Colombia
Colombia isn’t just a country of carnival, Shakira and beautiful beaches. It is also a country of poverty and drugs. Colombia has been plagued by violent internal conflict for over 40 years and human rights are violated on a daily basis. As a result of this violence male life expectancy at birth is relatively low at 68 years vs. 76 years for females, and there are many children who have never seen their father. There’s also a high rate of unemployment and a highly uneven distribution of wealth. The main income in the country is low, $7,400 per capita (PPP) in 2007, and one in ten Colombians has to survive on less than a dollar a day.
Education
Some 93% of the population over 15 years of age can read and write. This is mainly due to the fact that primary education in Colombia is free and compulsory for all children. Nevertheless, only about 87% of children receive primary education and only 54% get the chance to attend secondary school. Poverty makes it hard for people to afford it.
Local governments don’t have sufficient funds to handle all problems at once. While the Colombian government has a large budget compared to other countries in Latin America, priority is given to fighting illegal armed groups, the production of and trade in cocaine, money laundering, extortion, kidnappings and robbery. The limited means available are spent on establishing peace and security as a basis for fighting poverty and developing the economy.
In this age of globalization access to computers and the Internet and knowledge of the English language can improve education for poor children and give them hope for a better future. It will reduce their chances of ending up in crime and drugs. This is where our project reflects the objectives of the Dutch Commission for Development Cooperation (NCDO), as expressed in the UN Millennium Development Goals. One of these is that by 2015 all children in the world should have access to primary education. As of now, one in five children in developing countries does not go to school. They have to stay home to help their parents in the home and parents often don’t have the means to provide for the education of their children. Many children are also forced to work. Compulsory and accessible primary education helps reduce child labour and gives children the chance to develop and increase their chances in life. In the longer term this will help society as a whole.
While building more schools and providing funds for education to poor people would be the best solution, it’s not always possible. Small scale projects, while limited in scope, are easier to start and also contribute towards the bigger goal. That’s why for economic and social development the help of the public in small scale projects is essential. These projects are more focused and therefore they make a real difference.
The children we would like to help will get the opportunity to find jobs which will give them a better future. Hopefully education and economic development will also contribute to a prosperous society in which there will be no place for violence.
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