Niños Hotels

Over 15 years ago, 30-year-old Jolanda van de Berg and her boyfriend first arrived in the Incan capital of Cusco to find huge numbers of children, often homeless, being forced into work very young. So upset by this was she that, six months later, van de Berg waved goodbye to her life in Holland, including a job in advertising and her boyfriend, and embarked on a new life in Cusco. She had limited funds and did not speak a single word of Spanish, but soon found herself with 12 adopted street children. Her aim was, and still is, to: ‘create a better life and a better future for as many chanceless and neglected children in and around Cusco as possible’ with a self-sustainable project.

So, in 1998, with funding from the newly established Niños Foundation, van de Berg created the first Niños hotel (behind which she now lives with her large family), very close to the central square of Cusco. In terms of décor, think dutch-shabby-chic with more than a small nod towards minimalism and in terms of service, think some of the friendliest staff you’ll ever meet. Fresh home-cooked foods (wherever possible, locally-sourced and organic) are served at Niños’ tables. Look around and you’ll see photography and artwork by local artists covering each of the walls. Each room is named after one of the children.

There are now two Niños hotels just around the corner from one another in Calle Fierro and Calle Meloq, both within walking distance of Cusco’s Plaza de Armas. Niños also owns The Hacienda, about thirty minutes away in the mountains where you can horseride, mountain bike and hike amidst the breathtaking natural beauty of the Andes.

The Niños Foundation provides help with homework, medical care and dentistry and libraries. It also gives children access to more sports, a cinema, gardening and vegetable-growing and helps funds group sessions where children can express their anxieties and birthday celebrations (many of the children’s actual birthdays remain unknown but van de Berg insists on every child has a special day just for them).

More reasons to love Niños

–

• The exact number of street children is impossible to quantify, but the figure almost certainly runs into tens of millions across the world. It is likely that the numbers are increasing’ 3.

Source: UNICEF (2005), State of the World’s Children 2006: Excluded and Invisible, pp. 40-1., via http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/_uploads/resources/Street_Children_Stats_FINAL.pdf

‘According to UN sources there are up to 150 million street children in the world today. Chased from home by violence, drug and alcohol abuse, the death of a parent, family breakdown, war, natural disaster or simply socio-economic collapse, many destitute children are forced to eke out a living on the streets, scavenging, begging, hawking in the slums and polluted cities of the developing world.’ (Unesco.org, January 2012) However, as evidenced by a recent report entitled ‘State of the World’s Street Children: Research’, published by the Consortium for Street Children, (the leading international network dedicated to realising the rights of street children worldwide), ‘in terms of statistics on street children, the exact numbers are very difficult to quantify’.

The likes of Macchu Pichu has made Cusco a very popular tourist destination. Endless numbers of kind-hearted tourist, give money or buy the souvenirs etc that street children sell, in a bid to help. However, this is sadly fuelling a cruel circle of trade. Expert NGO quote: XXXX