What is FANA?

The Fundacion para la Asistencia de la Niñez Abandonada (FANA) has served the children and young women of Colombia for almost 35 years. Through FANA, thousands of children have found loving, permanent homes. Many other children have received temporary care including nutrition and shelter, clothing, medical and dental care, and schooling before returning to their birth families.

Young women in need of assistance are welcomed at the Hogar Marguerite, affiliated with FANA, and are offered counseling, vocational training, medical care, as well as basic necessities. FANA is supported by a dedicated staff and strong worldwide network of families and friends who help support its efforts.

History of FANA
What began as one couple’s personal dream has become a source of joy, fulfillment and a better quality of life for tens of thousands of people throughout the world.
Thousands of children have found homes and families over the past 35 years thanks to the work of FANA, an organization based in the suburbs of Bogotá, Colombia. The modern, three-story facility that houses FANA (the Spanish acronym for the Foundation for the Assistance of Abandoned Children) is a far cry from the Bogotá home of Mercedes Rosario Pineda de Martinez, where in 1972 she and husband Arturo took in several abandoned children, enlisted the help of relatives and friends, and found homes for the children.
The story began when Mercedes and Arturo learned it was unlikely they could have children. At the time, adoption in Colombia was extremely difficult, so they turned to Canada, where Mercedes had attended school. There, in 1968, they adopted their first daughter, Maria Lucia. Four years later, they sought another child, but this time in Colombia. They were able to adopt a second girl, Elena, but also were inspired to make the situation in Colombia easier for the many abandoned children and the would-be parents who longed for children.
From utilizing their own home to using a rented house in Bogotá, and then moving to a larger rented house, and eventually to the addition of the building next door, FANA grew. At the same time, Mercedes, the daughter of the former governor of the city of Cartagena, began working her way through government and legal channels to be recognized by Colombian authorities and to make the adoption process less cumbersome.
Along the way, she enlisted help from hundreds of volunteers, donations from charities and support groups, and even a mission sent to Colombia after she was invited for an audience with the Pope. By 1995, FANA was able to erect and move into its current facility on a three-acre site in the suburb of Suba. The results have touched so many lives in so many ways.
Adoptive parents from Colombia, North America, Europe, and Australia have been able to love and nurture children, something that might not otherwise been a part of their lives. Children from Colombia without a traditional family have received the opportunity to reach their full potential and know the love of a devoted family. Colombian birth mothers have received the prenatal and health services they need as well as valuable vocational skills from FANA. Foster children who are not available for adoption but need short-term or specialized care are lovingly supported in the state-of-the-art FANA facility.
FANA headquarters include a fully staffed medical facility for the children from the time of their births, including intensive care and physical therapy; living, classroom, and play areas (indoor and outdoor) for the children; support areas such as kitchen, bakery, dining room, and laundry; and FANA offices. There is dormitory space for the children, as well as a dormitory available for adopted persons who wish to return and volunteer to help at FANA.
Much of FANA’s support comes through the families who have adopted children from FANA. Friends of FANA groups have been created in many of the areas where the adopting families live. Those non-profit groups regularly raise money and donate equipment to FANA through events, and provide programs to help the children stay in touch with their Colombian heritage.

FANA website: http://www.fundacionfana.org/home.html