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Help bring education to every child in the Amazons.
The education crisis is enormous. But together, we can solve it. Whether you choose to join us by giving once, or on a monthly basis, know that your generosity will help children transform their world.
Why Schools?
Tens of thousands of children in Amazon jungle communities go without an education. We're on a mission to change that.
Each year, students all over the world are expected to go to school. Despite the idea of schools being similar in most places, the buildings school children get their education can vary immensely. In the United States, schools are supplied with heat and AC, they are safe, structured buildings. In Europe, students might find themselves in a historic building with new technology. In Japan, classrooms are adorned with smart boards and nice wooden desks for students to sit in during class. But, in the floodplains of the Amazon River, schools provide a much different setting for pupils.
Schools located in the floodplains of the Amazon River are trying their best to provide an education for their students. But, as the river rises annually buildings get flooded, often shutting down educational institutions for 4 to 6 months every single year. In 2021, this area stayed above the emergency flood threshold of 29 meters for a whopping 91 days. Additionally, before school can even begin mud and debris must be cleared, and repairs need to be made. For this to occur, the flood must recede, which means more waiting for teachers and students to get back to work. This flooding causes a lot of damage to the structural integrity of the buildings, making them not particularly safe. Unfortunately, repairs are rarely made due to a lack of resources and funding. Anything besides cleaning and repainting is usually left undone.
The closure of schools here greatly diminishes the quality and quantity of education students can receive. There is an unpredictable nature to going to school in this area that makes it difficult for educational goals to be reached. As a result, the adult literacy rate in this area compared to others in Brazil is nearly 10% less
Apart from the closures, the schools themselves are underfunded. Schools with less than 30 students do not receive federal funding for construction; all funding for these schools must be provided by the municipality that oversees these communities. They are built on thin wooden boards with no insulation. In one of the hottest and most humid places on earth, they are not equipped with air conditioning. Of course, it is hard for students to concentrate on their lessons when there is so much discomfort in the classroom.
Floods and inadequate conditions are not the only things that stop children in this area from learning. These rural schools have little access to quality education. There are too many students per teacher, leading to not enough space. Labs, libraries, and electronics are unavailable to students on the floodplains. Of the 118 schools in the rural area of Parintins, 39 schools do not have internet access and only 6 have a functioning computer lab. None of these schools have a library.
Many students in this area do not complete their education for all the reasons above. This results in illiteracy, a lack of teachers coming back into the system, and an inability to move out of the floodplains altogether, if that is what is desired. Overall, education in the floodplains is riddled with lack. Lack of funding, lack of teachers, lack of infrastructure, lack of safety, and lack of proper education.
But we can change that with your help. Sunshine Life envisions a world where education is much easier to come by in this area. We want to inspire and provide educational opportunities to enrich the lives of students in these communities. To do so, we attack this problem at the source by building schools at least a meter above water. This allows for students to be taught year-round, minimizes damage caused by flooding and allows for computer labs and libraries to be built. But, to do this we need to act now.
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