SOS Social Centres in Venezuela

In Venezuela there are currently nine Social Centres for children and the local community, including those in La Canada and Ciudad Ojeda.  Many SOS Social Centres operate via Family Strengthening Programmes, which aim to support the wider community.  Below is some information about some of the Social Centres that SOS Children runs in Venezuela:

SOS Social Centres around Venezuela: In-Depth

Ciudad Ojeda

Description of SOS Social Centre/FSP:

The SOS Social Centre, which is open to the local community, runs a child-care facility, where children who do not attend school yet are looked after during the day. The centre was opened in June 2000 and consists of five classrooms, as well as a dentist's and a paediatrician's offices. All in all, up to 120 children from local families can be taken care of at the SOS Social Centre.

Work and Achievements:

2009 was very important for our SOS programs in Venezuela due to the celebration of our 30th anniversary in the country. To celebrate such an important date we organized a series of recreational, sports and cultural activities at our programs with the participation of children and families in which they all enjoyed pleasant and emotional moments.

One of the most important achievements of our program has been the beginning and development of new community centers in semi rural geographical areas where there was no assistance or support services to the families or childhood. With an alliance with the organization United for the Children, who have been working together with children’s villages we were able to open these centers. At present we are taking care of 40 non scholar children and we support them in their leveling process and insertion into the formal school system.

Another achievement of our services has been the job training and certification that improves the personal growth and work options for the mothers participating in the program. Through alliances with two private organizations, we developed a study scholarships program trough which we support 34 mothers who have been trained for a job which improves their personal growth and work options. The improvement in their life quality affects positively also that of their children and families. We also developed a micro credits program that benefited nine families that were able to start productive activities that improved their income and their quality of life.

Through self administration we have been able to offer psychological services at our community center and this has been an important support to our participating families who needed this kind of attention.
We have been developing consciousness about child abuse through the promotion of children rights and applying the Child Protection Policy of Children’s Villages SOS. We have had a satisfactory participation of the programs families and observed an improvement in the treatment towards the children which will result in the strengthening of family ties.

La Canada

Description of SOS Social Centre/FSP:

The SOS Children's Village also runs an SOS Social Centre, which focuses on child day. Up to 120 children from the local community can be taken care of during the day.