Child Sponsorship background from León, Nicaragua

SOS Children's Village León

The province of León is situated in the western part of Nicaragua. It is among the regions that were severely affected by hurricane "Mitch" in 1998. Within the scope of an SOS Emergency Relief Programme, emergency accommodation was set up in León in order to help the suffering population. A 2002 study of SOS Children's Villages determined that there was a considerable need of family-based care for orphaned and abandoned children.

Therefore, an SOS Children's Village was set up in León; it opened its gates in August 2004. SOS Children's Village León consists of a number of family houses, the house of the village director, a multi-purpose hall, administration buildings and a playground. It can become a new home for over 100 children.

Other SOS Projects in León

In addition, there is an SOS Social Centre. It runs a day-care centre which is intended to support single mothers and families with many children. The social centre also helps to organize childminding programmes, with one of the mothers from the local community looking after the children of the other families. In both types of child care, children receive meals, pre-school education and basic medical treatment.

The SOS Social Centre includes a health centre offering paediatric and dentist's surgeries and medical counselling. Furthermore, parents can attend workshops in income-generating activities and personal development classes. All these measures strengthen the families of the local community so that as many children as possible can be brought up under the care of their biological family.

Background to León

León is a department in northwestern Nicaragua. It is also the second largest city in Nicaragua, after Managua. It was founded by the Spaniards as Santiago de los Caballeros de León and rivals Granada, Nicaragua, in the number of historic Spanish colonial homes and churches.

As of 2005, the city had an estimated population of about 175,000 people which increases sharply during university season with many students coming from other Nicaraguan provinces.