Sports for All – Helping Children in Buritaca

Few areas in Colombia are as overlooked as Buritaca. The small town was one of those hit hardest by the pandemic, as the adults who relied on tourism had no work and children found themselves idling around when schools closed for nearly two years. With no education, no sports programs, and no resources, children were spending time in the streets making bad life choices and getting into trouble.

El Rio Foundation was created to help fill that gap for children in terms of their education and their development. As part of that initiative, they created a program called “El Rio Games”, a multi-sports club to help over 250 children in five different communities.

Through the sports and arts activities, they encourage children to join their Academic Tutoring program, which supports children with their reading, writing, maths, and homework, and helps them practice their English skills with volunteers. They also teach skills such as teamwork, communication, problem-solving, confidence, empathy, and concentration.

Although the schools have resumed this year, there is little funding for education and there is no funding for sports programs. The best equipped school had only two broken hula hoops, 12 cones, and a flat football. Please help us make sure that the children of Buritaca are not forgotten. To read more about El Rio Foundation, please click here.

Your donation can make a big difference for these communities as:

• $10 covers 1.5 hours of Football, Basketball, Cricket or any sport.
• $25 helps one Sports Club for a week for 50 children.
• $50 covers 7 Football Club sessions.
• $100 funds 15 weeks for the Basketball club.
• $250 helps pay for equipment for one community!
• $400 supports a Sports Festival for 150 indigenous children in Quebrada del Sol.