The Fundación Educativa Amor in Soacha, on the outskirts of Bogota, Colombia, has provided primary and secondary education for students from poor families since 1988. The project was created to allow children to learn and play in a safe environment, free from the pressures of the street and the violence of a civil war that has lasted more than 40 years and is now moving to the cities. The Colegio gives them a few hours of respite from their often serious family problems.

The Foundation offers various afternoon activities for the students, their families and others from the community, such as recycling used goods, producing handicrafts, clothes design and dressmaking, computer training, and learning to bake and process fruit in the project-owned facility. In their free time, students organize themselves into clubs - sports, painting, reading and theatre. Workshops on drugs, AIDS, alcoholism, intra-family violence and human rights round off an education that aims to produce graduates that will be agents of change in their generation.

There is a steady influx of refugees from the rural areas of Colombia. These displaced people are helped by FE Amor to resettle and retrain. FE Amor, in cooperation with the University of Colombia, has published a book which is used in the training of social workers throughout Latin America: Stories of Violence: The Impact of Forced Displacement on Children and Youth. A small organic garden has been created to demonstrate how organic farming can be done in urban areas. Chickens provide eggs for the school restaurant.

Since October 2000 FE Amor has been run by one of the founders, Sebastian de los Rios who is assisted by 15 staff and teachers. In 2003 270 students in 11 grades were taught in the Colegio, including some handicapped children who are well integrated. FE Amor is registered as a Foundation and administered by a Board.

The goals of the project are to:

• provide a traditional, comprehensive education to low income children and young people.
• involve the surrounding community in order to improve community relations and promote peace.
• eliminate school dropout rates by using an experiential pedagogy founded on social values, practical education for employment, and using “love” as a transforming agent.
• generate a culture of citizenship by encouraging social skills to resolve family, community and social conflicts.

The Colombian Government recognizes the need for private schools like the Colegio Amor, and provides scholarships for about a third of the students. For some families however, the school fees are hard to maintain throughout the 10-month school term, so approximately 70 students drop out each year.


Contact:
Sebastian Olmedo De los Rios Ocampo
F.E. Amor, Apartado Aereo 41779, Bogotá, Colombia.
Email: fundamor4@yahoo.es