Viva Air Foundation Delivers 5.5 Tons Of Books To Young Readers In Rural & Indigenous Communities Of Cauca & La Guajira, Colombia

In coordination with the “Fuerza de las Palabras (force of words) Foundation,” Colombian low-cost airline Viva Air’s nonprofit affiliate has begun delivering thousands of books to rural and indigenous children in areas near the town of Maicao, on the Venezuelan border in Northeastern Colombia, and in the areas near Miranda, in the southwestern department of Cauca.

The initiative so far has delivered 2 tons of books to Cauca, and 3.5 tons to La Guajira

For the Maicao operations, In July 100 boxes of books were delivered to five communities in the Maicao area, with assistance provided by Maicao’s secretariat of education, the secretariat of indigenous affairs, and the town’s Casa de la Cultura (House of Culture, or cultural conservatory). The initiative follows up on Viva’s delivery of 3,502 school supply kits to youth on the impoverished La Guajira peninsula.

Mónica Gil, CEO of the Viva Air Foundation.

On the other side of Colombia, in a rural area southeast of Cali, Viva and Fuerza de las Palabras worked in coordination with the Miranda mayor’s office, the Casa de la Cultura, and the Colombian army to deliver 2,800 books over three days to the rural and indigenous communities in the region.

“Education occupies a very important chapter within the Viva Air Foundation. Therefore, we focus important human and economic efforts to work for the improvement of educational conditions in the country. We are happy to contribute to the training and development of six thousand children and young people of Miranda, with the delivery of about two tons of books to educational institutions in the municipality. We believe in the importance of creating new and better opportunities for our children to build the future they want. We are sure that together with our allies we can achieve permanent change in the populations that need us the most,” said Tatiana Vásquez, the new Executive Director of the Viva Air Foundation.

With regards to the initiative in Maicao, La Guajira, Viva Air Foundation CEO Mónica Gil stated: “At Viva we have the genuine conviction to work for people’s well-being, and education then becomes a fundamental pillar. With the transport and delivery of these 3.5 tons of books, we want to improve educational conditions and, therefore future prospects of a vulnerable population such as the Maicao community. Through these actions we are contributing to the training, capacity development and empowerment of children. The idea is that they find in education the possibility for development.”

Viva and Fuerza de las Palabras worked in coordination with the Miranda mayor’s office, the Casa de la Cultura, and the Colombian army to deliver 2,800 books over three days to the rural and indigenous communities in the region.