La Paz, 14 February – This Valentine’s Day, a woman who was helped by Save the Children as a child – and met her husband through a Save the Children programme – is giving back to children in her community. Her love story is testament to her resilience, courage, and the power of organisations like Save the Children to give children a better chance to learn, survive and thrive.

Belinda, now 37, is a woman from Oruro, in western Bolivia. In the 1980s, she remembers that many children in her community used to go hungry in times of extreme cold, as crops failed, and they didn’t have much access to food. At the age of ten, Belinda's parents enrolled her in a Save the Children program, which provided her with school supplies and gave her access to a library during the school holidays.

Belinda recalls:

"I remember that they came to my school and told the parents that they were starting some educational programmes.

I appreciate that the organisation reached out to me when I was 10 years old. And that it gave me the opportunity to participate, learn, and grow.”

"I felt like I was treated with respect. We worked on group dynamics and shared with other students, it was interactive and interesting. I felt the right to express myself."

Belinda received support until she was eighteen, after which she decided to give back to the community, and became a Save the Children volunteer. It was in this volunteer programme that Belinda met her husband, who was also a volunteer. The couple met whilst facilitating workshops at local schools, they started dating and later got married, Belinda said:

“As we got along really well, and shared some common thoughts and connections, we decided to get married. And so we did.”

“Now we have two little girls. I have two daughters. One is seven years old, and the other is five. They are my light and my strength too.”

After Belinda graduated from college, she started working with Save the Children. In Belinda’s most recent role as a Technical Project Manager, she has helped children under the age of five to get the best start in life by supporting nearly 200 parents and caregivers, she said:

“We work on dental hygiene, handwashing, safe water consumption, which is very important.”

Belinda and her husband share a lifelong connection with Save the Children, thanks to meeting as volunteers all those years ago, she said:

“Because my husband was also a member of the teen group, we are both connected through that support to the organisation and to adolescents, children, (and) youth.

Save the Children has been working in Bolivia since November 1985. The charity focuses on education, health and nutrition, child protection, child poverty, governance and humanitarian emergencies. In 2023 the organization supported 122.089 people, including around 83.000 children.

ENDS