Arka Foundation

I spent today visiting two sites of "Fundación Arka," an organization that provides full days of educational activities and nutritional food for 200 children between the ages of 2 and 5. The children come from very "marginal" communities and are rated on a scale of necessity, which focuses on kids who have: high rates of malnutrition, come from overcrowded homes, have only one source of income in their household, have a family income of less than $1.25/day/person, live in a very risky physical environment, live in a potentially risky social enviroment—such as housing with drug addicts/criminals/abusers, and/or come from areas with high environmental risks-- like landslides.

The idea is that the education of children must start early, in order to really make a difference. The programs are based on the following concept: "In Colombia, poverty is hereditary. Unless we intervene by changing the children’s environment and helping them develop study habits, 95% of the children whose parents did not complete primary school will ultimately also drop out. This lack of education is the surest way to condemn them to a lower income bracket." --Fedesarrollo.

María Eugenia, the Director of the Program, was more than kind and even rode the bus for a total of 4.5 hours to be able to guide me around the sites. I learned a lot about the philosophies, goals, frustrations, and plans of the foundation, and I got to spend a lot of time with entertaining preschoolers.

Within the schools, the children seemed like "normal" kids. They laughed, picked little fights with one another, begged and begged to get their picture taken (of course!), sang little songs, drew pictures, and had some mischievous moments.

I accidentally captured this moment of shame as this little one got into trouble.

This group just returned from the park.

These children became distracted from their lunches as they waved at me shouting, "Take my picture! Look at me!"
These little ones are heading for a trip to the potty.
And, of course, what day would be complete without nap time?!

Yet, as "normal" as they seemed, it's not "normal" for a child to be malnourished, to live without basic needs being met, to lack basic hygiene habits, to have to share a small space with several others, or not receive the attention that a developing mind needs ... But the Arka Centers really seem to bring that needed "normalcy" to the lives, hopefully undoing all of the harm done as soon as they leave their schools and enter their "abnormal" home environments.