“One of the most beautiful things that OSF could have done was donate the computers so that we could do our homework and do our research.”

-Vanessa, Colombia

 The Orphaned Starfish Foundation (at the time of this writing) serves 18,000 vulnerable, yet deserving, students – all with grippingly difficult backgrounds, but also stories that highlight their humanness and likeness to another, and how technology education plays an impactful role in their lasting personal and professional development. These are stories of hardship, difficulties, pain, and also triumph, hopes and dreams.

One story in particular takes us to Medellin, Colombia. Meet Vanessa. A little girl that was subject to abuse and domestic violence from a young age. At 10, because of the instability and chaos at home, the children’s protective and wellbeing services of Colombia (ICBF) relocated her to orphanage Casa de La Chinca, where she lived for the next 8 years.

During the time Vanessa was living at Casa de La Chinca, OSF became a partner and installed their first ever set of computers in what is now their tech center.

Vanessa joyfully recounts that “one of the fondest memories is when they donated the computers to the home.” This gave her the opportunity to learn the basic of how to maneuver a computer, then the internet, then was taught how to use the internet for research, and so forth.

Vanessa describes Orphaned Starfish Foundation as her passion and her heart for the fondness and gratitude she has for all the doors OSF has opened for her and the healthy relationships she has been able to build to despite her harrowing childhood traumas. She tells of a times when “there were foreigners that would visit [them]. There was a special event one day where Andy visited [them] with his friends to celebrate. [They] celebrated, and Andy did his balloon animals.” Vanessa, alike thousands of children around the world, look forward to Tio Andy, the magician, when he does his yearly visits to the tech centers to bring smiles through his magic and balloons animals.

Today, Vanessa is 24 years old. The once vulnerable young girl that walked into Casa de La Chinca nearly 15 years ago has developed into a strong-willed, self-sufficient, healthy, and most aspirational young girls OSF serves.

In 2017, Orphaned Starfish awarded Vanessa with a full university scholarship to study Sales & Marketing. She is currently in her final year, and since then has also successfully launched her own business that specializes in Colombian Cold Brew. Vanessa was selected amongst a small group of students to be granted seed money to launch their own businesses. She is thrilled be to fulfilling her dreams of becoming an entrepreneur, especially within the coffee business, which is her affinity.

She credits OSF for having taught her about perseverance and resilience, and for being a “base” for her dreams. She shared: “It is important to have someone in whom you trust and trusts you to fulfill a dream. And OSF has given me that trust and has given me all the strength in believing in my dream, and that they don’t just end after learning excel, but can be bigger and different.”

Already part of Vanessa’s business model includes a social responsibility aspect which she plans to incorporate as soon as she sees returns. She wants to be an inspiration for other children hurting and help them overcome their obstacles by giving back. She wants to model what Tio Andy and other healthy relationships in her life have helped her achieve.

“The impact that OSF has had on my life is that it has inspired me. Inspired me to study, inspired me to be self-sufficient. Inspired me to understand that not everyone is a bad person, that not everyone that gets close to me wants to do me harm, but that there are people that want to care for our dreams and that want us to move forward triumphantly in life.”

Like Vanessa, OSF’s mission is to bring hope to the thousands of children around the world we serve by exposing them safely to technology and to the internet, so they can learn about all the opportunities the world has to offer. The computer is just the beginning. Many cycles of abuse, and poverty have been broken because of access to a computer. Vanessa is a great example of that.