Pueblito started in 1974 when a group of passionate, United Church-affiliated Canadians teamed up to contribute to a better life for children in Latin America. Led by Peter Taçon, the group founded a children’s village in Costa Rica. The village would serve as an alternative model to government orphanages and offer street children the chance to grow up in a family environment. We take our name from this first project – pueblito is Spanish for “ little village.” The Costa Rican government officially took over full responsibility for the village in 1989 and it still exists today. In the 1980s, Pueblito expanded its work to other countries in Latin America. Following the devastation of Hurricane David, Pueblito replicated the children’s village model in the Dominican Republic. It was there that we gained experience providing a wide variety of development programs for children in poor communities and their parents. At that time we also looked to Brazil where we started specializing in Early Childhood Education for impoverished contexts. Pueblito spent 20 years supporting vibrant community initiatives in both countries. Today Pueblito continues this legacy by partnering with civil society organizations in Nicaragua to implement quality programming that improves the lives of children and youth.
