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After 18 years outside my country the illusion of returning to my native country filled me of joy and feelings that I could not separate from my side, but between the noise of the cars and a city like Santiago of Cali that constantly is growing, voices of many innocents can be heard who exhibit themselves for a coin next to the avenues, in traffic lights and restaurants like McDonald’s, little voices who are victims of violence,
Mistreat and exploit, whose toys are oranges and lemons with which they do juggling before the traffic light changes green so that somebody from some automobile throws at least a coin.

Seeing these hurt souls and isolated of the society, filled my heart of sadness and simultaneously of fear, but thanks to the great heart of my daughter who said to me: " Mother do not be scared of them they are human beings" I had the value of observing them during some short while and I realized that much people were indifferent while these children begging for food behind the glass of their automobile, that the face of my city and my people was hidden behind great commercial centers, residential units and buildings that only overshadowed more and more these people.

Many call them disposable, and they dare to morally compare them with an old plate, a broken glass or something that simply does not work, intellectual ignorant people and morally, they do not know that these children and young people are forced to beg since unfortunately their parents and some men lacking of principle rent them so that they work without mattering if they are victims of sexual abuse or physical mistreat and moral.

This without a doubt touched my heart and it made me think about that I went away to the United States and they remained lonely and unprotected. Without knowledge of what to do I began to visit foundations and homes in which protection was offered to these people, (foundations of mistreated children, in its majority abused sexually), many of them were with ladies who apparently were their mothers, in some cases young girls with other babies in arms product of the sexual abuse. But the greater disappointment takes me to when I found out that those children were rented to beg for money, which filled me with rage and it helped me understand why? many people does not give them money, because they knew that these children were rented by parents daily demoralized and after an arduous day of work they were given back to their “Families” without a single cent of what they had managed to gather, the worst part is that almost 90% of the victims were abused sexually, this disgusted me and as of that moment I decided to visit homes where they welcome mistreated children in its majority by their own parent.

It was long ago years that I began to help the children of the street, by circumstances of the life I began in Pereira, municipality that is to two hour and a half of my native city Cali. I found places in which I met mothers desperate and desconsoladas to have children living in the low world of the drug addiction, taken people to such a point which they inhaled solution (material used like glue) to drug itself, this I touch myself very at heart of my heart, since by those moments I confronted a similar situation and knew the pain that in its heart feels a mother when seeing its separated son of the reality by a hallucinogenic substance.

In my attempt to offer support to these people I financed some of the treatments, but the panorama was very sad since every day were more and more younger people which did not want to go out to that world, by such reason I began to work with the small children and little by little I managed to send gifts to the homes or foundations of the children of the street, but every time there were more and more.

For a long time I helped a home for drug addicts in Pereira, which worked with children, young people and adults, although all were not of limited resources since there were people who economically could pay the treatment for their children. In that place children of the Colombian Institute of well-being (I.C.B.F) (Instituto Colombiano De Bienestar Familiar “In Spanish”) were there as well which the treatment was paid by them, obvious by a smaller cost, but like everything in life is not perfect I got a great disappointment when I found out difference in treatment between the children and young people of the street with the young people “of Daddy and Mommy” (Vulgarly known people who has a high power economically and are dependent of their parents), this bothered me so much and made me stop supporting that foundation.

Later I continued visiting similar homes until I found one in which I believed to see a wonderful work, but lamentably over the years I was disappointed by reasons that at this moment I do not want to mention since I do not want that the children of that foundation are themselves harmed.

As a result of all these negative disappointments and experiences we are only going to send our aid to the homes in which they let us make personal delivery to the children, being aware of which the things that we offer are for them, as it is the case of the Bosconia home in which a personnel works to who I am beforehand thankful to allow us to approach the children and to let us make delivery of aid by means of somebody of trust, and I repeat myself that we make this through the marine company GUIAR CARGA INTERNACIONAL, since otherwise we could not cover the expenses of shipment of so many things that we obtained by small group of Colombians, which we do this with love, and I raise the work of James Villota who obtained six new televisions for the boys of Bosconia, which filled them with happiness since in each one of the six rooms that shelter twenty young people has its own TV now.

On the other hand they also allow us to fraternize “associating with others” some of the boys, as it is the case of Ferney, that lived in the streets and that unfortunately was run over by a taxi driver who happened to be honking at full speed without noticing that this person was deaf and mute, increasing his incapacities since this left him in a wheelchair his whole life, by such reason the Bosconia home has welcomed him as one of its children and will be in charge of him until they can help him. Being a person of high incapacities the foundation has allowed us to prepare his own room for him according to the needs that he has, like also sending his own television and constantly replacing his wheelchair by the deterioration that can get to show.

Ferney is the most considerate of the home, without despising the others, since the limitations of this boy prevent him to execute most of the actions that many of the others can realize. From time to time it is allowed to take them to our families, something that he much enjoys since we take him out all day, playing video games and he receives much more attention

I make an invitation to the people who want to visit this beautiful home so that they noticed that everything of what I say is true and they see it with clarity, and also I make a call of solidarity since they cannot all pay the children of Colombia because of the lack of moral of the adults who request aid for these people but whose unique objective is to obtain his own benefit, I  know that at a certain moment these people will pay for their abuses meanwhile I want to tell you I am a human being who feels by heart the pain and the needs of these innocent people and I hope that someday all of this finishes and we can make of my Colombia a country where the tolerance is the subject of the day and where the resources are for all the same. lizz@fundacioncolombia.com