SOS Social Centres in El Salvador

In El Salvador there are currently six Social Centres for children and the local community, including those in San Salvador, Sonsonate and San Miguel.  Many SOS Social Centres operate via Family Strengthening Programmes, which aim to support the wider community.  Below is some information about some of the Social Centres that SOS Children runs in El Salvador:

SOS Social Centres around El Salvador: In-Depth

San Vicente

Description of SOS Social Centre/FSP:

The SOS Social Centre, San Vicente started work in July 2004 to support and help orphaned and vulnerable children and their families in eleven districts of the city. The SOS Social Centre works with the local communities and has developed programmes to promote health and hygiene in families, strengthen families and reduce child labour.

Work and Achievements:

The SOS Social Centre worked during the year in ten community homes supporting the development of families within the municipalities of Cuscatlán and Cabañas.

Monitoring child health, medical checkups, height and weight controls, dental appointments, days of vaccination, medical and cytology days were carried out with support from the health units of the various localities where community homes and the SOS Social Centre are located benefiting all children and families. Of the 300 controls for height and weight, 14  children were followed up due to the nutritional status with scores of mild to severe malnutrition.

San Miguel

Description of SOS Social Centre/FSP:

The SOS Children's Village runs an SOS Social Centre with a day-care centre where up to 200 children are looked after while their parents are working. This represents a big help for single mothers of the neighbourhood. Since 2005, the SOS Social Centre has been supporting local families to develop different measures of family strengthening, for example to organize childminding programmes.

Work and Achievements:

Attention was given to sons and daughters of vulnerable families, over 105 families from seven localities in the departments of Usulután, Morazán and San Miguel, all located east of the country.

Trainings were developed for mothers and parents of children, with themes such as education with tenderness, rearing practices, children rights, domestic violence, preventive health talks and most common diseases in women, workshops on self-esteem, personal development and strengthening of leadership; achievements have been many, this is the case of Glenda, mother of four who has greatly improved her self-esteem and has become an enterprising woman, now works in a bakery as bakery and takes good care of their children.

Coordinations were established with three local universities, in order to receive support of graduate students specializing in psychology to provide psychological support and help children and families overcome trauma of domestic violence. Angela's family received professional support from a psychologist and a neurologist to Abner and Nahomy her nephews, aged three, who had problems in speech and socialization, they have made great advances, now they sing, play and already pronounce most words.

Sonsonate

Description of SOS Social Centre/FSP:

SOS Social Centre Sonsonate offers a child day-care centre and three workshops for vocational training (dressmaking, handicraft and typing courses). Up to 200 children and babies can be looked after at the day-care centre. Since 2005, the SOS Social Centre has been supporting local families to develop different measures of family strengthening, for example to organize childminding programmes.

Work and Achievements:

The opening of three new community homes in the towns of Xochil Istatec, Las Lajas and San Juan de Dios, which has provided opportunities for care and protection to children, facilitating participatory spaces for self-management of communities, families strengthening was achieved by improving conditions of health, nutrition and stimulation.

To contribute to the development of women and families, we coordinated with the ISDEMU (Institute for the Advancement of Women, by its acronyms in Spanish), the PDDH (Counsel for the Defense of Human Rights) and INSAFORP (Salvadoran Institute for Professional Training) the training and awareness of 213 families on issues such as: personal development, human rights, education with tenderness, values and rights of children.

In Loma Chata community home, where for three years we have provided support for the families and an area of care and protection to children throughout the efforts led by SOS Children's Villages, the INSAFORP (Salvadoran Institute Training) gave a workshop for management of industrial machines, 16 women were accredited and received their diplomas and now they are qualified women to apply for a job in the formal sector which may improve the economic conditions of their families

San Salvador

Description of SOS Social Centre/FSP:

The SOS Social Centre comprises a child day-care centre as well as training workshops. The workshops offer training for youths and young mothers in order to improve their chances on the labour market and their living conditions. The child day-care centre has a capacity of up to 175 children and babies; it is also open to the children of the local population. Children are taken care of while their parents are at work, so that they can earn a living and keep their families together. Since 2005, the SOS Social Centre has been supporting local families to develop different measures of family strengthening, for example to organize childminding programmes.