The Process:
01
Getting to Know Their Stories
We collect unique information about each child: their name, age, passions, dreams, and the moments that marked their year.
02
Personalized Selection
We choose the perfect gift for each child, one that specifically nurtures their particular dream and/or tastes.
(You can make a monetary donation to purchase the gift from the letter you choose, or you can send us the gift directly.)
She said that what she likes most is playing hide and seek, that when she grows up she wants to be a doctor, that what she liked the most about this year, 2025, was starting school and making friends, and that what she didn’t like was that no one celebrated her birthday.
Previous Versions
Each gift is thoughtfully prepared for every child — with love, with purpose, and with the intention of nurturing a dream. Because it’s not just about giving random toys, but about planting hope, about reminding them that their story matters, that their dreams have value.
Dentist
Doctor
Hairdresser
Artist
This Year We’re Going to Guaviare
We will travel to several Indigenous reserves with the purpose of delivering gifts and medicine, creating spaces for community bonding through shared meals, and organizing recreational activities for the children and their families.
Realities:
In 2025, Guaviare — a region in the Colombian Amazon — has experienced an escalation of armed conflict marked by guerrilla clashes, kidnappings, and the enforcement of road blockades that have confined entire communities. These actions have led to humanitarian crises, restricted mobility, and limited access to food and essential services for the people living there.
Jiw Community Kids.
Nukak
Context:
*They are the only nomadic ethnic group in Colombia and are on the verge of extinction. The guerrilla forces displaced them from the jungle, and landowners took advantage of the fact that the Nukak had no concept of money — recruiting them as “raspachines” (coca leaf pickers) and paying them with cookies and soda instead of fair wages.
*Their native language is Maku, spoken across all their clans or bands (though some now speak Spanish as well).
*They have experienced outbreaks of skin diseases.
*The current Nukak generation continues to suffer from the effects of drug trafficking, the armed conflict, and, although a territory was officially assigned to them, access to it has not been effectively granted.
Jiw
Context:
- The Jiw Indigenous people have been victims of mass displacement and confinement due to territorial disputes between the FARC and the AUC.
- They are a community that has been fragmented into many different groups — not by choice, but as a result of multiple forced displacements and unsafe living conditions.
- Their native language is Mitua, also known as Guayabero (although many now speak Spanish).
- Tragically, 49 Jiw girls for whom we have records have been victims of sexual abuse.
- The children live in conditions of deep vulnerability: many suffer from malnutrition (when their crops flood, they are left without enough food) and illnesses caused by the lack of access to clean water (Mocuare has gone through the entire year 2025 without potable water).
- We will visit Mocuare, Puerto Concordia, and San José del Guaviare.
El Mosquito Neighborhood
Context:
- El Mosquito is a peripheral neighborhood affected by issues such as micro-trafficking, drug use, and domestic violence.
- During the rainy season, the neighborhood floods and often remains underwater for months.
- It is home to both Indigenous children and migrant children, including many from Venezuela.
- Most of its residents are displaced farmers who fled rural violence.
- The children live in highly vulnerable conditions: many suffer from malnutrition, and other illnesses have been reported. (This year, a 2-year-old girl in El Mosquito tragically died from yellow fever.)
" The spirit of a kid is like fresh cement; the image you imprint in it... will remain forever."
Why I do this:
It's easier to build strong, happy children than to repair broken adults.
When I was a child, a couple sponsored me for six years, and now I just want to give back a little of what I received.