As we begin our preliminary assessment work in El Salvador, the Salvadoran government will formally announce the beginning of operations at a formal media event on Thursday, October 23. The First Lady of El Salvador, Ana Ligia Mixco Sol de Saca, is hosting the event at el Hogar de Niños Adalberto Guirola, one of the three orphanages that will be the initial focus of our work in El Salvador.

The event will bring together the First Lady and Whole Child with our corporate partners at TACA and Scotiabank, our government partners at Programa Ternura, and officials from ISNA, the Salvadoran governmental institute for the Social Development of Children and Adolescents.

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Update: the First Lady’s event was attended by approximately 150 people, including members of the Salvadoran press as well as many of the caregivers and administrators we will soon be working with.

 The Adalberto Guirola children’s home hosted the event.

Founding Executive Director Karen Gordon and Regional Program Manager Gabriela Serrano addressed the event, introducing our principles of care and providing an overview of our previous work in both El Salvador and Nicaragua. Others who spoke included (l-r) Carmen Elisa Sosa de Callejos, President of ISNA; First Lady of El Salvador Ana Ligia Mixco Sol de Saca; Celina de Kreite, President of Gloria de Kreite Foundation and wife of TACA’s CEO Roberto Kreite; and Lazaro Figueroa, Director of Communications and Marketing for Scotiabank.

The First Lady presented Karen Gordon with an award for Whole Child’s “invaluable work on behalf of boys and girls in the Children’s Homes of El Salvador.” Karen accepted the award, sharing it with the caregivers and administrators in the children’s homes, as well as our indispensable partners in El Salvador, the TACA airline group and Scotiabank.