FUNDAEC,

Colombia

About FUNDAEC

Mona Partner Since 2020

For over 40 years, the Foundation for the Application and Teaching of Science (FUNDAEC) has worked to strengthen the social fabric, develop human resources at the grassroots (children, youth, community leaders and especially women), and support efforts to achieve spiritual and material prosperity in communities. FUNDAEC’s learning programs aim to transform daily practices to improve the well-being of the entire population.

In 2023, Mona facilitated the purchase of an office building for FUNDAEC’s Research Center in Education for Development, and supported three FUNDAEC programs: Supporting Community Leader's, Transforming the Environment and the expansion of the Preparation for Social Action program to the indigenous Wayuu community.

The Challenge

Income inequality in Colombia is among the worst in the world, and more than a third of the population lives below the poverty line. Forced displacement continues to be prevalent because of violence among guerrillas, paramilitary groups, and Colombian security forces. Afro-Colombian and indigenous populations are disproportionately affected. In Cali, Tuluá, Puerto Tejada and the surrounding areas where FUNDAEC has been working, the youth population are at risk of falling into drug trafficking, drug addiction, delinquency and other social problems.

The Solution: FUNDAEC Programs

All FUNDAEC programs are based on several guiding principles: consider the people as potential resources, not as problems; develop human potential through a proper education that acknowledges and promotes human nobility; work for a development that is not conceived as “Modernization”; engage in the search for pertinent knowledge; avoid offering “pre-packaged” solutions; and recognize the need for endogenous structures in the region that would connect it to corresponding external structures.

Supporting Community Leaders Program

In 2012, FUNDAEC established a program called “Supporting Community Leaders Program” which targets youth between 18 – 25 years old. Created in response to the challenges mentioned above, this program will provide youth with information about existing resources, facilitate access to scholarships, orientation to technical or professional programs, and offer them institutional support so that they can serve as agents of change in their communities.

The target population of this program is young people who have the desire to strengthen the capacities needed to contribute to the material and spiritual development of their communities by inspiring and motivating others to serve, thus contributing to the creation of a culture of peace. They come from populations that are at risk of falling into drug trafficking, drug addiction, delinquency and other social problems.

A small group of young students smiling all holding an educational booklet.

Two students holding an indigenous tree sapling, getting ready to plant it in the ground.

Transforming the Environment

This program emerged in 2021 as the local peoples and institutions gradually returned to in-person activities post-Covid and identified the need for food sovereignty as critical to strengthening the local economy and community life. As the program's strategy evolved, a related objective was added to address the deterioration of the environment on which the livelihood of the communities depends.

Leveraging 100 Tutors from FUNDAEC's Preparation for Social Action (PSA) program and the youth involved in its Supporting Community Leaders program, this initiative aims to train and mobilize 1,000 students, 1,000 parents, and 103 public school teachers in agroforestry (agriculture in small farms with trees) to achieve three inter-related goals:

Enable Food Security - produce diverse and adequate supply of nutritious food to meet the needs of the local population.

Train and build capacity as change agents - Strengthen the training and service component of the program for all participants.

Protect and preserve the environment - plant 10,000 native and almost extinct species of trees (which for decades has provided food and sustenance to the local population) on parcels of land for commercial purposes and to preserve the natural environment.

“Planting Hope” shows one of the fruits of the endeavours made by the Foundation for the Application and Teaching of Science (FUNDAEC) to contribute to the development of communities in the North of Cauca region in Colombia. Through the voices of those who participated in FUNDAEC’s initial efforts in the 1970s, the documentary demonstrates how scientific thought, spiritual perceptions and traditional knowledge converge in a nurturing experience that elevates the potential that rests in the populations who reside in this region and opens the door to a new dimension of life in the countryside and to the resurgence of hope.

Various Programs Offered by FUNDAEC

Among the processes that have received most attention over the years, and around which a considerable amount of knowledge has been generated, is the one related to education. Much has been learned through carefully executed projects addressing education as well as other relevant fields such as agriculture, community organization and local economy. The knowledge generated from these projects has been brought together to formulate a number of education for development programs. These include:

- Preparation for Social Action program (PSA)

- Supporting Community Leaders program

- Sistema de Aprendizaje Tutorial (SAT)

- Native Forest Restoration project (Bosque Nativo)

- Leadership and Community Development program

To date, more than 300,000 youth in Colombia and Latin America have participated in FUNDAEC’s programs.

How we help

Mona Foundation has partnered with FUNDAEC since June 2020.

The Supporting Community Leaders Program has been established in three regions of Colombia, and has reached 223 participants and nearly 2,000 direct beneficiaries. A central team of four members, 6 local coordinators, and 20 facilitators follow the development of the program. Students participate in the program for a period of four years.

2023 Achievements

- Supporting Community Leaders Program:

107 youth from 34 communities empowered as community leaders
6 youth started their own businesses
22 teachers trained

- Transforming the Environment

Collaborating with 11 local government agencies, 12 schools, 15 NGOs and 21 community leaders
1,023 participants currently in the program from 42 communities
14,810 trees planted!
Each tree is labelled specifying the species, a code that identifies it and initials of person responsible.
8,972 trees registered and georeferenced so far

- Purchased building for a Research Center in Education for Development

2024 Needs - $192,163

Supporting Community Leaders Program, $72,163

Continue to support 60 youth in the program
Adding 5 groups of about 10 participants each
3 Complementary courses will be held during the year
Scholarships include:
50 students enrolled in vocational or professional programs.
10 productive projects supported with financing.
20 visits made to productive projects.
10 young people learning a trade.

Transforming the Environment, $120,000

Program to continue to leverage 100 PSA Tutors and 1,023 participants to advance their efforts to agroforestry
Accompanying three community nurseries to thrive and each produce 2,000 trees/year
Goal to plan 8,000 new trees together with geotagging
Strengthen the education of teachers and groups in literacy, agroforestry and practical care of the trees