Colegio del Sagrado Corazón – La Paz, Colombia
Colegio Del Sagrado Corazón, COVID-19 Support – La Paz, Colombia
The Colegio del Sagrado Corazón offers schooling for poor children of all ages in one of the poorest areas of Barranquila Colombia. Two brothers of the Sacred Heart congregation started a middle school for the poorest children of Barranquila in the hopes of offering high quality education to the poorest communities. In the first year the college started with 30 students. Every year since they have grown in number of students to 1’800 children nowadays.
The Colegio del Sagrado Corazón has also expanded to now have 5 schools in different areas to provide education for as many poor communities as possible. It has grown to include primary, middle and high school to cover all levels of childhood education.
History
In 1958, two brothers from the Sacred Heart Congregation moved to Colombia. They started the college to provide education for the poorest communities of Colombia. The 5 schools that are a part of the Colegio del Sagrado Corazon now help to educate 1’800 students between the ages of 5 and 18 every year.
In 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns in Colombia to prevent the spread of this virus, the Colegio del Sagrado Corazón had to change their system from in-person learning to virtual learning. This however proved to be difficult for some of their poorest students. They did not have sufficient access to internet or were missing electronic devices. That would allow them to connect to the online classes. Aside from this lack of access to the internet or electronic devices, many of the families struggled. There was a high rise in unemployment, especially for the non-skilled workers. Due to this rise in unemployment, many parents were not able to provide enough food for their families. The college also started a nutritional support program. It consisted in bringing food packages to those families that were unable to provide for themselves.