Cúcuta, Colombia — 7 November 2026
Her mother died in October. Alma has slept under a bakery shutter for nine nights.
She is six years old. No birth certificate, no school, nobody left in this country. Three weeks ago a stranger bought bread and found her.
Any amount, in any currency. The $5 button is there for a reason — it is what most people give.
The nine nights
In Cúcuta the bakery on Calle 10 opens at 5:40. The man who opens it is called Óscar and he is not sentimental — he has been lifting the shutter over sleeping bodies for eleven years.
Alma is the smallest one he has ever had to step over.
She sleeps with a plastic bag against her chest: a pair of adult socks, a hairbrush with the handle snapped off, half a pack of crackers. She washes her face at the car wash on the corner at four in the morning, before the men arrive, because a dirty face gets you moved along but a wet one gets you ignored.
She has a cough since the third night. Her ears hurt when she lies on the concrete, so she sleeps sitting up, back against the metal, knees to her chest. She weighs 14.9 kilos.
"She doesn't cry when you talk to her. She cries when you stop."
What happened to her mother
Marisol was twenty-seven. She crossed from Venezuela fourteen months ago, after Alma's father went out to buy phone credit and didn't come back.
She sold tinto — black coffee, twenty cents a cup — from a thermos at the corner of Calle 10 and Avenida 6. She wrote Alma's name inside the girl's left shoe in permanent marker, in case they were ever separated.
On 19 October she folded on the pavement outside the pharmacy. An aneurysm. She lasted three days in the Erasmo Meoz hospital and never woke up.
Alma was in the waiting room. Nobody had taught her what a death certificate is, so for a week she kept asking when her mother was coming to get her.
Where the money goes
Every line is a monthly cost we can actually price in Cúcuta. Nothing here is a guess.
| Line | Cost |
|---|---|
| A room with a door that locks — 12 months × $130 | $1,560 |
| Food and basics — 12 months × $95 | $1,140 |
| Enrollment, uniform, books, transport (one-time $210 + 12 × $30) | $570 |
| Pediatrician, ear infection, chest, vaccines | $340 |
| Defensoría paperwork, birth certificate, legal guardianship | $290 |
| Emergency reserve | $400 |
| Total | $4,300 |
The room comes first. Everything else needs an address before it can exist — a school will not enroll a child with no address, and the Defensoría will not open a file on one.
The next 90 days
- Days 1–10A room, a mattress, a door with a lock. First real sleep in nine nights.
- Days 11–40Defensoría del Pueblo: birth certificate reconstruction, then temporary guardianship.
- Day 41Enrollment at the school two blocks from the room. Uniform, shoes, books.
- Days 42–90Pediatrics, ears and chest, full vaccine schedule. Then the first full week of school.
Updates
First night indoors. She slept eleven hours and woke up asking if the door could stay locked.
Ear drops started. Weight: 15.2 kg. She has learned the word casa means this room now.
Who is giving
115 people have already done this. Nobody has to do much.
Questions
What do I actually get?
A digital care kit, delivered the second the payment clears: a thank-you card with your name on it (PDF), a wallpaper of the photos on this page, and the field notes for your tier. Friend gets 1 page, Guardian 4, Lifeline 12 — the actual diary of the ninety days, sent as she gets them.
Why dollars?
Cúcuta prices in Colombian pesos but the room, the enrollment and the doctor are all paid in dollars by the family that fronts them. Converting at the border eats 6%.
Can I give $2?
Yes. Anything under $5 goes straight to the room.
What if the goal is not reached?
The room is paid first, month by month, with whatever came in. Nothing is held back waiting for the full amount.
Refund?
If you gave and want it back within 30 days, reply to the receipt. No form, no questions.