From SOS child to President of SOS Children's Villages Colombia

At the age of 18, Rene Hernandez was the first young person from SOS Children's Villages Colombia to go to a public university. Today, at the age of 34, he is the first former SOS child to become the President of SOS Children's Villages Colombia.

Rene Hernandez, now president of the National Association of SOS Children's Villages Colombia

He stretches out his arm to reach the plate next to the stove and grabs a bit of food from the skillet before leaving.

"I don't think I will be able to have lunch, aunty," says Rene in a hurry, then saying goodbye to her. "I have a meeting, so please say hi to Consuelo [Rene's SOS mother]."

"At least the beans, René!" Ximena replies loudly. She's the SOS aunt (family helper) in charge of the house this Sunday.

Rene spent sixteen years of his childhood at house 20 of SOS Children's Village Bogotá. He is now independent but he still often visits the house to see Consuelo, the lady who raised him and his younger brothers and sister as his mother.

Rene and his brother Cidulfio arrived in Bogotá in 1987 when they were just twelve years old. "We were ten brothers at house 20 and SOS mother Consuelo was the best mother for all of us," recalls Rene.

Building success

After finishing high school, Rene applied to a public university in Colombia. Next, in 1993, Rene was accepted at the Department of Sociology at one of the best higher education institutions in Bogotá: the National University of Colombia.

"The village director jumped with joy when I told him the news: that I had got into the National University. At that time I did not understand how important it was for us to have a career," says Rene.

Whilst he was at the university, the expense of his studies - including fees and food - were covered by the organisation. He was quite responsible and energetic, so during his studies he had the chance to visit SOS Children's Villages in other countries. Months later, he graduated in Sociology and soon started to work for different organisations. He started at the Social Observatory in Colombia, before moving on to the Plan of Coexistence of Magdalena, and since 2005 he has been working for the Secretariat of Social Integration of the City Hall of Bogotá, where he gives advice on family issues.

With such a promising CV, Rene Hernandez was then asked to become a member of the Board of Directors of SOS Children's Villages Colombia and he has been the President of the Board of SOS Children's Villages Colombia since April 2009. Rene says: "I not only expect to be the legal representative [of the organisation in Colombia] but also to make sure that everything that I experienced at house 20 is repeated in every child, and that my life at the university can be shared by all the children at SOS Children's Villages."

It is Sunday again and Rene is going back to house 20, where his beloved SOS mother Consuelo is waiting for him. Last time Rene could not wait to have lunch with her, but this time Rene has made sure no meeting interferes with his visit.

Print this page

Change font size:

Newsletter / RSS feeds

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Subscribe to our RSS feeds

Home

Security & privacy

FAQs

Imprint

Site map

Registered charity number 083115702