Enable Access to Quality Education for Vulnerable Children at Risk of Violence

This project reached out to 205 children in District 18, a poor and insecure neighbourhood in Cali that continues to receive displaced persons, many of them being underserved by public services. Integrating displaced children from rural areas into a public school is complex. The grassroots organisation “Centro Cultural Comunitario las Colinas”(CECUCOL) is recognised by the Ministry of Education and mandated to provide education to children exposed to domestic and street violence, drugs and crime. With its experience and the specific pedagogy, it takes into account the needs of children in difficult situations. After classes, the children find in the localities of the organisation a non-violent alternative to the streets where gang violence and recruitment rule. Traumatised children were offered psychosocial care and improved their emotional wellbeing.