We will be going to Colombia in the summer of 2016, and our current fund raising campaigns will reach many students near the town of Circasia, Coffee Growing Area.
Here are the primary goals for our 2016 campaign:
- Provide a total of 450 school supply kits. The kits will be given to the children in the villages near Circasia. These kids are usually the children of the people working the coffee fields, and many of them go to school in the morning and help their parents on the fields in the afternoon.
- Supply 50 jump ropes, 40 soccer balls, air pumps, and needles to the 20 schools we will be working with while in the area. Soccer is an aerobic sport, and getting children involved in playing a game that involves as much cardiovascular exercise as soccer does will help them to maintain a healthy heart and lungs as they grow and develop. Regular playing will also build muscle strength, particularly in the legs, and improve their energy levels over time.
- Construct an off the grid, gravity fed water system in a school that is about 2 hours remote from any major town and is accessible via Jeep or horse only.
- Build a playground for a rural school in the Coffee Growing Area. The school we will be working with, currently does not have any outdoor equipment to provide the children with much needed stimulation, physical activity, and just plain fun.
- Provide 40 educational games to the schools we will visiting. Playing games can teach children important social skills, such as communicating verbally, sharing, waiting, taking turns, and enjoying interaction with others. Board games can foster the ability to focus, and lengthen children’s attention span by encouraging the completion of an exciting, enjoyable game. Many of the schools we will be working at, lack of extra “fun” activities/games for the kids to get engaged in, and we want to provided them with the some tools to change things around.