CREATION OF THE JUANFE FOUNDATION
In the year 2000, Cartagena, acclaimed as a Historical and Cultural Heritage of Humanity and a tourist destination in Colombia, faced a harsh reality. A staggering 68% of people lived below the poverty line. And when it came to infant mortality, Cartagena was not only struggling, it was taking the wrong path. It had the highest rate in the country and ranked third in all of Latin America, with the heartbreaking figure of 50.9 deaths per 1,000 live births. To put this in perspective, Colombia and Latin America as a whole had a rate of 25 per 1,000 live births.
Catalina Escobar, driven by two harrowing experiences, decided enough was enough. The first was to cradle in my arms a two-week-old baby who died at the Rafael Calvo Maternity Hospital. The reason? His mother was unable to come up with 60,000 Colombian pesos (30 dollars at that time) for the treatment she desperately needed. The second experience hit even closer to home: the tragic loss of her own son, Juan Felipe. He was only one and a half years old when he fell from the balcony of his eighth-floor apartment.
Determined to turn her pain into action, Catalina set out to create something meaningful. He founded what is now known as the Juanfe Foundation, which bears the name of his son. Your mission? Empowering teen mothers and rescuing children who were facing death simply because their families lacked the means. Catalina traveled to Anaheim, California, United States, in search of answers. I wanted to understand how a city had managed to drastically reduce infant mortality rates. Its objective? Bring those strategies to Cartagena.
START OF OPERATIONS OF THE ADOLESCENT MOTHERS PROGRAM
In 2001, we started the Adolescent Mothers Program, providing girls and young women, most of them victims of all types of abuse and violence, with psychosocial counselling, medical care, and job training.
START OF OPERATIONS IN THE RAFAEL CALVO MATERNITY CLINIC
In 2002, we inaugurated our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Rafael Calvo Maternity Clinic, which attended approximately 60% of the city’s births, with highly trained medical staff, high-tech equipment, and appropriate medical protocols.
To advance our goal of reducing the infant mortality rate in Cartagena, we created the Crib Sponsoring Program. We tackled, in a disruptive way, avoidable perinatal, neonatal and infant mortality, through health and nutrition interventions. At the same time, we educated their parents on issues related to care and hygiene, the practice of healthy habits and lifestyles, food safety, and disease prevention.
Between 2002 and 2017, we saved the lives of 4,449 children under one year of age, through the Crib Sponsoring Program.
OPENING OF THE JUAN FELIPE MEDICAL CENTER
In 2005, we opened the Juan Felipe Medical Center, in order to follow up, for five consecutive years, the babies released from our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. We also attended children referred by the Napoleon Franco Pareja Children’s Hospital, among other health institutions, and those we identified in their communities when carrying out home visits or health brigades. In addition, we offered first and second level services to our beneficiaries and their children, as well as to the vulnerable population of Cartagena. Specifically, we provided for free the following services: prevention and care for prevalent early childhood diseases, vaccination, pediatrics, gynecology, ultrasound, general medicine, nutrition, physiotherapy, respiratory therapy, nebulization, specialized clinical laboratory, and dentistry.
In its 12 years of operation, we attended 204,063 people, corresponding to 20% of the total population of Cartagena, and saved the lives of 4,449 children under one year of age, through the Crib Sponsoring Program.
DIEGO TORRES CONCERT
In November 2006, Argentinian singer Diego Torres gave a concert in Bogotá for our benefit.
PORTAFOLIO AWARD
In December 2006, we obtained the Portafolio Award in the Community Contribution category.
IMPACT MEASUREMENT: REDUCTION OF THE CHILD MORTALITY RATE
As a direct result of our efforts in the first seven years of operation, the infant mortality rate in Cartagena decreased by 81%: from 48.4 to 9 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, saving the lives of more than 5,000 children who suffered an early death sentence.
DURAN DURAN CONCERT
In November 2008, Duran Duran arrived in Colombia to present their most recent musical work: Red Carpet Massacre. The concert was for our benefit.
OPENING OF OUR SOCIAL CENTRE
At the end of 2011, we inaugurated our headquarters in Cartagena. The Social Centre, which has 13,000 square meters of built area, distributed between classrooms, offices, cafeteria, medical center, and green areas, allowed us to expand our installed capacity, the quality of our services, and our impact in the city.
We were the first construction at the service of the poor, to receive the LEED Silver certification for Operation and Maintenance of the U.S. Green Building Council in Colombia and the largest in Latin America, which made us a reference in the respect for the ecosystem, bioclimatic norms and civic education.
CREATION OF THE INFANT DEVELOPMENT CENTER
In 2011, we created the Infant Development Center at our headquarters in Cartagena, with the following purposes: to guarantee the development of babies between 3 and 24 months of age, children of our beneficiaries, in all areas of growth (perceptive, linguistic, physical, mental, emotional, and social); to educate the young women in their new role as mothers and in humanized, rights-based upbringing, thus strengthening a healthy emotional bond between them; to encourage the practice of breastfeeding; to promote healthy lifestyles that foster health from early childhood; and to facilitate a better academic performance of the adolescents and avoid their dropout.
CONDECORATION NATIONAL ORDER OF MERIT
In 2011, the President of Colombia awarded Catalina with the National Order of Merit in the Silver Cross degree, for her contribution to the progress and well-being of the country.
