Mama en Accion

360° support of young teenage mothers

2017 à 2018

Cartagena, Colombia

Context

Colombia remains one of the most unequal countries in Latin America. The terrible armed conflict that has been raging in the country for 52 years makes Colombia the country with the second highest number of internally displaced people in the world after Syria. The displacement of people from the countryside to the cities has led to the emergence of numerous shanty towns in the country’s major cities and the desertion of rural areas.
The majority of the displaced population is made up of women, often single mothers, who have to provide for their families alone. This is particularly an issue for teenage mothers. There are very few specific programmes in the country for this fragile population. Without support, these teenage mothers sink deeper into their precariousness and their children will be inclined to reproduce identical life patterns, keeping them trapped in a vicious circle of poverty and violence.

Begunstigden

Adolescent mothers and their children – These are mainly women of African origin, who suffer strong discrimination. In addition to ethnic marginalisation, they suffer from a significant inequality linked to an exacerbated machismo in the culture of the Costa (Colombian coast bathed by the Caribbean Sea). These women come from a poor background, where the family home is often broken up, and are usually themselves daughters of teenage mothers. Access to education is difficult or of very poor quality. Due to lack of education, these young women become pregnant at a very early age and have to abandon their studies. Very often, they must take care of the child alone and therefore have to find a job. However, the unemployment rate in Cartagena is very high, which makes the situation of these teenage mothers even more precarious.

Doel

De Fundacion Juanfe, opgericht door Katharina Escobar, biedt een uitgebreid zorgprogramma voor tienermoeders: psychologische ondersteuning, medische follow-up, scholing en technische opleiding.
Dit 360° model is een transformerend programma, erkend door vele instellingen. De integrale methodiek van Juanfe maakt het mogelijk deze tienermoeders uit hun extreme armoede te halen, de arbeidsmarkt te integreren en hun plaats in te nemen als verantwoordelijke vrouwen en moeders. Deze getransformeerde tienermoeders worden succesvolle rolmodellen in hun gemeenschap en lopen voorop in de verandering van hun omgeving.

Resultaten

670 teenage mothers have changed their lives as a result of the Juanfe programme, 579 of them in Cartagena;
370 girls found work with the help of the Juanfe Employment Office, 43 of them through the inclusion courses;
8 teenage mothers were coached to start an income-generating activity by selling bakery products in their community.
ACTEC is also coaching Juanfe to improve its model & methodology in order to increase its economic viability and extend its reach to more teenage mothers.

Getuigenissen

Lizeth D., 28 years old

As a mother of two children, I try to improve every day. That's why I'm proud to have finished the Beauty Update course among the top five students and to have been hired at Monica Cruz Hair Salon, a place where I found kind and understanding people who helped me achieve my goals.
Thanks to to Juanfe, I left with high expectations and a lot of confidence, and I now have a stable job. The training they gave me encouraged me to give my children a better life and made me feel like an entrepreneur, with a great desire to achieve my life project, with great self-esteem and the ability to achieve whatever I set out to do.

Lees het hele verhaal

Dalgis M., 20 years old

I came to the foundation in January 2017, when my son was 6 months old. At the time, I was 19 years old and had very few resources. I made the decision to approach the foundation's bakery workshop looking for an opportunity to start a business idea, and that's how selling and distributing breads, cakes and other products helped me get resources for myself and my son.
My journey has not been easy. I had to face a number of challenges such as handle management, customer service and money management, which I learned to manage as the days went by. Today, with the help of Juanfe Bakery and the support of ACTEC, I have overcome these challenges and have an income to support my son's daily needs; a support that has not only been given to me, but to many other teenage girls who are part of the Foundation. I ask God to bless them and continue to support us, as it has been a great help to me and my family.

Lees het hele verhaal

Acties

Zowel nationaal als internationaal willen we jongeren de best mogelijke toekomstkansen bieden.
Wij ondersteunen projecten door concrete acties op het terrein met onze partnerorganisaties.

Meer informatie over deze actie

2021 à 2022

Belgium