Location:

Chinchina, Colombia

Program Type:

Volunteer Abroad

Degree Level:

Undergraduate

Work Types:

Children, Education, Social Services

Duration:

1-3 months

Program Overview

Program Description:

Mundos Hermanos is a non-government organization dedicated to the protection, well-being, and restoration of rights of displaced teenage girls.  The facility and its staff serve as a home for up to 100 girls ages 12-17 who find themselves separated from their home & families due to many possible different situations.  Some of the girls are reunited with their families after an acceptable resolution has been found by the court system regarding circumstantial issues that may be victimizing the teen such as neglect, parent drug use, sexual abuse, domestic violence, death one or both parents, and/or abandonment. The average stay at Mundos Hermanos 6 to 18 months until either the home situation is legally resolved, or until a new foster or adoption family is identified. In some cases, the child remains in the shelter until she turns 18, at which point she is permitted to begin his own adult life.
 
During this critical, fragile, and vulnerable period of this young person’s life, Mundos Hermanos’s staff seeks to help these young ladies cope with their existing emotional distress as well as utilize this period to help them develop life tools to increase their probability of having a positive future.  All these girls only ended up in the facility because the courts determine that the youth had no suitable extended family member to be found that could provide them a safe home able to meet their basic needs and the love they need.   These families typically come from low social economic and educational backgrounds.  The odds are stacked against them from birth.  Mundos Hermanos’s staff do their very best to provide these children and adolescents with a safe home and a foundation for a much better future.  
 

• Understanding what is the meaning and value of Social Work to a community
• Be competent in creating strategies for educating people in the protection of their rights
• Have better knowledge in the many settings where and how social work applies
• Learn tools & techniques on how to engage & motivate youth
• Learn about nutrition and public health
• Be immersed in a live-in setting for social work counseling 

Additional Program Information

Scholarships:

No

Scholarships Description:

Discount based financial circumstances and need & match within the community for volunteer's existing skills.