Sra. Luz Mejía de Obeso and Sr. Antonio Obeso de Mendiola Photo
Our History
Casita de Belén is a child protection institution, founded on November 18, 1953, by a group of people from Cali society, headed by Mrs. Luz Mejía de Obeso, to whom mother Leticia, Superior of the Little Sisters of the Assumption , raised the urgent need to found a shelter for boys and girls, since many mothers, due to health problems, had to stay in a hospital and had nowhere to go to leave their children.
The City Mayor of the time, Dr. Gonzalo Ocampo, responded with his support to this idea, who provided a Municipal house, located on Calle 5 No. 14-15, which was adapted for the care of boys and girls. The service began, under the guidance of the Hermanitas de la Asunción, later of the Vincentians and years later of the Oblates.
Currently, Casita de Belén is a non-profit Institution for the Protection of Boys and Girls, linked to the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, which as the governing body of the National Family Welfare System, grants it Legal Status and the License to Operation, advising her on the provision of services.
The legal framework is based on Law 75 of 1968, Law 77 of 1979, Law 1098 of 2006 and its regulatory decree, as well as what was agreed in the International Convention on the Rights of Children and Adolescents.
Some boys and girls who receive care today are in the process of academic training, in a situation of total or partial abandonment and/or at psychosocial risk within their socio-family and community environments. They are provided with three types of care. , depending on the age and its characteristics like this:
* Internship
* Externado (Externship)
* Teaching Center
Casita de Belén is an Institution that protects and supports children and families in the construction of life projects that allow them to integrate into society as dignified and responsible human beings. Therefore, the fundamental purpose of their work is to enrich the conditions of socialization, as a basic strategy to promote the harmonious development of boys and girls, and improve the family environment, qualifying parenting and education practices, to gradually transform progressively the meaning of childhood in family and social life.
We are a governing body for the rights of boys and girls that guides, supervises and directs the administrative process of reestablishing rights.
The care provided is comprehensive, considering the best interests of the child, the strengthening of Human Rights, and defining the family as the fundamental group of society, where its members are active protagonists of their own lives.
To achieve these purposes, health, nutrition, psychosocial, pedagogical, recreational, cultural and sports actions are developed; For this purpose, there is a staff of people made up of: Director, Coordinators, Doctor, Psychologists, Social Workers, Nutritionists, Gardeners, life trainers, Educators, Administrative and General Services Staff.
