Marco Antonio Lopez Quispe
Sponsorship Operations Assistant
Bolivia
March 21, 2016
I wanted to share Carolay’s story, a mother of one of our sponsored children who has participated in our sponsorship-funded emergency training program.
Before Sponsorship came to their community, Carolay and her daughter Veronica didn’t have any knowledge of how to react in emergencies or natural disasters, such as earthquakes. Save the Children sponsorship programs taught her risk prevention skills and how to safely manage crisis situations, with first aid training and evacuation drills both at home and at school.
Nowadays, Carolay is in charge of the school's student Emergency Brigade. She leads this group of students in taking responsibility for ensuring the safety of their peers at school. With the help of Carolay’s training and guidance, these students have developed their own emergency plans and evacuation routes, and have mapped risk areas inside and outside the school. Broken up into groups of two or three children, the Emergency Brigade monitors the entrance and exit points of the school for the other students, guiding them safely through potential hazards like stairs to avoid accidents.
Carolay is committed to her work with the Emergency Brigade and now feels prepared to deal with any emergency situation that might occur in their community. Her next challenge is to increase other parents’ involvement in the Emergency Brigade. She tells me, "I believe that children are the future of our country and it is important to strengthen their knowledge on preventing dangerous situations and have them learn how to fend for themselves. That is why I thank the sponsors who support Save the Children."
A big thank you from Carolay, Veronica and all the other children at their school in Cochabamba – sponsorship has truly made their school a safer place. Thank you, sponsors!
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