The Maria Christina Repair Project

Maria Christina was started in the 1940s as an orphanage for girls. Through the years, it started to accept both girls and boys and also began accepting children with special needs. It is located on the outskirts of Cochabamba in a fairly underdeveloped area. For many years, the home was run by the state government and suffered wide-spread corruption whereby donations and public money were not used to the benefit of the children living there.

In 2005, the government removed all of the non-disabled orphans from Maria Christina and left the home to rot despite the presence of over 50 special needs children still living there. In a matter of a few weeks, Maria Christina went from bad to worse and became a veritable hell hole for the children left to survive there.

That was when Teaching Abroad and other local organisations adopted the orphanage with the goal of turning it around. The concrete kitchen was finished with tiling for sanitation, the dormitories were relocated to the first floor to prevent injuries on the stairs, and the entire building was cleaned and painted inside and out, including all bathrooms, bedrooms, furniture and dining rooms. The rubbish pile outside was turned into a garden oasis and playground, and well-equipped nursing and physiotherapy rooms were installed.

The diet of the children was also updated to provide them with better nutrition. Since then, the health and behaviour of the children has improved remarkably. We are very proud of the work that our volunteers have done and will continue to do at Maria Christina. It is making a very real difference in the lives of these children. Many thanks to everyone involved!

To read the full report about the work at Maria Christina click here.