Piecitos in Colombia

The school has tripled the number of students enrolled since its incorporation in 2009. Among the educational improvement projects that have had the greatest impact is the Art Initiation Course, which has enhanced the school's cultural heritage and allowed children to visit art exhibitions at the National, Botero and Gold Museums. The centre has also managed to generate a concern for educational entrepreneurship in favour of the environment, and so the students recycle elements and transform them into new handicraft products that they then sell to their community to obtain resources for their self-sufficiency. They also develop the cultivation of vegetables in the school garden for self-consumption and food production through baking.

Our relationship with the school dates back to 2012. In this journey together, the school curriculum has been reinforced with new methodologies, such as the collaboration with the Empieza por Educar Foundation, in which volunteer teachers from Spain have shared strategies with teachers for classroom management and the construction of a life project for students ("I want, I can"). Aware of the importance of STEM areas, students have participated in the "Science Club": an initiative to enhance observation and analysis skills. Not forgetting the promotion of reading as a basis for learning, through its renovated library.

Since the arrival of Piecitos in 2011 and thanks to its comprehensive intervention, the number of pupils has doubled. The school stands out for the volunteering actions promoted by the children of Prosegur employees who - with scholarships from the Foundation - want to give back this help by working for their community. Workshops on music, personal safety and physical education are offered. A centre with which we collaborate in the detection of talent so that its most outstanding students continue their education. And it supports secondary school students by organising University and Technical Fairs to provide them with guidance once they have finished school.

Given the precarious initial state of the buildings, classrooms, toilets and hostel facilities were rebuilt. Being a centre closely linked to its natural environment, since the implementation of the Nutritional Guide, an extensive vegetable garden was built with 100% recycled materials. Vegetables, fruit and medicinal plants are grown there for community use, and the vermicomposting technique is introduced to produce organic fertiliser. To promote healthy lifestyle habits, Prosegur Volunteers organise the "Piecitos Olympics": competitions related to traditional games that revalue the culture of the region through sport.

Incorporated into the programme in 2015, the school works by focusing on the physical, mental and emotional well-being of students as a basis for boosting their academic development. With the support of Prosegur volunteers, they dedicate spaces for students to acquire teamwork and resilience skills through sport; they implement activities that invite self-reflection and assertive communication; and they schedule workshops with experts to reinforce concepts on the importance of protecting and caring for the environment, as well as reinforcing the maintenance of cultural heritage.

Since the school joined in 2017, one of the school's priority objectives has been to improve reading comprehension, awakening in children a taste for reading. It has successfully implemented the "Expedición Brújula" programme, in collaboration with the organisation Fundalectura, through which teachers have acquired new strategies and pupils have adopted the habit of reading as part of their learning. In addition, with the support of Prosegur volunteers, the "Diviértete Comiendo Bien" game was launched to reinforce the knowledge acquired with the Nutritional Guide and a vegetable garden was built to supply the school canteen. 

Incorporated into the programme in 2017, the Nutrition Training Guide has already been implemented to reinforce, through education, healthy eating, hygiene and food handling practices. Themes that have helped the community to make better use of its resources. Students from the institution have also participated in the Créate Foundation's entrepreneurship programme, "Awaken, Create and Transform - The Use of Technology", where they presented innovative solutions to solve problems in their environment.

Since joining piecitos in 2019, Prosegur Volunteers helped improve its infrastructure: roofs, windows, pedestrian walkways, as well as the repair of the perimeter fence. Aware of the impact of the digital divide on the continuity of education, computer equipment recycled by the company's technology areas has been donated so that students who lack devices are not left behind in their education.