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USAID Helps Displaced Families Feed Their Children
Photo: US Embassy Bogota\ Mila Millman
More than 80 children,
ages 2-13 come to the
cafeteria daily for their
lunch break from school
For nearly ten years USAID has worked
with the Pan American Development
Foundation on a program dedicated to
the economic reintegration of families
displaced by violence. Over the years,
USAID has supported numerous projects
for the most vulnerable sectors of the
population in Bogotá. Among the projects
is a community center which hosts a cafeteria
called Rebuilding Dreams (Reconstruyendo
Sueños in Spanish).
Every morning the cafeteria serves breakfast
to dozens of children ages 0-5 years
and their parents. The cost of breakfast
for a child is about 25 cents. An adult
meal costs about 50 cents. All the meals
provide a wide range of basic nutritional
foods, including: rice, products made from
fortifi ed fl our, lentils or beans, oil and sugar.
”It’s been two years since I started going to the community cafeteria
with my three children. It has helped us a lot,” said Eduvina
González, a head of household who regularly receives meals at
the cafeteria.
About 560 breakfasts are served each week to qualified families,
and in the afternoon 88 children come to the cafeteria for lunch.
The community center also offers classes to parents not only
on nutritious food preparation and healthy lifestyles, but also,
on literacy. The parents also help make bread in the cafeteria’s
kitchen, and receive 10% of the sales, generating much-needed
income for their families.
“I believe this is a space where you can get integrated assistance
to benefit the whole family”, said González.
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