Supporting the k-12 education needs for children in the orphanage system and continuing education through college or technical school once they age out of the system is key helping them break the cycle of poverty and abandonment and providing the opportunity to create a better future for themselves, their families and their community.
Corazon de Vida’s Back to School campaign covers tuition, uniforms, backpacks, school supplies and transportation costs for over 500 students from kinder to university. All Baja public schools require uniforms, which is good because orphanage students do not look different than any other students. CDV’s education program provides scholarship-based funding for teens aging out of the orphanage system and it includes funding for inscriptions, tuitions, housing, living expenses and transportation, all depending on each student’s situation.
Corazon de Vida started its Continuing Education Program with 3 students who entered university in the 2011/ 2012 school year. Currently, 45 past orphanage residents are in college or technical school in Baja, with 15 that have graduated with a bachelor’s degree in majors such as accounting, psychology, education, culinary, medicine, nursing and business. CDV Alumni are now serving as role models to their younger ‘siblings’ at the orphanages!
Together, we can help our children go from victims to empowered future leaders! Help us transform their lives by making a donation to our Back to School campaign HERE
You could also help our children have everything they need for a successful school year by donating any of the Back to School items in our Amazon Wishlist
Education is one of our three main programs in which we support the children living at the orphanages. We provide funds to buy uniforms, backpacks, school supplies and pay school fees. We also have been able to implement programs like Raz-Kids to enrich the children's literacy skills while also teaching computer/tech skills. Raz-Kids, lead by our volunteer teachers Leah and Karissa, is a computer system that teaches reading skills in both English and Spanish.
We have some of the most dedicated leaders in the orphanages on board, striving to help the children with their lessons.
In Ebenezer, Eli and Lulu are dedicated to the Raz-Kids program. They have such positive energy and love that transcends into the home. With the school year starting they are still trying to get into the hang of things. Internet can be slow at this orphanage but we were able to give two laptops from a recent donation to the home to help with the program.
In Hacienda, house leader Elizabeth is dedicated to keep the Raz-Kids program into the home. The kids are in a new school this year with higher demand in homework to help them learn and keep their mind flowing. They were also able to receive three laptops from our donation to help out.
Sion has the highest Raz-Kids use for the past month mostly due to the new fast Internet connection and the house leader Mayra, who is working harder than ever to help the kids use the Raz-Kids program. Mayra expressed how the kids are begging to use Raz-Kids after they finish their homework!
With the support of our leaders and the wonderful donation of the laptops by High Tech High North County in San Marcos, we are happy to say that the reading program is working well in the orphanages! If you have any laptops or desktops in good condition that can be used in the computer labs, or if you like to support a specific home with better satellite internet service for a more reliable connection, please contact us for more information.