Child Sponsorship background from Huancayo, Peru

SOS Children's Village Huancayo

SOS Children's Village Huancayo is situated about 300 km east of Lima and seven kilometres northwest of the province capital of Huancayo, at a town called Sicaya. It was officially opened on 7 March 2001. Huancayo is at an altitude of 3,250m in a region with temperate climate.

SOS Children's Village Huancayo was built on a 6-acre property and has 12 family houses, where up to 108 children can find a new home. In addition, there is the village director's house, a house for the so-called SOS aunts (SOS mother trainees or family helpers who support the SOS mothers during their daily work and fill in for them when they are ill or on leave), a community building with rooms for functions and festivities, and an administration and service area. The children from the SOS Children's Village attend the nearby primary and secondary school.

Other SOS Projects in Huancayo

In January 2006, two SOS Youth Homes for girls and boys were set up in the city. Both of them accommodate up to ten youths from the SOS Children's Village. Young people usually move from the SOS Children's Village to an SOS Youth Home when they start a vocational training course or go on to higher education. With the support of qualified youth workers, the young people develop realistic perspectives for their future, learn to shoulder responsibility and increasingly make their own decisions. They are encouraged to develop team spirit and build up contacts with relatives and friends, as well as with the relevant authorities and potential employers.

There is an SOS Social Centre, which is open to the local community. Its programmes have been specially adapted to the people's needs. The main aim is to alleviate hardship and thereby prevent families from abandoning their children. The centre runs a day-care facility where pre-school children are looked after during the whole day. This enables the children's mothers, most of whom are single mothers, to go to work and make a living for themselves and their children.

Apart from that, the SOS Social Centre offers information workshops and evening classes for adults, and provides basic medical care to destitute people. All in all, up to 200 people benefit from the programmes of the SOS Social Centre each day.