New classrooms launch the “From Zero to Forever” project in Algarrobo, Magdalena

Cienaga, April 5, 2023

*Alvaro Daza, senior community relations supervisor for Drummond Ltd. in Magdalena, in the company of the Mayor of Algarrobo, children from the CDI, and other volunteers.

With the official handover of three classrooms and a bathroom at the Mundo Feliz Child Development Center in Algarrobo, Magdalena, Drummond Ltd. and the mayor of Algarrobo have put in place optimal conditions to promote the education of children in the area of influence of the railroad.

The infrastructure facilitated the transfer of 60 children from community homes, cared for by mothers, to join the “Zero to Forever” program. This brings to 240 the number of children who have benefited from this strategy, which aims to improve the quality of life of young children by providing them with comprehensive care and a good environment for their development.

These classrooms were built in accordance with the technical parameters of the ICBF, to guarantee a safe and developmentally appropriate environment for the children.

“The work helps strengthen services to children in Algarrobo, creating incentives for these mothers to support their children. At the CDI we have an interdisciplinary team. This work benefits the communities and these working mothers who leave their children here, trusting they will be well cared for and safe. There won’t be any problems at home…because sometimes we leave them in the care of someone else, without knowing if they are really safe,” said Lorena Sanchez, one of the project’s beneficiaries.

The donation of these classrooms by Drummond Ltd. is in addition to 8 children’s development centers the company and its partners have supported in Magdalena in recent years. The centers have received improvements to their facilities such as the construction of new classrooms, new roofs and floors, the installation of ventilation systems and other improvements necessary to ensure the wellbeing and safety of the little ones.

Licet Prieto, Mayor of Algarrobo, who participated in the process to expand and remodel the children’s development center, stated: “It’s been very important to the administration to have a strategic partner like the multinational Drummond. We know that our boys and girls now have this space. It is something very significant for them. When they came in, they said, “Wow!” The joy and excitement of these children sends us a message: that having decent conditions will affect them for the rest of their lives.”

Thus, through its social management, Drummond Ltd. demonstrates its commitment to the education and development of the community where it operates, helping improve the quality of life of the communities in its area of influence and promoting sustainable and equitable development in the region.