“Fundación Laudes Infantis” was founded in 1999 when we wanted to make the dreams of people in the mountainous slums of Bogotá come true.
With red clown noses, we were able to break the silence of hundreds of neighbors, and meet the challenges of creating community using the skills these people already had but were not aware of.
Trading goods and services, we were able to help people understand they were important and useful to others. Now, ‘bartering’ has become our philosophy for social and communitarian development.
We have formed four ‘Bartering Communities’ (almost 3200 families) where members exchange abilities, dreams, goods and services. As a result, we have helped organize ‘Bartering Banks´ to help them keep track of their commitments, in Ciudad Bolivar and Usme, two of the most depressed areas of Bogotá.
This approach has been transferred to other organizations that have wanted to bet on this concept in order to accomplish real social inclusion.
