The fifth Columbian SOS Children's Village is situated in the small town of Ipiales (population appr. 100,000) in the state of Nariño in the south of the country, near to the border with Ecuador. Pasto, the state capital, is about two hours from Ipiales by car. The economy of the border area depends mainly on trade and agriculture; the social situation is characterised by high unemployment and the population suffers from serious poverty.
Many farmers who cannot provide for their families with what they yield from their fields, flee to the city outskirts with the false hopes of a better life, and the necessary infrastructure is missing. The extreme conditions in which these families live often unleash alcoholism and violence; many children are thus torn away from their familiar surroundings and are no longer able to grow up in their biological family.
SOS Children's Village Ipiales was built on a 3 hectare site and consists of twelve family houses offering a new home to a total of 108 children. The village's infrastructure includes an administration building, a common room for events and celebrations, the village director's house, a house for SOS aunts (who help the SOS mothers), the village caretaker's house, and store rooms.
An SOS Kindergarten which is also on the site has three group rooms and up to 60 children from the SOS Children's Villages and its surroundings can be cared for there. Very close to the SOS Children's Villages are primary and secondary schools which are attended by the children from the SOS Children's Village, and further education facilities are a little farther away but nonetheless easily reached by public transport.
In 2005, an SOS Youth Facility was set up in the city. It accommodates up to seven youths from the SOS Children's Village. Young people usually move from the SOS Children's Village to an SOS Youth Facility when they start a vocational training course or go on to higher education. With the support of qualified youth workers, the young people develop realistic perspectives for their future, learn to shoulder responsibility and increasingly make their own decisions. They are encouraged to develop team spirit and build up contacts with relatives and friends, as well as with the relevant authorities and potential employers.
Since 2005, an SOS Social Centre also forms part of the SOS Children's Village Ipiales. The SOS Social Centre is run as a day-care centre and has a capacity of up to 420 children. The day-care centre is particularly valuable to single mothers from the area as it enables them to earn or at least contribute towards earning money for the family, safe in the knowledge that their children are being cared for by trained supervisors. Information events are held on health, balanced diets and other health issues. Supporting women is also a central concern. Further vocational training in a range of manual work is available for women, so as to improve single mothers' qualifications and therefore increase their income and improve their societal status.