Following the establishment of a Haiti base in 2015, Lumos expanded into Colombia and started working in the region in 2017. This growth of programmes in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region marked a significant step for Lumos towards achieving the organisation’s global mission.
Figures from the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) suggest that there are nearly 15,000 children living in institutions in Colombia. Working with partner organisations, Lumos aims to support the transformation of the care system moving from institutionalisation to family based care.
Lumos’ expansion into the country was announced during a 'Symposium on the transformation of care services for children in Colombia', in Bogotá. The Symposium brought together public sector and civil society professionals to discuss best practice in the field, and is one in a series of conferences presented by Lumos and the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at the University of Ireland, Galway, and Pennsylvania State University.
The continuing expansion of Lumos’ LAC presence is part of a long-term strategy to develop models of family-based care in different regions of the world.
Sat comfortably in her grandparent's house, Diana, from Bogotá, Colombia, dreams of helping other children like her who have experienced life without a family or a home. In 2018, Diana and her younger sister Alicia were sent to an institution because their mother was deemed unable to care for them; they stayed there for a whole year. Watch the video below to hear more from Diana and her grandmother and find out how Lumos helped Diana and her sister find their way home.
