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HURIDOCS •

Afghanistan Memory Home museum: Documenting & honouring the human cost of war

Upon entering the Afghanistan Memory Home (AMH) online museum, visitors are confronted by an animated display of eyes, each pair telling its own story and bearing witness to the nation’s complex past. As one navigates through this display, it becomes a stark indication of the sensitive content that lies ahead and sets the stage for the museum’s deeply personal stories.

In a narrative often shaped by external political perspectives, the virtual museum provides a platform for Afghan witnesses and
SOS-ZZ-EN •

A stateless Guatemalan family faces hardship

The Estrada family lives in the community of El Refugio, 15 minutes away from the Mexican border with Guatemala. Carlos (40) and Marcela (35) migrated more than 20 years ago and are still stateless. They could not even register their seven children in Mexico, even though all were born there.

For this reason, Miguel (21), Laura (18), Ana (16), Eva (14), Leon (10), Maya (16) and Nicola (four) don’t have access to education, health care or governmental social programmes. This limits and influences
SOS-ZZ-EN •

Mexican women take the future into their own hands

Around 8 am eight women gather at a neighbour’s front yard around a bread oven they built. Evila (45) and three others mix ingredients and knead huge doughs, which will make five kilos of bread, roughly 500 loaves.

While others arrange trays on the tables, one of the women ties a wet cloth around her colleague’s head to prevent heatstroke. She will be handling the oven.

Next, they all gather around the large wood table to make small dough balls and place them on the floured trays. Despite the
SOS-ZZ-EN •

Confronting the consequences of domestic violence in children in Latin America

Paul* (16), the oldest of four, lives in a house in an uncle’s backyard in Lima, Perú, with his mother, Marcela, and three siblings, Ana (13), Lucy (9) and Gabo (3). The house, made of prefabricated material, is smaller than their previous one and didn’t even have a proper bathroom at first. But Paul and his sisters feel safer here, especially since they don’t live with their father anymore.

For years, the children witnessed their father constantly humiliate and mistreat their mother. In 2018,
Feature •

Parenting from behind bars I

One out of four children at SOS Children’s Village Ayacucho, Peru, need care because their parents are in prison. To maintain the relationship between parent and child, despite the time and distance apart, the SOS team developed a partnership in 2010 with the local prison to have scheduled children’s visits and parenting workshops with the fathers and mothers of children in SOS’s care, the only programme of its kind in Peru and in Latin America.
El País / Article •

“¡Hoy toca penal! ¿Quién nos va a llevar?”

Al entrar al penal de Ayacucho, es evidente que está sobrepoblado, como la mayoría de las cárceles en Perú. Actualmente, hay 2.760 reclusos, un 438% por encima de su capacidad. En este centro penitenciario, viven aproximadamente 200 mujeres y 2.560 hombres. Todos los presos con los que hablé me dijeron que, al salir libres, quieren ser mejores padres para sus hijos.

Tras pasar la seguridad, entramos en el pabellón de mujeres. Karina nos recibe en la cocina, donde trabaja como cocinera. Junto co
SOS-ZZ-EN •

Venezuelan unaccompanied young people’s urge for stability

Since August 2019, the Ecuadorian government requests a visa, which leads the migrants to take irregular and more dangerous routes to enter the country. When these children reach their destination, they have few options to continue their education, find work and a safe place to live. They must work to survive and have few possibilities to obtain a residence status. They are exceptionally vulnerable, facing the risk of exploitation and abuse.
Press Release •

Children are the hidden victims of Latin America’s Corona crisis

Nine out of 10 children in Latin America and the Caribbean between three and four years old are exposed to at least one of the major risk factors of emotional abuse, domestic violence and punishment, failure to receive early education, lack of support and inadequate care. Due to COVID-19, the situation is likely to worsen as isolation measures and a lack of income heighten the risk of child abuse and violence in the home.

“New stress factors on parents and caregivers who may be out of work can
Article Covid19 •

Domestic Violence: An ongoing threat in Peru

The alarming rates of domestic violence in Peru makes it one of the main reasons that children are separated from their families in the country. SOS Perú works to keep families together through programmes designed to address the root causes of violence.

In a society with deeply internalised gender roles that lead to unequal power relationships between men and women, violence is often tolerated and even justified in households. Last year, more than 200,000 cases of domestic violence were reporte
Article •

Becoming a family man

The family lived in a rented one-room apartment in El Alto, Bolivia and sometimes ate rice as their only meal for days.

Today, Secundino, who received support from SOS Children’s Villages for three years, has lifted himself out of poverty. He has his own home and the children enjoy regular meals.

“I feel that all of this work has finally been rewarded and my lifelong dream has become a reality,” says Secundino. “Now we have a house of our own with a water system, four bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living