Pachavita

Pachavita | Boyaca | Colombia |

The foundation’s primary goals were to provide 83 primary students in the Pachavita area with uniforms and shoes. This project was very meaningful to the founder as his mother went to school in the Pachavita area. The students of Pachavita gathered to swim in a local swimming pool and to eat nutritious meals whilst uniforms, shoes, groceries, dental kits, and school equipment were distributed among them. The 83 students came from 5 different rural schools, where many of different ages are taught by one teacher in one room. The main school, Llanogrande, hosted the event where the teacher raised funds for the day’s food and school supplies. SEF replaced Llanogrande’s stolen cooking utensils, provided sports equipment, secured the room from intruders, and build an oven for the school (so students could eat lunch). Llanogrande and the other rural schools were taught how to take care of land as SEF volunteers built a composting site, which is used now as a teaching tool and a resource of rich-soil for farmers.

Community Overview

Pachavita is a small, agricultural community in the department of Boyaca, Colombia. Pachavita is very isolated and poverty-stricken, listed as Stratus 1 on the poverty scale (0-6). The town has many rural schools dotting the area, all of them miles away from each other and from their students. The annual operating budget of the school used to be $3000 USD but due to lack of funding, is now $175 USD. Jose, the professor at the Llanogrande rural middle school, teaches math from ages 6-12  at the same time in the same room.

PHOTOS