The 230 students at El Laurel School are the sons and daughters of the coffee pickers from the region, and attend classes only in the morning.

GCF provided funding to renovate the library, add solar power, and purchase uniforms and musical instruments. We also updated the kitchen and helped the school begin a chicken rearing project to help provide nutritious meals every day.

10% of all children aged 0 to 4 years  in Colombia suffer from chronic malnutrition. More than half of households do not have sufficient, adequate and quality access to the food necessary for a healthy and active life. The Colombian government provides the school with the raw materials to prepare a free lunch every day for each student. However, the school’s kitchen facilities were not appropriate for this purpose. GCF provided new kitchen supplies and 300 chicks to be raised to generate income for the school. The chicks are raised by the eleventh grade students as part of their curriculum where they learn about breeding, marketing and business management.