“Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.”
– Proverbs 23:12
Facts about poverty in Medellin
Medellin, Colombia is a gorgeous city, attractive to tourists from around the world. In fact, Medellin is listed as one of the top five cities in the world to visit. There is a vibrant nightlife, a great coffee culture, a burgeoning “foodie” scene, and plenty of attractions to entertain travelers. But it’s a two-sided city. In addition to great wealth, great poverty exists in Medellin.
Over four million people live in the metro Medellin area with 2.5 million in the city itself.
• According to Reuters, almost half of the city’s population live in the slums, or the “inquilinatos.”
• More than 50% of the population in the Medellin metropolitan area is poor.
• Nearly 60% are under-employed or work in the informal labor market – when they can get work.
• After the pandemic, 9% of the population lived in extreme poverty, existing on less than $45 U.S per month.
• The current minimum monthly wage in Colombia is set at 264 USD a month, a 16.3% hike from the rate of 227 USD in 2022. That comes out to around just $1.40 USD per hour.
Medellin has made huge strides in making the city safer than it was in the past, but gang violence and illegal drug trade still exist. Children are still forced into the sex trade. Families still go hungry. Young women are still abused. And it’s still poor.
You might think that a city can’t overcome such obstacles, but history has proven that it can be done. The most powerful weapon against these issues is education. Education changes lives, improves economies, and transforms cities. Casa de Sueños, the city’s premier nonprofit for children and abused young women, has worked for more than a decade paving the way for a brighter tomorrow. Casa de Sueños teaches them that they can get out of the inquillinatos and live productive lives.
Giving these children an education will help break the cycle of poverty in Medellin in the years to come.
How Casa de Sueños is changing the future of Medellin through education
Casa de Sueños provides education on many different levels.
Several programs exist to empower children and young women at Casa de Sueños. Two of the most acclaimed initiatives are the “Childhood” program and the “Helping Hand” program.
Childhood Program
Boys and girls, six to twelve years old, enroll in the “Childhood” program. This curriculum received the highest award from the Konecta Foundation, a global organization that provides resources to promote worthy social causes.
The “Childhood” program is a multi-faceted curriculum that provides help with homework, but also individual instruction when a child is experiencing difficulties with a particular subject.
The children receive two meals a day, books, structured activities, Bible lessons, and peer mentoring. Field trips expand the children’s awareness of the world outside of their poverty, and they broaden their horizons by visiting universities, the seaside, and the cinema under the supervision of Casa de Sueños. A psychologist and social worker provide therapy and counseling every day.
The program at Casa de Sueños is different from others because of its holistic approach and its willingness to address all a child’s needs, not just one of them. The organization nurtures physical, intellectual, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
Helping Hand Program
The second acclaimed program at Casa de Sueños is “ A Helping Hand.” Like the “Childhood program, “Helping Hand” has been recognized by the Konecta Foundation as an exemplary program. This program focuses on healing abused young women, helping them overcome sexual and emotional trauma through counseling. In addition, it empowers them by giving them tools to succeed in a career.
The young women accepted into the courses get coaching in computer literacy and software programs, instruction in English, help with building resumes, lessons in dressing for the office and practicing for job interviews. They learn life skills and build their faith through Bible study. Because hunger is an obstacle to learning, these young women also receive two meals a day.
Like the “Childhood” program, the “Helping Hand” program is different from other programs because it addresses the whole person and helps develop both job skills and overall well-being.
Casa de Sueños does what is crucial for the youth of Medellin to grow into productive citizens and good people.
Providing opportunities.
Supplying information.
Offering resources.
Giving these children and young women an education will help break the cycle of poverty in Medellin.
They will become productive citizens with good jobs who earn a living wage
Around the world, statistics show that those with an education earn higher salaries and have lower unemployment rates than those without education. No surprise there.
Giving children an education is the best way to improve the prosperity of a country. Children who earn degrees can expect a job earning a living wage that will support families who don’t have to live in the slums.
The minimum wage in Colombia is one of the lowest in Latin America. But someone with a bachelor’s degree can expect to earn 24% more than high school graduates for doing the same kind of work.
Children deserve to have access to education, a chance at a good job, and hope for the future.
The hope of the entire country of Colombia depends on the education of its children.
Educating these children empowers them and gives them social mobility
In Medellin, millions of people live in the slums. Social standing is based on where they live, so kids who come from the slums have no social status. They are in the lowest class strata.
Education changes that.
Casa de Sueños goes into the slums, or the “inquilinatos,” and offers our children a chance to learn. While public school is offered and is required, the drop-out rate is 50%, and minimal effort is made to monitor absences or children who don’t attend school. Standardized tests of secondary students showed that Colombia has poor learning outcomes compared to other nations and ranks second from the bottom of 37 Latin American countries, followed only by Mexico and Chile.
Without intervention like the internationally-acclaimed programs at Casa de Sueños, even fewer children would get an education.
Even fewer would get out of the slums.
But children who get an education learn about a different kind of life. They are empowered and motivated to succeed. They gain confidence knowing it’s possible to move out of poverty.
Can education really break the cycle of poverty in Medellin?
Can education really break the cycle of poverty? Can it change the trajectory of children’s lives? Can it positively impact the future of an entire country?
You bet.
“If all students in low-income countries had just basic reading skills (nothing else), an estimated 171 million people could escape extreme poverty. If all adults completed secondary education, we could cut the global poverty rate by more than half.”
-UNESCO
Casa de Sueños knows firsthand the power of education. Its founder, Lorena Vasquez, grew up in the slums. She escaped by earning an education, working hard, and following the word of God in her heart. Ten years ago, she co-founded what is now Casa de Sueños, with its internationally acclaimed education programs for children and abused young women.
Educating our poor children is the right thing to do
“Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance.”
Proverbs 1:5
Don’t all children, no matter what circumstances they’re born into, deserve the chance to live a better life?
Educating children will help break the cycle of poverty in Medellin.
You can help.
Keep the important educational programs of Casa de Sueños running.
Your donations enrich the lives of our children.
They need you.
The country needs you.
We need you, too.
Donate here.
