The School of our Dreams

Dear Friends,

Four months ago we reached out to you asking for help. We were in the middle of the pandemic trying to keep children enrolled in school and learning from home. But they had no access to computers or internet connection. Schools in our community were experiencing closures, up to 50% students dropouts and many teachers were being left without jobs.

But we knew we had to act and you JOINED US! We launched our campaign to raise funds to bring tablets, computers and internet connection to the homes of students whose families could not afford it. You responded rapidly and we purchased the first 6 tablets, then local companies donated more tablets and family and friends in the city started bringing in their used computers. It was amazing! Every time we called a mother to tell her we had a tablet for her daughter, she cried and laughed at the same time. 

All in all, we gave 26 TABLETS, 10 COMPUTERS and access to internet connection during six months for 12 families (that helped not only our students but their older siblings, cousins or parents going to school as well). In order to maximize our impact, we collected the devices this month in order to give them maintenance and hand them out again in January for the start of a new school year.

Thanks to YOU, our school dropout rate didn’t even reach 5% and we can gladly announce that our 160 students proudly finished their school year and are ready to start 2021! It is still sad though to see public schools closed and thousands of children in Colombia who missed a whole year of learning.

Last week we celebrated English day virtually. All of our children participated with songs, plays, and other performances showing us how much they learned this year. We are so proud of them!! You can see the streaming of our English Day in our Youtube Channel. 

We also want to share pictures of our graduation ceremony for fifth grade students. We wish them the best of lucks in their secondary education.

What can we say except THANK YOU! We pray your homes and lives be blessed, healthy and full of love. This year taught us we are in this world TOGETHER and only by walking together we can overcome. Whatever 2021 brings, let us be united and thankful for having the gift of life that we many times take for granted.

God bless,

Teacher Lili

Links:

• English Day 2020

Dear friends and supporters,

We hope this message finds you well and healthy. Many things have happened since the last time we wrote back in March but we're glad to let you know that we are safe, our children and their families are OK and our community keeps moving towards CHANGE.

Four months ago we had to shut the school doors and move 100% to virtual teaching. It wasn't a fast change because we had to add extra training to our teachers, make sure that all of our 174 students- or most of them- had internet access at home and technological devices and also set a culture for online learning among the families. And we did it!! 

First we communicated with families using WhatsApp and Facebook because at the moment it was pretty much the only platforms that they were ready to use. Then we created student emails and trained our teachers in the use of Google Classroom and all the features of the G Suite. At the beginning we only communicated through voice calls or 2-3 student + teacher video calls and sent worksheets to be done at home.

Now we have set an ONLINE SCHEDULE to meet with our students THREE TIMES A WEEK on online classes through Google Meet. We have been doing this for over a month and it has helped tons with student motivation and engagement. They participate, talk to their classmates, get real-time feedback from their teachers and more than anything ADVANCE THEIR LEARNING! 

In spite of the good news, we have had 6% of school dropouts (which thankfully is lower the rate that has gotten up to 50% at some schools and nursery homes around us) and we have other 24 students who are experiencing learning loss whether it is for a lack of internet access and technology at home, because they are struggling students with learning disorders or have special learning conditions or simply because some families have found it difficult to deal with financial wellness plus extra study time at home withe their children.

We have had cooperation of local people and organizations through which we were able to supply 12 students with tablets and 3 students with internet connection for a year. But we need more in order to make sure that every single student in our school has ACCESS and that no DIGITAL GAP can get between them and their learning.

We thank sincerely all of our donors, both the one-time and recurring donors, who make it possible for us to invest in our children's future. 

THANK YOU!!

It is because of YOU that we can continue to MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD!

We are aware that this is a global crisis and you and your communities might be living under similar circumstances so we really appreciate the fact that you take your time to read and give.

¡Muchas gracias!

Bendiciones para todxs,

Fundación ABLE

Links:

• We need your help YOUTUBE video