Colombia
Early stimulation & playrooms
Providing Compassion centres in Colombia with playrooms and learning materials for babies and young children
Education & Training
The Need
According to the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, the first five years of life are the most formative time in a child’s brain development, laying a foundation for their future health, education and behaviour. From critical reasoning to controlling emotions, neural connections in the brain made during play and early stimulation affect children for life. They affect the way a child thinks, feels, behaves and learns about the world both in the present and the future. In fact, there is a strong relationship between childhood development during those first five years and the probability of living in poverty.
In Colombia, families Compassion serves often must work long hours to make ends meet, which means they have little time to spend with their children. Sadly, many women and children suffer abuse and violence in the home, affecting both physical and emotional health. Despite the laws and strategies the government in Colombia has tried to implement for the optimal development of children, they lack guidelines for early childhood development.
Reaching the most vulnerable children in their earliest years is a critical initiative for Compassion. Through the Survival program, Compassion partners with churches around the world to assist thousands of vulnerable babies and mothers. The program provides babies and moms with health care, emotional and spiritual support and vital education. Early stimulation activities for young children are a key component of the program, helping moms bond with their babies and support their healthy development from an early age.
In Colombia, nine frontline church partners located in Barranquilla, Sucre, Uraba and Buenaventura zones needed more resources to serve vulnerable moms and babies. The impact of poverty in these communities has been exacerbated during the pandemic, putting stress on caregivers and causing many children to experience neglect and abuse. Church pastors and staff knew that by investing in their Survival programming and setting up early stimulation classrooms, babies and young children would receive the developmental stimulation they need and parents would understand the importance of spending time with their children. In this way, children would be set up mentally and physically to have a good future.
Our Response
With your help, we were able to provide nine Compassion centres in the Barranquilla, Sucre, Uraba and Buenaventura zones of Colombia with early stimulation classrooms. The COVID-19 pandemic, along with some civil unrest in the Buenaventura zone, pushed back the initial timeline by nearly a year for some centres. However, we are happy to report that each church has now set up their classrooms and are running activities for the moms, babies and young children.
With the initial funding, churches secured and outfitted the stimulation areas with foam mats, padded walls, swimming areas and three recreation elements including a tunnel, ladder and ramp. By August 2021 churches had purchased furniture and stimulation items. Each classroom includes toys and games, play equipment, tables and chairs, foam floor mats, puppets, mirrors, books, learning materials, a television and sound system, musical instruments and various educational posters and materials for parents.
Churches hired local physio- and physical therapists and health consultants to run workshops for moms and to train church staff on the importance of early stimulation and how to keep classrooms and equipment safe and hygienic. Following COVID-19 safety protocols, moms and their children participated in hearing-stimulation workshops, where moms learned to stimulate babies to listen first and how to speak to their babies and children with good pronunciation and dialogue and to incorporate music. Visual-stimulation workshops focused on visual development and gross and fine motor skills, teaching them movements performed with arms, legs, feet and the whole body. Health professionals also made sensory mats in the room, where mothers can walk through different shapes, colours and textures with their young children.
Workshops for moms have covered a variety of topics including prenatal health and development, breastfeeding, nutrition, sensory and fine motor stimulation and the importance of playing and interacting with their babies.
Activities
Sensorial stimulation: Mirrors give children visual feedback as they gesture with hands and their mouths and give a sense of self recognition. A ball pool, slide and music centre offer a variety of activities and physical and cognitive input for children.
Early stimulation classrooms: Early stimulation rooms were set up at nine churches. These rooms contain child-friendly furniture and play equipment for them to explore. Toys, games and play equipment are freely available for little ones to enjoy.
Workshops for moms: Moms attended workshops led by local health professionals, covering topics including nutrition, breastfeeding, the importance of prenatal checkups and early childhood development.
Early stimulation exercises: Survival program staff were trained by physiotherapists in performing early stimulation exercises for moms and babies. The staff, in turn, taught these activities to the moms to help stimulate their babies’ cognitive and physical development and strengthen emotional bonds between mom and baby.
Your Gift Provides...
