“Thanks to the Smurfit Kappa Foundation, on behalf of the Smurfit Kappa Colombia company, since 2007 the Adult Education program has been in process, benefiting an annual average of 48 to 60 students; giving these people the opportunity to finish their secondary education and opening the possibility of future higher education”.

“We are a group of thirteen women and our job is to produce quality coffee, to bring it to be served here, in our store. The Smurfit Kappa Foundation has been supporting us since six months ago, in the design and construction of our store, as well as advising on production. The benefit has been huge because we can sell our coffee at a better price and that increases the income of our families.”

“With the Smurfit Kappa Foundation we have carried out a campaign on sexual and reproductive relationships, in which we involved the mayor’s office and our parents, whom we were able to engage in a better dialogue about sexuality. Now we have more confidence to talk to them about how to approach these issues with us young people. And, as part of the campaign, we had a sit-in in the park where we talked to a lot of people about what we feel, what happens to us, to make them more aware”.

“We have set up a spare parts store with some of the partners from Bankomunal, which has been well received within the community, since for every house in the town there are at least one or two motorbikes. We have done very well with the business and we hope to set up another in the future, if we continue with this dynamic. The Smurfit Kappa Foundation has supported us with advice, especially in the field of investments, and in our financial management, which has helped us a lot.”

“In “El Caracolí” they have helped me a lot to guide my daughter; this has strengthened me a lot as a mother. Thaliana was very dependent on me before, now she is more independent and her sociability has developed a lot. In the family we have also had better communication, better emotional bonds between us and with our neighbours”.

“The Foundation has strengthened me on the subjects of human development, personal growth and education; it also accompanied me with the arrangements to start my Bachelor’s Degree university studies in Children’s Education at the Ibero-American University Corporation of Bogotá. In the Community Mothers’ Association of Cenegueta, where I am the legal representative, we have been trained in pedagogical planning, home security and systems. And in the  parenting classes, we have been taught very important topics for the emotional, physical and intellectual development of the children“.

“For several years, The Tambo has been considered as a territory of heightened tensions, and, despite this, it enjoys hard-working, honest and open people, especially young people with high expectations and dreams; they are the protagonists of the Citizen Management programme of the Smurfit Foundation, and whom we hope will be the path towards peace and life in harmony“.

“The work in the ITAF is aimed at the formation of logical, critical, emotional and cognitive thinking of a handful of youths – girls and boys – who will constitute the generational renewal in the regions they inhabit. All of this founded on education based on principles, ethics, values ​​and controlled development within the framework of good citizenship, to produce honourable men and women who contribute to society and to themselves by realising their dreams through the materialisation of their life projects.“

“I live alone, with two nephews in my care. Being able to bring them to El Caracolí gives me space to work. They have learned values ​​and I have also learned a lot through the seminars they do, because I was not a father and now I can be one. I am very happy and very grateful“.