Para Los Niños divides its time between general activities carried out on a routine and daily basis for all 12 homes and institutions and project activities run in specific homes or institution and prioritized for certain time periods. Para Los Niños prioritizes activities that improves the lives of the residents of these homes in the areas of personal development, education and health care.
General Activities
Volunteers
SEDEGES has seconded the responsibility of the coordination, placement and evaluation of volunteers wishing to work in these 12 homes and institutions to Para Los Niños. The NGO does this via a volunteer coordinator, who is responsible for the recruitment, placement and follow up of the volunteers in the different locations. Volunteers are allocated to general care-giving activities or specific project activities depending on their skills, language abilities, availability and preferences.
Donations in kind
Donations in kind are clothing, domestic household items, electronic items or anything that could and can be used in any of the 12 homes or institutions in the age range of 0 – 48 years for the use or benefit of the educadoras (care-givers) or residents. Para Los Niños collects donations and distributes them to all 12 institutions and homes, depending on the utility of the donation and needs of the institution. An inventory of all goods received and where they are donated to is kept to ensure transparency and coherence. Due to newly introduced laws, we are no longer able to accept donations-in-kind from outside of Bolivia.
Monetary donations
On some occasions people donate money for a specific home, institution, child or activity. Para Los Niños ensures that this money goes where it was intended.
Punctual support to homes and institutions
Para Los Niños provides punctual support to the different homes and institutions depending on their needs. Due to the the sometimes complex and bureaucratic nature of the system the homes and institutions work within, we provides emergency money for medical, dental, nutritional and care-giving support, when necessary. Every year Para Los Niños budgets a specific envelope of money for this work and the decision on when and where to use it is taken by the NGO coordinator and other team members, when requests are received.
Projects
To ensure coherence, clear demarcation of responsibilities and sustainability of action, Para Los Niños insists on a signed agreement with SEDEGES for each individual project.
The following are the 2011 priority projects:
- After-school workshops in support of social, emotional and motor deveolopment of the children in Virgen De Fatima more...This project supports the mental and physical development and stimulation of the children in Virgen De Fatima through a programme of diverse afterschool activities, such as sports, music, theatre, arts and crafts, etc. These activities are run on a routine basis with the children from the individual casitas, and are age appropriate. The after-school activities are run by PLN volunteers in coordination with the educadoras in the home. This project further also includes holiday camp activities during school breaks.
- Support programme for the educadoras (care-givers) in Virgen De Fatima more...The purpose of this project is to reduce the impact of institutionalization on the children resident in the home. This project has three main activities; an emotional and psychological support mechanism for the educadores of the children; training of the educadoras to provide them with tools and methodologies for the daily care of the children; and the support of the entire Virgin de Fatima managerial, technical and care team to work as a multi-disciplinary team in the management of the children in their care. This project includes other Bolivian NGO in the provision of techinal assistance for educadora training.
- Creating adapted outdoor creativity and relaxation spaces in Virgen De Fatima more...This project has two aims, firstly to create a child friendly garden in the grounds of the Virgen De Fatima Children’s home and secondly to provide an outside learning environment . This garden will be adapted for both the age and capacity of the children in the home, with small raised beds, appropriate planting and harvesting of different plants, vegetables and herbs. The garden also includes a play area and a relaxation area. Environmental elements such as rain water recycling and composting have also been included. It is hoped that the garden will provide an additional after-school activity for the children, while improving the general environment of the home.
- The introduction of a multi-sensory environment and associated care and therapy for residents of IDAI more...This project aims to improve the quality of care for residents in IDAI with the provision of a multi-sensory environment, the development of individual care and management plans for the in-patients of IDAI using this environment and the training of care givers in the implementation of these individual plans. The multi-sensory room will be a valuable asset to the residents of this institution, who are at present without stimulation, any sense of individual development and generally over-medicated. By changing the culture of care given in this institution, PLN aims to improve the lives of the children and youth in IDAI by providing an interactive communication area where the staff will have new methodologies for communication, and alternative and effective means to support and care for (regardless of the severity of their condition) all residents under their responsibility. Multi-sensory is a new concept in Bolivia and it is hoped that through its introduction into IDAI that it can serve as an example for other institutions which are home to persons with disabilities.
- Psychological and peadological support for children with learning difficulties in Virgin De Fatima more...This project provides children in Virgin De Fatima who display learning difficulties with a support mechanism in which to help them thrive. A educational psychologist works in collaboration with the teaching staff of these children, taking each child for individual support and developing an educational and psychological work-plan.