OUR HISTORY

In the year 1990, Father José Domingo Ruíz Carranza was sent to pastoral work in the city of Lérida Tolima, in Colombia. He was sent to help the survivors of the explosion of the Nevado del Ruíz volcano (a disaster that occurred on November 13, 1985, whose effect was the flooding with water and mud, for which the city of Armero was totally destroyed). Although it is not known exactly how many people died, it is believed that there were more than 20,000.

Armero was a very prosperous city; it had banks, agricultural, transport and livestock companies, as well as a hospital with good medical services, noble people and great projects; but that night was the end of this symbol of prosperity. That night and many more days were filled with terror, crying, despair, anguish, death, silence and loneliness. This event produced a great universal silence of pain and deep reflection on the supreme value of life and creation itself, but it also awakened in the hearts of thousands of human beings in the world a gesture of generosity to share part of what God has allowed to have.

It was thus, in this way that the future Fe y Esperanza Foundation, "FunFe", was conceived, which at first only helped children from Armero, but later extended to children of extreme poverty in Lebanon, Villahermosa, Fresno, Tolima and later in Quindio, Armenia and Guavatá de Santander.

For the year 1995 they transferred me from the parish and sent me to the United States where I have found so many kind, believing and generous people that with their help it has been possible to support all these children and elderly of the Divino Niño Foundation (Hogar de Paso), in Honda Tolima, Colombia and supporting a large number of young people to finish their university studies, as well as helping seminarians and improving housing for two needy families.

In August 1999, the Fe y Esperanza Foundation, with the acronym "FunFe", was approved as a non-profit Foundation by the Government of the Republic of Colombia with headquarters in the city of Santa Fe de Bogotá with a central office and official address of the entity.

Every year, from the creation of the Foundation, with the voluntary contributions of all the people to whom God gave a generous heart, we support with clothing, food, school supplies, during the months of February to November, children in extreme poverty, in the mentioned municipalities.

Thousands of people survived, emerging from the same mud that one day gave them life by the hand of God. Genesis 2,7 and Genesis 3,19. All the survivors left behind family, material goods, social honors and even death itself to have a new Birth. It was very painful to face being despised, mistreated, subjected to hunger and to a new social and economic situation, without any help other than that which came from generous human beings.

It was then that I was assigned to the Parish of San Lorenzo in Lérida, which was a refuge of hope for these people since its church, also destroyed by the avalanche, had that name. Very few people attended the Worship in the Temple, they were hurt by the misinterpretation of a few words directed by a priest the night of the disaster. In short, there was a lot of pain and they sent me there to try to bring a healing word and the search for the multiplication of the loaves; Every day the Cural house was filled with children and hungry people, but above all with questions that sometimes are not easy to answer, why was I left without parents? Without a husband or wife? Without children? and without how to live with dignity? These questions would make me pray to God to answer them with something logical and consistent with their pain. This broke my heart.

There was also another problem and that was that he lived in a parish where the tickets were not even enough for a weekly lunch for the parish priest; the priest before me, a better day left the parish.

He prepared some food and could not eat if he did not see children or elderly people sitting at the table, which was often the only thing they had to spend the day or days. Once I told the Pastor of the neighboring Church that I was planning to have a party for Mother's Day with all the mothers of the Parish, to which he asked me: And how much money do you have for that? I replied: - Nothing, God will provide. , and it will be a party with gifts, raffles, food, dancing with a good musical group, whatever is necessary.