WHO
WE ARE
DUO is a program of the MONSEÑOR ISAÍAS DUARTE CANCINO foundation, made up of a team of people sensitive to the problematic social situation habituated by the many children unfortunate enough to live in the most vulnerable sectors of the city of Cali, and who dedicate a little of their time to improving the situation.
DUO began in 2002, the initiative of a Social Worker and a Community Leader from the neighbourhood “El Retiro”, who had observed how the local children grew up on the streets: undernourished, uneducated, without knowledge of or access to their rights, and many without even a nationality, having not been adequately registered at birth as Colombians. In their search for a solution, they encountered two like-minded business people, who brought their complementary, personal knowledge and experiences,
resources and contacts, and together they formalised the initiative under the name of PROYECTO DUO.
Give me an opportunity
To date a great number of children and adolescents have passed through DUO, residents of different sectors of the district of Aguablanca, in the city of Cali, Colombia. Here the high levels of poverty, education abandonment, child abuse, illiteracy and juvenile delinquency, necessitate the intervention and collaboration of different people, and public and private institutions, to support and promote the development of the communities
The programmes and activities developed by PROYECTO DUO, aimed at improving the quality of life of the residents of this district, require continuous support from the wider community. People can help by becoming sponsors, making donations or volunteering.
DUO brings its beneficiaries the possibility of a better future, as good, integral members of society and multipliers of our social work.
The founder members of PROYECTO DUO had reached out to Monseñor Isaías Duarte Cancino for backing in the early stages of the project. After his untimely death, in March 2002 in Cali, the extended family of Monseñor Isaías Duarte Cancino created the Foundation in his name, to continue the work he had championed as Archbishop of Cali, which he summarised in his phrase: “A Colombia alive, free and in peace”.
Once introduced to PROJECTO DUO, the Foundation helped develop the mission that had been established: “The improvement of the quality of life of the children of this community, by means of a system of sponsorship, offering an integral package including education, nutrition, recreation and good use of free time, as well as training for the parents”. Thanks to this union, hundreds of children from the community will have a better future.