CREATION OF THE JUANFE FOUNDATION
In the year 2000, Cartagena, acclaimed as a Historical and Cultural Heritage of Humanity and a tourist destination in Colombia, faced a harsh reality. A staggering 68% of people lived below the poverty line. And when it came to infant mortality, Cartagena was not only struggling, it was taking the wrong path. It had the highest rate in the country and ranked third in all of Latin America, with the heartbreaking figure of 50.9 deaths per 1,000 live births. To put this in perspective, Colombia and Latin America as a whole had a rate of 25 per 1,000 live births.
Catalina Escobar, driven by two harrowing experiences, decided enough was enough. The first was to cradle in my arms a two-week-old baby who died at the Rafael Calvo Maternity Hospital. The reason? His mother was unable to come up with 60,000 Colombian pesos (30 dollars at that time) for the treatment she desperately needed. The second experience hit even closer to home: the tragic loss of her own son, Juan Felipe. He was only one and a half years old when he fell from the balcony of his eighth-floor apartment.
Determined to turn her pain into action, Catalina set out to create something meaningful. He founded what is now known as the Juanfe Foundation, which bears the name of his son. Your mission? Empowering teen mothers and rescuing children who were facing death simply because their families lacked the means. Catalina traveled to Anaheim, California, United States, in search of answers. I wanted to understand how a city had managed to drastically reduce infant mortality rates. Its objective? Bring those strategies to Cartagena.
START OF OPERATIONS OF THE ADOLESCENT MOTHERS PROGRAM
In 2001, we started the Adolescent Mothers Program, providing girls and young women, most of them victims of all types of abuse and violence, with psychosocial counselling, medical care, and job training.
START OF OPERATIONS IN THE RAFAEL CALVO MATERNITY CLINIC
In 2002, we inaugurated our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Rafael Calvo Maternity Clinic, which attended approximately 60% of the city’s births, with highly trained medical staff, high-tech equipment, and appropriate medical protocols.
To advance our goal of reducing the infant mortality rate in Cartagena, we created the Crib Sponsoring Program. We tackled, in a disruptive way, avoidable perinatal, neonatal and infant mortality, through health and nutrition interventions. At the same time, we educated their parents on issues related to care and hygiene, the practice of healthy habits and lifestyles, food safety, and disease prevention.
Between 2002 and 2017, we saved the lives of 4,449 children under one year of age, through the Crib Sponsoring Program.
OPENING OF THE JUAN FELIPE MEDICAL CENTER
In 2005, we opened the Juan Felipe Medical Center, in order to follow up, for five consecutive years, the babies released from our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. We also attended children referred by the Napoleon Franco Pareja Children’s Hospital, among other health institutions, and those we identified in their communities when carrying out home visits or health brigades. In addition, we offered first and second level services to our beneficiaries and their children, as well as to the vulnerable population of Cartagena. Specifically, we provided for free the following services: prevention and care for prevalent early childhood diseases, vaccination, pediatrics, gynecology, ultrasound, general medicine, nutrition, physiotherapy, respiratory therapy, nebulization, specialized clinical laboratory, and dentistry.
In its 12 years of operation, we attended 204,063 people, corresponding to 20% of the total population of Cartagena, and saved the lives of 4,449 children under one year of age, through the Crib Sponsoring Program.
DIEGO TORRES CONCERT
In November 2006, Argentinian singer Diego Torres gave a concert in Bogotá for our benefit.
PORTAFOLIO AWARD
In December 2006, we obtained the Portafolio Award in the Community Contribution category.
IMPACT MEASUREMENT: REDUCTION OF THE CHILD MORTALITY RATE
As a direct result of our efforts in the first seven years of operation, the infant mortality rate in Cartagena decreased by 81%: from 48.4 to 9 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, saving the lives of more than 5,000 children who suffered an early death sentence.
DURAN DURAN CONCERT
In November 2008, Duran Duran arrived in Colombia to present their most recent musical work: Red Carpet Massacre. The concert was for our benefit.
OPENING OF OUR SOCIAL CENTRE
At the end of 2011, we inaugurated our headquarters in Cartagena. The Social Centre, which has 13,000 square meters of built area, distributed between classrooms, offices, cafeteria, medical center, and green areas, allowed us to expand our installed capacity, the quality of our services, and our impact in the city.
We were the first construction at the service of the poor, to receive the LEED Silver certification for Operation and Maintenance of the U.S. Green Building Council in Colombia and the largest in Latin America, which made us a reference in the respect for the ecosystem, bioclimatic norms and civic education.
CREATION OF THE INFANT DEVELOPMENT CENTER
In 2011, we created the Infant Development Center at our headquarters in Cartagena, with the following purposes: to guarantee the development of babies between 3 and 24 months of age, children of our beneficiaries, in all areas of growth (perceptive, linguistic, physical, mental, emotional, and social); to educate the young women in their new role as mothers and in humanized, rights-based upbringing, thus strengthening a healthy emotional bond between them; to encourage the practice of breastfeeding; to promote healthy lifestyles that foster health from early childhood; and to facilitate a better academic performance of the adolescents and avoid their dropout.
CONDECORATION NATIONAL ORDER OF MERIT
In 2011, the President of Colombia awarded Catalina with the National Order of Merit in the Silver Cross degree, for her contribution to the progress and well-being of the country.
