The long and winding road
If you had to travel over an hour and a half on your bike to get to school every day, would you still be enthusiastic about going? This is the reality for Jhan Carlos Meza but each day he gets up early, eager to travel, as he loves attending our Centro Educativo Cristiano School.
Jhan is a young boy living in a small town called Ciudad Perdida, in Colombia. For Jhan to get to the Stand by Me school in Guacamayal he has to cycle through eight villages, and when it rains heavily he has to dismount and wade across a stream by foot, before he can continue his journey.
For many children in Colombia, receiving a good education is their only chance of escaping the poverty they live in. The opportunity to gain qualifications is vital for Jhan as it will provide him with a good chance of securing a stable job in the future.
Jhan’s lengthy and sometimes dangerous journey to school every day shows how much he appreciates and enjoys the provision of education through Stand by Me but for many, their journey is only the first obstacle.
Without a school uniform, children are often refused entry into school but the cost of a uniform is beyond the reach of many families. At Stand by Me we understand the importance of providing a uniform and an education for the children in our care, so this Christmas we have launched an appeal to raise funds to buy each of our children a brand new school uniform.
For just £7, you could provide a smart school uniform for a child like Jhan – what better gift can you give this year? With your help, we can bring a smile to the faces of our children this Christmas time. Visit our School Uniforms Christmas Project page today to be a part of this exciting project.