Dreams come true:
Two Success Stories from Aldea Infantil

Yes — there is also good news! Basi­cal­ly, there is always some; you just read about it far too rarely. We have already report­ed so often on the valu­able work of the Children’s Future Foun­da­tion and “our” Aldea Infan­til: Now it’s time to present the wonder­ful results — young people who have found their way into a promis­ing future. We have select­ed two of them today. They are living exam­ples of how life’s obsta­cles can be success­ful­ly over­come through loving support, adequate educa­tion and a freely devel­oped personality.

From the children’s village to manage­ment: Paula Francisca 

Paula was three years old when a saving angel in the form of a neigh­bour inter­vened and changed her life forev­er. Until then, she had expe­ri­enced noth­ing but pover­ty, neglect and violence at the hands of her over­bur­dened single moth­er in her home town in Guatemala. At some point, the neigh­bour became aware of the situ­a­tion and took her case to the children’s and youth court to save little Paula from these terri­ble circumstances.

So in 2001 she came to our village, the Aldea Infan­til. Here she was final­ly allowed to live, be a child and devel­op. She devel­oped an infec­tious cheer­ful­ness and became an excel­lent pupil thanks to her intel­li­gence. In 2017, she grad­u­at­ed from a tech­ni­cal school special­is­ing in market­ing and began study­ing hotel manage­ment, tourism and gastronomy.

Over the years, Paula grew into a self-confi­dent young woman and decid­ed in her seventh semes­ter to set up her own life outside the children’s village. She want­ed to get to know the world “outside” and go her own way — to grow, gain expe­ri­ence and under­stand herself better. With finan­cial start-up support from the foun­da­tion and a great deal of person­al commit­ment, she succeed­ed in taking this step. Today she is 27 years old — and recent­ly grad­u­at­ed with a Bachelor’s degree in Hospi­tal­i­ty and Tourism Manage­ment from the Mari­ano Gálvez Univer­si­ty of Guatemala.

From street kid to graph­ic design­er: Alberto

Pover­ty, hunger, lack of prospects — this is how Alberto’s life began in Guatemala. He grew up with­out a father and his moth­er was an alco­holic. Until he was 11 years old, he prac­ti­cal­ly had to fend for himself . But in the midst of all this misery, he discov­ered a passion for himself: art. And he was lucky: in 2009 he was able to move into the Aldea Infan­til at the age of 11. There, his inter­est in draw­ing and photog­ra­phy helped him to come to terms with his past and devel­op a perspec­tive for the future.

Alberto’s life might still have been differ­ent if a couple had not adopt­ed him as a godchild. Their support gave him the chance of a better future. With great ambi­tion and tire­less dedi­ca­tion, he realised his dream: after grad­u­at­ing from art college, he also success­ful­ly complet­ed his degree in graph­ic design last Decem­ber. Today, at 27, he has start­ed his profes­sion­al life — eager to bring his creativ­i­ty to the world.

Target­ed and person­alised help — as a sponsor

The Kinderzukun­ft Foundation’s spon­sor­ship programme offers you the oppor­tu­ni­ty to help a child direct­ly. With just 39 euros a month, you can provide basic care for your spon­sored child and accom­pa­ny them on their way to a digni­fied future. You are of course welcome to become even more involved: With 300 euros, you can cover the child’s entire accom­mo­da­tion, care and support for one month. High­er contri­bu­tions are also welcome — for exam­ple for a train­ing or study reserve.

Howev­er, spon­sor­ship is much more than a finan­cial trans­ac­tion: person­al contact with your spon­sored child is high­ly appre­ci­at­ed and is support­ed by the foun­da­tion through volun­teer trans­la­tors. There is regu­lar corre­spon­dence between many spon­sors and their spon­sored chil­dren, which becomes a real rela­tion­ship over the years. Visits to the Aldea Infan­til are also possi­ble; as soon as the situ­a­tion in Guatemala allows it again, the foun­da­tion organ­is­es project trips like the one where Daniel Bauer was able to gain such great expe­ri­ences in 2023 ((Link2)).

In addi­tion to person­al spon­sor­ships, the Children’s Future Foun­da­tion also offers other models for long-term support. For exam­ple, Valdivia as a compa­ny has taken on the spon­sor­ship of a group house. Simply ask Mrs Berd­ing about your options: Phone +49 (0) 6051 48 18 14, e‑mail vera.berding@kinderzukunft.de

Stiftung Kinderzukun­ft

Rabenaus­traße 1a, D‑63584 Gründau

Vera Berd­ing

Head of Market­ing and Public Relations

Phone: +49 60 51 48 18 14

Fax: +49 60 51 48 18 10

E‑mail: vera.berding@kinderzukunft.de

Web: www.kinderzukunft.de ((Link3))

Dona­tion account: Commerzbank Hanau

IBAN: DE79 5064 0015 0222 2222 00

BIC: COBADEFFXXX

Please state “Valdivia Future — Children’s Village Guatemala” as treference.

(Image source: Stiftung Kinderzukunft)