Colombia: Educating Disadvantaged Kids

Leaving home for school and a better future.

In the eighties, Russell Bloom, an American friend of mine, helped create a little school for children of a poor barrio in Cali, Colombia, and invited me to see it at work. It was heartwarming to watch how caring the teachers were, and how happy and eager to learn the young students were.                     
                                                                             

     Russell went on to devote himself to help Vietnamese boat people settle in the United States before he died, still young, of a rare illness. He left his fortune to a Cali shoeshine boy he had adopted and educated.

     In my January 17 post I showed how the day at the school started with a shower—cold but welcome in a 27 Celsius temperature. Toothpaste distribution and teeth brushing followed. Then some gym before sitting at some exciting classes.

At Christmas the kids reenacted the birth of Jesus. The little girl who brought her baby brother to play Jesus got the role of the Virgin Mary.