HOW IT STARTED
El Angel was founded in 1982 by Sara Romero Carro, a clergyman of the Christian Order I.S.C.E. Despite difficult economic conditions, Sara took five street children into her care back then. She cared for and fed them. Carried by her deep faith on Christian values und convinced of her actions, she managed to raise funds from the Church and the Bolivian government to build a whole children’s home.
In 1994, Stefanie Lafrentz met El Angel. During her semester break, she worked there for three months as a kindergarden teacher. Moved by the fate of these children, their poverty and lack of prospects for school and education, she decided to help.
A key experience was the encounter with the then two-year-old Maria. She suffered from an open palate since her birth: when feeding Mary, part of the food came out through her nose. As a result, she was underdeveloped and weak for her age. We often found Maria at 7 o’clock in the morning when El Angel opened his doors, already waiting outside the door. A completely distraught, unloved child. An operation on her palate was supposed to cost 350 USD - a sum the mother could not afford. We gladly paid for this operation and gave Maria a new start. Two years later, she was adopted by a loving family and now lives a sheltered, healthy life.
TARGETS
We want to give the children of El Angel a sheltered childhood! But also the prospect of a better, contented self-determined future. Education is one of the keys to this. Therefore, we want to make the kids fit for elementary school. To do this, they need the necessary willingness to learn, the discipline and social skills. In the care of the children’s home El Angel, they can learn these things. We, the founders of El Angel e.V. in Germany, create the financial basis for this. And for that we need YOU!
FOUNDER IN BOLIVIA
Sara Romero Carro
The good soul and founder of the children’s home:
Sara Romero Carro entered the Order of I.S.C.E. at the age of 17. It is a secular order belonging to the Spanish Catholic Church, which El Angel still partially supports. Raised in Madrid, she was sent by her order to South America at a young age. In 1982 she founded the El Angel children’s home in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Since then Sara lovingly takes care of all aspects of the home. She manages our money in Bolivia, decides what to buy when and where and enjoys our full confidence. She is the good soul of the children’s home.
FOUNDER IN GERMANY
Stefanie Lafrentz
Journalist and married mother of three children, living in Hamburg:
1994 was her first stay in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. At that time a friendship and connection developed to the founder of the home, Sara Romero Carro, which exists to this day. Through regular visits and constant telephone and e-mail contact the working for the children’s home has become an integral part of her everyday life.
Dr. Andreas Pougin
Lawyer, married and father of three children, living in Cologne. He had the idea to found El Angel e.V. as a non-profit association. All “paperwork” was on his desk at that time.
Prof. Dr. jur. Peter Pougin
Lawyer, married and father of one child, living in Munich. Peter has taken care of the finances of the association from the first hour on.