RESTORATION

Girl’s home

CHANGING LIVES FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

Family Style Living for 12 Girls

The God given plan, and therefore preferred choice for Amparo, is a child is to be raised by loving parents in an environment that is safe and allows them to grow and flourish. But what do we do when what is supposed to be the safest place for a child becomes the most dangerous?

In Bolivia one in three girls will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday, 75% of these cases occur in their inner circle, home or school.  If the sexual abuse doesn’t stop and trauma healing therapy is done, a chain of sad events will most likely follow, which include abuse of substances, prostitution, teenage pregnancy, sexual exploitation and more.

This makes that large populations of girls currently are living in very unsafe environments, being abused and exploited by the families that should be taking care of them.  The resources currently available to help these at-high risk girls are really small. This is one of the reasons why the horrible events keep on repeating from one generation to the next one.

The core of Amparo’s Restoration Program is Girls Homes. They are designed to create a safe and loving environment. Our desire is to create a family type atmosphere and thus our maximum occupancy in a home is 12 girls. Girls between the ages of 6 and 13 can enter the home. They will reside in the home until they reach 18 years of age.

Per home we have three house aunts that work full time and one part time, one social worker and one psychologist who invest at least 20 hours per week each. This structure provides personal care for the girls. Girls live 24/7 in a home. We provide for all their needs (housing, food, education, spiritual formation, etc.) and are fully responsible for them. Amparo covers all expenses for the child to include medical, dental, education, counseling and spiritual growth. 

Given the sexual nature of the abuse the girls suffered all house staff are women. We do have male administrative staff, staff from the Outreach Program and trusted volunteers who spend time at the homes, providing Godly male figures.

We work with local Government all along the process. Sometimes we bring cases of girls suffering abuse and/or exploitation to Childhood Services and other times is them coming to us to place girls in our homes. With each girl that lives in an Amparo Home due procedure was followed, pertinent local authorities (usually Childhood judges) gave legal guardianship to Amparo.

Most of the girls that we have seen come to live to our Girl’s Home have come through our Outreach Program. As we identify crimes of sexual abuse, forced mendacity, forced labor or even forced prostitution of underage girls. Usually this crime does not happen from one moment to the next. Sadly the girls at highest risk have already been neglected, sexually abused and forced take adult roles. These vulnerable girls always come from highly dysfunctional families, live in extreme poverty, are being forced to beg or work on the streets, have family members who participate in prostitution, have parents who are alcoholics and drug addicts, live in dangerous areas or lack proper guardianship. It is this cases we bring to Childhood services for the girls to be removed from their current places and brought to our Girls home.

On March 2018 our home was recognized by local Government as a ‘role model’ and ‘unique’ in its kind in all of Bolivia.

Our Homes promote comprehensive development and seeks to create the environment where all girls come to know God as Father and their own intrinsic value as a reflection of the God who created them. It is our top priority long-term to see the girls become disciples of Jesus.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Find Answers to
Common Questions

Why does Amparo work with girls only?
Human trafficking has been widely regarded as the worst kind of slavery of the 21rst century. Every human being was created as a reflection of God, to live in freedom and dignity. Human trafficking is a crime which rejects another person’s humanity, strips freedom away from individuals and prevents them from living in the way which God has designed. Can you imagine how much worse it is when the objects are children? And for sexual purposes… According to the UNODC 79% of human trafficking worldwide ends in sexual exploitation. Maybe a better question is: How can we, as the body of Christ, look the other way and stay silent about it?
What is the core difference between the Outreach Program and the Girl’s Home?
There are two big differences: (1) The level of risk of the girls and their exposure to violence, neglect and abuse. (2) The depth of relationship we have with them and what we provide for them. At the Girl’s Home we have 12 girls between 6 and 18 years old living 24/7 there. Something extreme in terms of violence, neglect and abuse needs to happen and no healthy extended family to be found in order for the Government to bring a girl to live into our Home, where we provide for all their needs and are fully responsible for them. In the Outreach Program we serve girls who are at medium risk. They still are in very precarious situations and exposed to violence and abuse, usually neglected by their families but there still is room to work with the families and willingness from the families to ask for help and work through the process towards a better future for themselves and their daughters. Here we see the girls at least once a week and spend between 4 and 20 hours weekly with them.
In which way what Amparo does is Jesus centered and gospel rooted?
Our vision is Bolivia free of child sexual exploitation. Our mission is to actively contribute to the end of violence against young girls in Bolivia, especially sexual violence and sexual exploitation. Through the love of Jesus, prevention, attention and protection. It is our conviction there is only complete and eternal freedom in Jesus and He is the only way to God. Abundant life can only be found knowing God. So if we want these girls to be free and have abundant lives, Jesus is the only option, to be disciples of Him the objective and to be rooted in Him the only way to everlasting fruit.

We need your help to end the sexual exploitation and trafficking of girls in Bolivia

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Amparo: 501(c)(3) / Copyright 2021 / Oregon, USA

  • Santa Cruz, Bolivia

  • 317-413-0027 (US)        591-766-34-609 (BO)

  • aquiles@amparobolivia.org

Mission

To end the sexual exploitation and trafficking of girls in Bolivia by providing protection, education, restoration and the love of Jesus.


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