Your support provided early stimulation classrooms and equipment for nine church partners in Colombia, including:
● Television
● Speakers and sound equipment
● Wall and floor mats
● Wall partitions/enclosures
● Furniture: chairs and shelves
● Toys and play equipment (ball pool, baby toys, mirrors, baby climber, swing, slide, tunnel, riding horse, puppets, books)
● Musical instruments (guitar, xylophone, maracas, tambourines, rattles, drums, triangles)
● Lockers for storage
● Electrical installation (CO0596 only)
● Workshops
○ Instructor fees
○ Materials
○ Snacks and refreshments
○ Transportation
○ Stationery and supplies
ReportA message from those your gift helped
Before this intervention, my life was very unstable due to multiple difficulties that I was going through at that time. I became pregnant again, and I was sad because I did not know what to do with a new baby in my arms. I was without the resources to provide a healthy diet for my baby. Very difficult situations arose in my life, and the economy was not very good. I suffered constant dismay and frequent nausea in the mornings. Depression was harming my mood.
My life has become different since this intervention. It has helped me a lot in knowing how to overcome the difficulties I had been going through. I no longer have that depression that invaded me, and my daughter has been so blessed with all the things that they offer her. The space that they adapted so the children can play is very nice. It is nice because I do not have the resources to take my daughter to those rooms or shopping centres where you can play like that with them. The staff have taught us many things that, even though I have other children, I did not know.
This program has been a blessing in my life. I have good coexistence with my family at home. I have also met people who give me a lot of advice to achieve my dreams to give my baby a good life in the present. Learning and sharing with others from the Word of God in the meetings at the centre helps my personal formation and instructs me on how to form my daughter, so that she is a good and excellent person within society. This intervention has helped me change thoughts and ideas that I had regarding my life and personal improvement. I can now say that I am clear about what I want to achieve and how to reach short and long-term goals.
I have learned to explore my creativity and the importance of motor skills in babies, and I learned the importance of playing with them, always giving them love and care. I have understood that health is very important in her body development, especially having a good nutritious diet. I have learned that a child is one of the greatest reasons to move forward. Being a mother is the most beautiful thing that has happened to me. Every day I learn to control my character and love my daughter more.
Thank you very much for your help. This is something I never expected. May God strengthen you and continue to bless you for having a kind heart and for helping people who really need it. I send you a big hug and I will keep you in my prayers.
ReportThank you for your generosity
With your support, moms and babies from nine Compassion centres in Colombia are now enjoying access to vital services and education in the new early stimulation classrooms. Church staff report that moms have been eager to learn during the workshops and are showing an increased emotional bond with their little ones. Some families who had been experiencing abuse are now receiving support and counselling. One pregnant mom who had been considering an abortion decided to keep the baby and both she and her baby are now doing well.
Yuli, one of the moms you have touched, expresses her gratitude. “My life before belonging to this program was very different,” she says. “I learned not to despair. The staff taught me to trust in God, and today I read my Bible and share with my children the love of God. They have taught me the value I have as a woman and mother. I have learned to identify the crying of my daughter through the study guides that they offer us month by month, which have helped me to give her better attention.”
Melani, another mom, is grateful too. “In the early stimulation workshop we had, I was able to learn how to teach my daughter to crawl. I started to help her with some demonstrations and perform exercises on her little legs. After two days she was crawling, and that makes me very happy. This change is very significant for my future and that of my family.”
Because of your generosity, moms, babies and young children in Colombia are seeing great improvements in their daily lives. Centre staff report that moms are applying at home what they have learned and are taking better care of their babies in terms of hygiene. Children and families feel more secure in themselves. Armed with the knowledge, tools and equipment needed to stimulate children’s cognitive and physical development, moms can offer their children a better beginning. Thank you for supporting these moms and babies and for investing in their future!
ReportA message from a centre director
The moms’ lives have been impacted in a special way, because now they have a suitable place for their care. This is allowing their self-esteem to improve and they feel well cared for, since in their lives they had not received excellent care like now. They are happy because the babies can be stimulated in a pleasant and very colourful environment.
The church is benefited by having a well-equipped stimulation room where the beneficiaries can receive excellent attention. The community benefits because children can develop their motor skills according to their ages.
This has motivated us to continue training our staff to provide better service to children and their guardians, as well as teach them how to stimulate babies and take care of their physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual development. In this way, they are keeping daily control for good growth.
I greatly appreciate the support and economic contribution that has benefited the families in their vulnerable conditions. God bless you and reward you for the work you have done in favour of this intervention. Your help has been a great blessing for the program. You will always be present in our hearts, and we will never forget you.