School in Colombia
Let’s visit some of the pupils at La Floresta School in Colombia. The school has just one room. It has about 20 pupils aged 7-14 years. The local communities are very poor but they have to pay the teacher’s salary.

Marisol talks about his life
Marisol, who is a pupil at the school, says, “I live on a farm. I live with my grandparents, two cousins, my brother and my uncle. When I grow up I’d like to be a teacher, in the country, because I prefer the country to the city.”

Marisol’s teacher is helping the children to plant fruit trees around the school. He says, “We’ve made the holes where the tree shoots will go. They won’t be trees from other areas, but our own.”

Some children cannot go to school
Thousands of children around the world are unable to go to school. Some do not have a school nearby. Others cannot afford school fees. Some children have to work to help their family earn money for food and do not have time to go to school.

Through its partners, CAFOD is helping the community where Marisol lives. The partners have trained the people in caring for fruit trees, setting up fish ponds and growing better crops.

This will make the community less poor. They have also helped with resources for the school, like PE kits and a white-board.

FACT: As many as 113 million children do not go to school.

Photography: Annie Bungeroth