Colombia, unfortunately, is one of the 30 countries in the world where children suffer as a result of an internal conflict. Children are used as combatants and collaborators of illegal armed organizations. They are victims of forced relocations from their home towns to the main cities. They are also victims of landmine explosions and are sexually exploited.

Families displaced by violence end up in overcrowded and impoverished urban slums. Children have restricted access to school. Parents struggle to support their families and children are left alone with a high risk of falling into a life of drugs and crime.

The COLOMBIANITOS educational program, “Goals for a Better Life,” reduces crime and drug addiction and promotes education through the use of football, music classes, computer labs, professional training and other activities. It is a community based program that currently brings hope to approximately 4,000 boys and girls at-risk currently enrolled in our programs.

Football is the tool we use to teach children self control, decision making, values and ethics through the laws of the game. COLOMBIANITOS allows boys and girls to dream of becoming football stars, giving them ambitions and direction. This advances their growth towards becoming better human beings in the process. Through the codes of football we teach them to dream, believe in their potential and in the possibility of real progress in their lives.