Shelter and youth care in Ayacucho
Vision
Los Cachorros believes that every child deserves a safe home: a place where parents and caregivers, from the foundation of affection, togetherness, safety, and shared values, enable children to develop both physically and mentally. Every child is entitled to care, education, and a space to play and be a child.
Our values
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Our organisation is small and agile. This is how we respond to the needs of the children in Ayacucho and spend the highest possible percentage of our budget on the children.
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We concentrate on Ayacucho. This provides focus. Our employees are rooted in the community and trusted by young people on the street.
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Our assistance and care are with love and attention. We don’t put deadlines and place quality above quantity: each child develops at their own pace.
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Our work is concrete and clear. Children and adolescents in Ayacucho know what they can expect from us.
Origin
Alanya Santa Cruz is the founder and director of Los Cachorros. She grew up as a Peruvian adopted child in the Netherlands, where she was never fully grounded. At fifteen years old, Alanya ended up in the homeless circuit in Utrecht. This is where she founded the Utrecht Night Shelter in Self-management (NOIZ). In 2000, Alanya made a ‘roots trip’ to Peru, where she felt at home. She saw a lot of poverty and many street children, upon which she decided to dedicate herself to this target group in her birthplace, Ayacucho.
On September 28 of that year, Alanya founded the Los Cachorros Foundation in Utrecht. Three years later, the night shelter of Los Cachorros opened its doors in Ayacucho. This night shelter still is the only one to offer a safe place to sleep for children living on the streets. Since 2006, Los Cachorros has offered integral help to street children and children in unsafe (home) situations. The work of Los Cachorros, in 2024, consists of street- and prevention work, a night shelter, long-term 24-hour care in the family substitution home, and reintegration and aftercare.