Sad but true: The persons supposed to care for, and love their children unconditionally are often their victimizers. Many children in El Salvador are living in a high risk environment and remain exposed to the worst indignities that abandonment can entail. We started in 1996 with a small rented house in the city for boys. With the immense blessing of the donation of 22 acres of land in Olocuilta, along with the help of local donors and American friends, we built four houses, a well and a water processing plant. We moved the children to the extensive grounds with enough room to play and grow in a healthy environment, surrounded by trees and greenery space. In the present we take care of 46 children aged between 4 and 18 years old. Our children came from different parts of the country. What they all share in common though is that they do not have anyone able or willing to take care of them. Some kids are orphans but the police have taken most of the children that come to live with us out of their homes because they have been subject of abuse or severe neglect. Very often, their parent’s lifestyle were putting the children at risk. Prostitution, drugs and alcohol addiction causing child abandonment are common. A few of the children came to live with us when their parents were put in jail. Children are often in deplorable conditions, emotionally broken, scared, physically dirty, sick, and full of parasites and lice. Many times, they have never attended school. Our experience is consistent with the reports of UNICEF , that abandonment , mistreatment and abuse of infants have a devastating impact on the psyche of these children, and they can manifest various problems such as :
*Anxiety, attention deficit , worry, nervous behavior and difficulty understanding instructions.
*Social withdrawal, lack of empathy.
*Aggression, hyperactivity and distractibility.
*The development in the cognitive, linguistic and social level has been broken so that their academic performance is affected. Children cannot do their academic work, they lack initiative, and they always dependent on assistance, approval and teacher motivation.
*Chronic anxiety, sadness, and feelings of inferiority, low self-esteem and feelings of inadequacy.
*Criminal behaviors.
*Early sexualized behaviors in children and / or promiscuity. The care needed to restore comprehensively the lives of these children is complex and goes far beyond providing food and shelter, and requires many areas of attention:
Christian Education. Our children have terrible wounds that only the Lord can heal. There is a lot of anger and resentment towards the people who hurt them so it is essential that children learn to forgive them. Other children have fears and insecurities and others cannot trust anyone. Overcoming these problems require countless hours of praying and counseling. They need our Father who loves us in spite of everything and will never leave them. Trained substitute parents take care of the children. They live with them providing a loving and stable environment, reinforcing structures, and discipline and giving them affection to fill their basic emotional needs. Providing children a home that they call their own and where their foster parents can model relationships as in a normal family, teaching by example to take care of their things, exercising discipline, requesting small tasks that teach them to be responsible, and giving the kids lots of love and positive reinforcement. Health Care. All children undergo medical and dental checkups to assess their physical and oral health. Once a year they go to the Health center where they get tests to diagnose or prevent parasitism and other problems. We are checking methodically in a daily basis the home environment to ensure it is clean and pleasant to promote the health of all. Foster parents teach our little children hygiene practices to prevent disease as well. We are aware that a child whose physical health is neglected can suffer from emotional problems too, so we make sure all health issues are taken care immediately. Education is in practical terms the element that will change the future of children. Without education, it is very possible that their lives in the future will look like their parent’s in extreme poverty. Exodo Home’s children study from kindergarten to high school at a private school where they get a good education and they are safe from gang members and drug dealers that harass children in public schools. Special Education. Many times because of their background, children need additional support like speech therapy, educational therapy, tutoring or other. Therefore, we take them to the city where specialized psychologists and special education teachers donate their time to help them overcome their limitations. Other children, who have come to our home without previously attended school, are homeschooled by two full-time teachers that work at the home. They work with them in a personalized way to get them leveled enough to enter the Normal School System. Extracurricular Activities. Children who show special interest get guitar lessons, English lessons, Aikido (marcial arts), Soccer training. Transitional Program or Conquerors Program. When kids become 18, very often they still need to continue their vocational or professional education and a place to live while they prepare to leave the Home. They start working on our Conquerors Program, learning life skills, studying a vocational training, and working at the same time, until they are ready to graduate. When they live independently and show responsibility, they can continue receiving support from Exodo Home through another scholarship program. Emotional Health Program. All children separated from their parents for whatever reason have serious emotional problems that must be addressed at the level of individual therapy and group therapy. Therefore a Christian Psychologist works helping our kids to deal with pain, anger, guilt and other harmful emotions derived from the neglect, physical and sexual abuse that they suffered, being Forgiveness the ultimate goal to achieve. We dream to see in the future, our children as Christian citizens, prepared with an occupation or a college education, enabling them to face life responsibly. Without timely support, abandoned children who have experienced abuse and / or abuse are at risk of:
Becoming members of Gangs. Teenage pregnancies, increase by 60 %
Addiction to drugs or alcohol. Do not leave your extreme poverty. Severe difficulty relating to others. To become abusers themselves to their loved ones. You can help:
Talking to friends of our ministry to encourage them to assist us. Help serving a meal. Visit us, give us your time, it can be a day, a week, a month, or more. Pray for us, for our children and those who work for them. Sponsor a child. With your monthly donation to cover day to day expenses for the children like food, education, medicines and clothing. All our efforts are focused on restoring the lives of our children, so that when is time to leave Exodo Home, they are able to live independently and have developed the skills necessary to interact normally. Productive citizens ready to serve others. And most importantly, witnesses of the kindness, love and faithfulness of our God. We invite you to connect with us, to share our vision, and to make a difference in the lives of children in El Salvador. Donations: http://fundacionexodo.org/donate/
