Founded more than 26 years ago and known for the care they provide to infants, the association “Hogares Bambi” seeks “Portuguese godparents” to help guarantee a dignified future for Venezuelan children at risk.
“Shortly before the (Covid-19) pandemic, things had already gotten complicated, becoming difficult due to the crisis we are going through (…) Bambi is an institution that demands a lot from us, because we try to give these children everything they need” , explained the director of institutional relations and fundraising at Agência Lusa.
María Alexandra Muñoz-Tébar highlighted that they have five homes in San Bernardino, Caracas, where they welcome children who “are vaccinated, have private education” and other things “that they would not have at home if it were not for the help we seek from them.”
“They receive their (daily) food, they have been trained, but it has become very difficult for us, for the people and institutions that help us, in Venezuela, due to the crisis. For this reason, in recent years, we have turned to people from abroad, it is with their help that today we are surviving and giving these little ones everything they deserve, ”he said.
On the other hand, “we are looking for the Portuguese community so that they can help us.”
“They come, they know us, they see what we do, how we do it, and they leave passionate and willing to help us, with a ‘swollen’ heart (sensitized), knowing how easy it is to help,” he said.
Muñoz-Tébar stressed that they have “a beautiful program” called “Padrinho” and that it consists of “sponsoring a child as a godson, helping to support them and visiting them periodically.”
“What many of our children need is love, that their godfather come to give them a hug, that they call them on their birthday, and that for us is as valuable as the economic contribution that the godfather can give them,” he explained. . .
Muñoz-Tébar’s appeal also goes to the Portuguese Embassy in Venezuela. “When people know about us, about what we do, they help us because they see the quality of what we do (…) Bambi has an added value that is transparency. Whenever they want, they can come to see where the help they give us is, whether it be in goods (food) or money,” he said.
“We have had babies who arrived 24 hours after being born, who were abandoned in hospitals, left on the street, at the door of a church, or even at the doors of our institution,” he said, specifying that they welcome 130 children in the five houses
According to Dayany Sánchez, the homes have “a multidisciplinary team made up of social workers, educators, doctors and educational psychologists, who are dedicated to restoring these comprehensive rights, based mainly on love and affection.”
The children, he said, are referred by the competent bodies, protection councils, municipal councils and protection courts and are assisted so that they can reintegrate with their families, who also receive care and are channeled to different programs.
“We have a family placement program and we also offer guidance on adoption issues,” he stressed, noting that the children receive training in “tools for life, academic, university, technical and professional training.”
Federica Vinaccia has also been part of the Bambi board of directors for more than 20 years. She started as a volunteer when they only had one house and she is more and more “in love” with what they do.
“These are difficult times to obtain financing. Many things have changed and children today arrive in even more difficult situations, needing (medical) operations, hospitalizations, and we cover all these needs, ”she told Lusa.
Proudly, Federica says that she is also “grandma Bambi”, of girls who grew up in those homes and who now have children, and who continue to call her on Mother’s Day and on her birthday.
Source: Observadora
