the kids who thus have to take turns and does not comply with health and safety requirements. It is therefore not surprising that a recent analysis showed that some of the kids had as many bacteria in their stomach as in a dog's one. Provided that the restaurant complies with the health and safety requirements, Medellin's town hall will commit to finance lunch for all the kids. The financing of this construction is therefore a "smart investment" given it will unlock the help of the town hall which is key to the charity which is struggling to collect enough food to feed all the kids.

See the current conditions of the restaurant...