Last month we shared the first part of our exploration to visit one of our student's villages. Our two car caravan included Drew, CdK associate Pam, her family and a guest who came from Connecticut, USA.
The student is Eraclio, a young man in our program studying mechanical engineering. He comes from a mountain village of 15 houses and 97 people, that has no roads and no cars.
So, there is no auto access!
We considered this trip invaluable to help us understand the challenges that our students from remote villages face, such as limited access to education, modern culture, and job opportunities. But we couldn't have imagined what we would discover.
We drove over mountains that were 9,500 feet in elevation, entered the jungle zone, then descended a steep rocky mountain for 30 minutes. At the bottom we parked along a wild river and loaded up our backpacks to cross the suspension foot bridge. Hiking through the misty jungle's steep path was like walking into another world! Eraclio explained to us that everything the town needs from the outside world must be brought up that same trail--on their backs.
