Dear Changemakers for Children Community,
My name is Stella Duque Cuesta. I’m the director of Taller de Vida, a member organisation of the Family for Every Child network. We’ve been working in communities across Colombia to support vulnerable children and families since 1996, and this week we’ve faced the biggest challenge of our lives.
On 10 August 2026, a powerful, magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck various regions of Colombia, causing severe damage and a state of emergency in Risaralda and other departments of the Coffee Region.
Pereira, the city where one of our centres is located, is among the cities that have suffered the most significant damage. Many buildings, homes and infrastructure have crumbled, and thousands of families are facing uncertainty. It’s a humanitarian emergency, and we are doing everything we can to support our community, but funds are already stretched.
It’s times like these when we are grateful for the Family for Every Child Frontline Fund, designed to help local civil society organisations like ours deliver urgent aid, fast, directly to our communities. Please consider making a donation.
We’re helping families facing material losses, damaged homes, interruptions to essential services, and limited access to health services. It’s getting increasingly hard to source food and essentials for meeting everyone’s basic needs, while we could be asked to evacuate due to aftershocks at any time.
We also know that there will be ongoing impacts. The families and children affected need psychological support and counselling to cope with fear, uncertainty, the loss of their daily routines and sudden changes in everything they have ever known.
We are working hard to make sure that our emergency response includes psychosocial support, guidance and protection, helping to restore trust, strengthen support networks and prevent children’s rights violations in the aftermath.
We have a trained and dedicated team right here. Please, consider supporting our work as we continue to deliver aid to our community. Every cent counts.
Donate today, and support Taller De Vida as we provide immediate support to children and families.
Your gift will fund:
- Safe shelter to care and protect children left without any family care, or whose families have been affected or are missing, or suffering from injuries and receiving hospital treatment
- Psychosocial support to help children and families cope with fear, loss and uncertainty
- Safe spaces for children and adolescents, with creative and expressive activities to help them process their experiences.
- Food, clean water and hygiene supplies, including menstrual and dignity products.
- Essential items such as mattresses and blankets for families whose homes have been damaged.
- Protection and referral support for children at risk of violence, exploitation, family separation or other rights violations.
- Community support to strengthen local networks of care, solidarity and recovery.
Together, we are stronger. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on the situation as it unfolds and deeply appreciate your support. Donate here.
Yours sincerely,
Stella Duque Cuesta
Director, Taller de Vida, Colombia