Chapter

Colombia & Venezuela Chapter

Free literacy services in Colombia — serving vulnerable Colombian youth and Venezuelan migrant families in Bogotá's Ciudad Bolívar, Usme, San Cristóbal, and Bosa localities.

The Context

Two Crises, One Mission

Venezuela’s economic and political collapse has driven nearly 7 million people from their homeland—one of the largest displacement crises in modern history. Colombia, which shares a 1,400-mile border with Venezuela, has absorbed the greatest share: approximately 2.85 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants as of late 2025, according to Colombia’s migration authorities and the R4V regional platform.

At the same time, Colombia faces its own internal displacement crisis, with 7.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs)—the second-largest displaced population in the world. In Bogotá’s marginalized peripheral localities of Ciudad Bolívar, Usme, San Cristóbal, and Bosa, these two vulnerable populations converge: Colombian families displaced by decades of armed conflict living alongside Venezuelan families who have fled across the border with little more than what they could carry.

Our Colombia & Venezuela Chapter operates at the intersection of these converging crises, providing free literacy and educational services to both Colombian vulnerable communities and Venezuelan migrant families in some of Bogotá’s most underserved neighborhoods.

Understanding the Need

Challenges

Gang recruitment & street violence
In informal settlements across Bogotá’s periphery, gangs and armed networks involved in microtráfico target unsupervised children during out-of-school hours as lookouts and couriers. Structured learning environments create a safe haven—each hour in a classroom reinforces a child’s identity as a student rather than a target for criminal recruitment.
Human trafficking & sexual exploitation
Predatory networks prey on vulnerable girls and migrant youth in informal settlements, where institutional oversight is limited. Trusted classroom environments provide consistent mentorship and serve as an early-detection mechanism for signs of abuse.
Displacement & integration barriers
Many families are internally displaced (desplazados) or Venezuelan migrants facing severe learning gaps. Research shows that 27.5% of Venezuelan children in Colombia are outside the education system, with a school-lag rate exceeding 72%. Documentation hurdles, xenophobia, and unfamiliar curricula prevent enrollment. Free remedial literacy bridges these gaps and helps children enter and remain in formal school.
Poverty & early school dropout
Even when public schooling is nominally free, the hidden costs of uniforms, supplies, and transportation force families to choose between education and survival. Core literacy, digital literacy, and English fundamentals open pathways to formal employment and break cycles of intergenerational poverty.
Venezuelan documentation & enrollment barriers
Despite Colombia’s open-door education policy, Venezuelan families encounter administrative obstacles, lack of health-system affiliation, and discrimination. Approximately 476,000 Venezuelans in Colombia remain without regularized status, leaving their children especially vulnerable to educational exclusion.
Making a Difference

Our Approach

The Colombia & Venezuela Chapter serves a dual population that few programs address holistically: vulnerable Colombian youth from displaced and marginalized communities and Venezuelan migrant families seeking stability in an unfamiliar country. Our programming reflects this reality with two interconnected tracks.

Children & Youth Literacy: We deliver free remedial literacy, digital skills, and English instruction to children and young people in Ciudad Bolívar, Usme, San Cristóbal, and Bosa. For Venezuelan students, these classes serve as a critical bridge into the Colombian school system—addressing curriculum gaps, building language confidence, and providing the academic foundation needed to enroll in and persist through formal education. For Colombian youth from displaced families, our classrooms offer a structured alternative to the street, transforming vulnerable after-school hours into constructive learning time.

Adult Literacy for Women: A distinctive strength of this chapter is our adult literacy program for older women—both Colombian and Venezuelan—who missed educational opportunities earlier in life. By equipping mothers and grandmothers with reading, writing, and basic digital skills, we create a multiplier effect: literate caregivers become advocates for their children’s education, reinforcing the value of learning at home and rebuilding generational trust in educational institutions.

Safe Spaces & Community Anchoring: Beyond instruction, our classrooms function as trusted neighborhood hubs. In communities where institutional presence is limited and distrust runs high, our consistent presence builds social capital. Volunteer educators serve as mentors, providing emotional support and early identification of children at risk of exploitation, trafficking, or recruitment. Every class is a counterweight to the street pressures that surround these communities.

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Help us provide free literacy services to vulnerable Colombian youth and Venezuelan migrant families in Bogotá.

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