35 years of Aldea Infantil:
Where children find a future

For 35 years, Aldea Infan­til, the village run by our part­ner organ­i­sa­tion Kidnerzukun­ft, has been offer­ing chil­dren in the Guatemalan high­lands a place of safe­ty, educa­tion and new prospects. For Alberti­na, one of the house moth­ers at the children’s village near Quet­zal­te­nan­go, the success of this initia­tive is evident every single day: “It’s wonder­ful to see how the chil­dren gain confi­dence, grow and find their own way. They give so much back – through their laugh­ter and their development.”

The village Aldea Infan­til has now been in exis­tence for three and a half decades – an anniver­sary and a testa­ment to its success. Yet such success was by no means a fore­gone conclu­sion when the children’s village was  found­ed in 1991. Would dona­tions and commit­ment be enough? And how would the social and polit­i­cal climate devel­op? There was only one thing that was certain: the need was immense.

Guatemala – where chil­dren lack opportunities

Guatemala is a poor coun­try. More than half the popu­la­tion lived below the offi­cial pover­ty line at the time, and still do today^1,2 . The conse­quences are often evident in unsta­ble fami­ly circum­stances, violence, neglect and a lack of care for chil­dren, who are some­times even cast out and left to fend for them­selves. Yet even where chil­dren still live with their fami­lies, access to educa­tion and medical care is often lack­ing; not even a regu­lar supply of food is guaranteed.

A place where chil­dren can simply be children

The founder, Rudolf Walther, want­ed to create a safe haven from such precar­i­ous living situ­a­tions. From the very begin­ning, Aldea Infan­til has there­fore followed a holis­tic approach that offers the chil­dren more than just food and shel­ter. The chil­dren – just under 700 in total since the organ­i­sa­tion was found­ed – live in fami­ly-style house commu­ni­ties, enabling them to form stable rela­tion­ships with­in a protect­ed envi­ron­ment. They go to school, learn life skills – and are simply allowed to be chil­dren. Regu­lar, balanced meals and medical care ensure their phys­i­cal well­be­ing. A team of educa­tors, social work­ers and carers loving­ly supports them on their jour­ney towards a better future.

Oppor­tu­ni­ties through education

Much has been achieved in the 35 years since the organ­i­sa­tion was found­ed, above all a stable, func­tion­ing commu­ni­ty that also wins over support­ers like us: “Seeing how sustain­ably the work is carried out here and the progress the chil­dren are making is impres­sive. The children’s village offers real prospects – and that is exact­ly what makes the differ­ence,” said Katrin N., a support­er who visit­ed the children’s village in Guatemala in person in 2022.

132 chil­dren now live in the Aldea Infan­til. There, they not only receive a solid school educa­tion cover­ing a total of 14 subjects across eight year groups. Through vari­ous voca­tion­al train­ing programmes – such as train­ing to become a join­er or a car mechan­ic – they can build an inde­pen­dent life for them­selves. Outside the village, too, most go on to succeed as young adults – for exam­ple, as nutri­tion­ists, graph­ic design­ers or tourism special­ists. In this way, the Aldea Infan­til opens up real prospects for the chil­dren, as seven-year-old Juan confirms: “I love school. I want to be a teacher when I grow up.”

Impact beyond the village

The village has now become a beacon of hope for the entire region. Many chil­dren from poor fami­lies in the surround­ing area attend the Aldea Infan­til school. Here, they also receive a free meal – for some, the only one of the day. In addi­tion, medical staff regu­lar­ly trav­el to two high­land villages, La Esper­an­za and Monrovia, to exam­ine the chil­dren there, vacci­nate them and, where possi­ble, treat them.

35 years – a reason to celebrate

Novem­ber is the big month: the anniver­sary will bring chil­dren, carers and numer­ous support­ers and spon­sors togeth­er for a grand cele­bra­tion.  Jessi­ca Böser, Prin­ci­pal at Valdivia, will also be there to get to know the children’s village in person.

The chil­dren, for their part, are already eager to play an active role in organ­is­ing the anniver­sary: they are plan­ning perfor­mances, prepar­ing a display of tradi­tion­al costumes and want to give guests an insight into their culture and every­day life. The programme will be round­ed off with tradi­tion­al local dish­es and perfor­mances that show­case the country’s diver­si­ty and zest for life.

It costs little to achieve a great deal

Getting involved is a joy – for the chil­dren and for the support­ers alike, as our Manag­ing Direc­tor Daniel Bauer discov­ered during his visit in 2023. For exam­ple, it takes less than 100 euros to provide a child with every­thing they need for a year at school. Often, it is surpris­ing­ly small amounts that make a big differ­ence to the children:

• With 95 euros, you can provide a child with every­thing they need for a whole school year – and thus the educa­tion that is the key to an inde­pen­dent life.
• Many chil­dren had never worn their own, undam­aged clothes before they came to Aldea Infan­til. With 140 euros, you can help provide chil­dren with clothes and shoes – a funda­men­tal element of digni­ty and self-confidence.
• With 28 euros a week, you can ensure a child receives healthy meals every day – the foun­da­tion for devel­op­ment, learn­ing and good health.
• With a month­ly spon­sor­ship start­ing from 39 euros, you can support a child in the long term, giving them stabil­i­ty and real prospects for the future.

There are also many other ways to make a small or larg­er contri­bu­tion and secure the future of Aldea Infan­til. For exam­ple, as a compa­ny, we provide long-term support for an entire fami­ly home. Schools, clubs, foun­da­tions and project part­ners can also easi­ly find solu­tions that suit their finan­cial circumstances.

One thing is certain, howev­er, regard­less of the contri­bu­tion you are able to make: as we at Valdivia have also expe­ri­enced, this can quick­ly devel­op into a genuine, person­al rela­tion­ship that brings just as much joy to the giver as it does to the recipients.

Kinderzukun­ft Foundation

Rabenaus­traße 1a, D‑63584 Gründau

Vera Berd­ing

Head of Market­ing and Public Rela­tions — Management

Tel.: +49 60 51 48 18 14

Fax: +49 60 51 48 18 10

Email: vera.berding@kinderzukunft.de

Website: www.kinderzukunft.de

Dona­tion account: Commerzbank Hanau

IBAN: DE79 5064 0015 0222 2222 00

BIC: COBADEFFXXX

Please state ‘Valdivia Future— Kinder­dorf Guatemala’ in the payment reference.

Sources

1. “Pover­ty in Guatemala”, The Inter­na­tion­al Bank for Recon­struc­tion and Devel­op­ment / The World Bank, 2004
2. “Pover­ty: Share of popu­la­tion living on less than $8.30 a day”, Our World in Data, 2025
3. Image source: Stiftung Kinderzukunft

(Image source: Stiftung Kinderzukunft)