La Escuelita (The Little School)
La Escuelita, the little school, is a joint project between The Rosa Vera Fund and Consejo de Salud Rural Andino (CSRA), a Bolivian non-profit health network. La Escuelita provides much-needed services for the children and families of Montero. The Rosa Vera children are finally able to attend school and receive physical, speech, and occupational therapy in a safe environment: halls and doorways are wide enough to accommodate wheel chairs and all rooms are equipped with grab bars and other safety features. The children are also able to receive therapy close to their homes, rather than traveling two hours each way to the nearest therapy center in Santa Cruz.
More than a school
But La Escuelita is more than a school and therapy center. It also plays a vibrant role in the community, offering workshops on pre-natal care, nutrition, and women’s health. RVF’s health-care workers also attend training and enrichment classes at the school.
La Escuelita provides an educational environment for both special needs children and mainstream children, an educational situation common in the United States but unheard of in Bolivia.
La Escuelita has become a source of pride for the residents of Montero, many of whom live in homes with dirt floors that lack running water and electricity. The brightly colored walls, gracious interior courtyard area, and indoor plumbing provides students, families and local health-care workers with a modern, safe and clean place to call their own.
The latest news
Founder Jonathan Melk, Chairperson Karen Melk, and Chief Medical Officer Darlene Melk recently met with our medical partners, Consejo de Salud Rural Andino, via video conference and shared exciting news about La Escuelita. It has been a dream for us to put together a multidisciplinary team for the children in Montero and it is now happening. In addition to physical therapy, which happens every day, and speech therapy on Sundays, we now have a special education teacher who is coming twice a week. The specialists are working together and discussing the cases so that they can focus on the areas that will yield the most success.
There is magic happening at La Escuelita. It is a place where many lives are being affected in very positive ways. Thank you to all of our donors for making this magic possible.
Doctors and volunteers gather in front of La Escuelita during a recent work trip
Dr. Jonathan Melk addressing RVF families in La Escuelita’s multi-purpose room
Physical Therapist Jeanette working with RVF patient Yoselín in one of the therapy rooms
RVF patient Joanquín shows off his artwork at La Escuelita.
We continue to expand and make improvements to La Escuelita
Sarah in the La Escuelita kitchen preparing nutritious snacks for RVF patients.
“Thanks to the Rosa Vera Fund, all the children that we take care of get the necessary stimulation in order to develop and work at their highest potential so they can be included at home and in school. Our goal is to make them as independent as possible.” — Miriam Fuentes, Special Education Teacher