OUR CHARITIES

Giving back to Colombia’s local community is extremely important to us. When you book a trip with Other Way Round, we’ll make a donation to Fundación Poder Joven, which covers the cost of food, education, and healthcare expenses for one child for one month.

After 50 years of armed conflict, and several decades of drug violence, Colombia continues to be the country with the most Internally Displaced People (IDP) in the world. To put it in context, that’s more than Syria, Iraq, or Sudan. More than 7 million people (about 15% of the overall population) fled their farms and villages to resettle on the outskirts of cities like Bogota and Medellin, which were ill-equipped to deal with such an influx. This produced the most prolonged and grave humanitarian crisis in the Americas. It is in this context that Poder Joven does its excellent work.

Poder Joven has community centers in 2 of the most difficult areas of Medellin. Some parents struggle to support their families through informal activities like recycling or selling candies in the streets, while others turn to illegal activities, leaving the children to spend their days unsupervised in a hostile environment. Many children are prone to escape from their homes, choosing instead to live on the streets. The foundation provides over 150 of these children with a safe place where they can develop alternatives for a better life. They provide two meals per day, enroll the kids in school, and deliver educational, psychological, and medical assistance as needed.