The School of our Dreams

As we approach the end of the year we are glad to tell you about exciting things that happened all along 2017 and the greater things which are yet to come in 2018!

We are closing the year with 80% of the children who enrolled in our afterschool program still attending the sessions. This is remarkable taking into account the constant dropouts in our community due to family unstability, continuous moving of home, and other issues related to the nature of their context. Nevertheless, it is so rewarding to see how their communication skills have improved, and this is reflected in school success and self esteem. Since it's Christmas time, the children gather daily to sing the traditional "villancicos" and "Novenas". On December 20th we will have a special moment with our children who will receive Christmas presents and school supplies from our donors.

The exciting news regarding this project is that we were able to collaborate with a partner organization who will be providing half of the funding in order to make possible for this project to continue next year and to strengthen the program with arts and therapy. So we look forward to sharing with you the progress of our afterschool program in March! 

The teens group who is taking English with us on Saturdays, had the chance to take a tour of the historic part of the city two weeks ago. This tour was donated by a tourism company who got in touch with Fundación ABLE earlier this year and who are interested in investing in the progress of our community. Some ideas include making our hills a spot for tourism and train our youth in other languages (English especially) so they can become the guides of their own neighborhood.

Last but not least, we are so pleased to share with you that TODAY we moved to the place where our school will be operating for the rest of our history! Here we will be able to have our regular preschool and primary classes and also to hold afterschool programs such as the one you have been supporting ever since March. We will start in January a new fundraising in order to 1) sponsor a child's complete education for a year and 2) upgrade the facilities of our school. We'll let you know about it as soon as we launch our campaign!

We don't have much left to say but THANK YOU! It is because of you that we were able to start an afterschool project this year which started as a pilot program and will impact the lives of hundreds of children in the following 2 years. We wish you all blessings, health, prosperity, love, friendship and a life full of joy and peace! 

Happy holidays and new year 2018!

Your Colombian family,

Fundación ABLE