Programs
Supporting students, empowering women, and expanding access to education — one community at a time.
School Lunch Program: Escuela Loma Partida + Escuela Cerro Brujo
A nourishing lunch helps students stay focused, energized, and ready to learn. At both of our partner schools, many children arrive without a reliable meal, and hunger can make the school day feel long and difficult.
UMeUs supports daily lunches for:
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125 students (K–9) at Escuela Loma Partida
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65 students (K–6) at Escuela Cerro Brujo
To provide a complete, nutritious meal for all 190 students, including protein (usually chicken) and fresh vegetables like garlic, peppers, onions, carrots, and celery, the program costs $1,500 per week.
Each meal comes out to about $2.60 per student, covering ingredients, transport, and cooking — a small cost that makes a big difference in a child’s school day.
This program is one of the most direct and immediate ways to support Ngäbe students — strengthening attendance, improving energy and focus, and helping children show up ready to learn.
TRANSPORTATION TO SCHOOL
Transportation to school is often a costly endeavor. There are many community schools in this off-grid area but most schools do not have the resources to accommodate grades K-12. Loma Partida school offers grades K-9 while Cerro Brujo school offers grades K-6. Upon graduating the children must travel an average of 5-10 miles to the nearest school. All travel is by boat- there are no roads or infrastructure on most of the islands in the archipelago. Gasoline costs $5-6/gallon and often each student will pay $5 per trip to school in order to split the transportation costs. That's $25/week for one student in the family to go to school. The average day wage is $15-20. Very tough on these families that often have more than one child in school.
