Jardin #2

Verdun | Antioquia | Colombia |

SEF’s project goals in Jardin were to provide and supply a week-long cultural programme at the Miguel Valencia school that involved musical and English-language education. The emphasis placed on musical education stems from the extensive research done on how music education advances students’ mental processing and linguistics. SEF worked with University of Oklahoma volunteers to help a rural school incorporate technology, improve basic infrastructure, and provided school with more educational tools and children’s books.

Community Overview

In a rural school 3 hours from Medellin, Colombia there is a small group of 80 children in a school that are involved in a very unique project called “Observers of the Atmospheric Time”. Their leader is the math teacher, Mercedes Arrubla, who for the last 12 years, has inspired several children to learn math in a fun and original way, and get them involved with science to understand their surroundings. Few people in the area know the tenacious job Mercedes has been doing with these students. The children come from dysfunctional families, from several “veredas” of the area by foot, bicycle or donkey. Some don’t have enough food in their homes, but they want to learn more about the sky, the wind, the climate change and be part of this project.