El Rio Foundation is based in Buritaca, a small town in a post-conflict zone on the North Caribbean coast of Colombia. Our local area faces many issues such as:

• Children with huge gaps in their education due to the chronically under-funded education system (exacerbated by nearly 2 years of no-school during the Covid pandemic).
• Very little government support for the local community.
• Low-income and poor families.
• Internally displaced communities from the recent Colombian conflict (1964 – 2016).
• Large numbers of migrants fleeing Venezuelan crisis.
• Often young parents and large families.
• High numbers of teenage mothers.
• Violence at home and in the community, in part, to the trauma of the conflict:
  • Incidents of peer-to-peer violence, domestic violence, parental violence, and gender-based violence all commonplace.
• Discrimination at home and in the community e.g gender inequality, racial discrimination, human rights issues.
• Very limited child protection or social services in operation.
• Very little to no mental wellbeing education or support.
• No additional support for children with disabilities.
• Absent parents (either left completely or working in a different city).
• Currently no functioning recycling and waste management system.
• Environmental pollution commonplace.
• Huge gaps in environmental education.

‘The Troncal del Caribe has been an area impacted by violence, and the inability of the state to assist vulnerable populations has meant the Foundation plays a key role in providing spaces for community building and learning opportunities for 600+ local children every week.’

– Daniel Maldonado, El Rio Foundation community activities lead.