Please join us in extending a warm welcome to our new Field Partner in Colombia, CampoAlto!
Founded in 1996, CampoAlto first set out to bridge Colombia’s education gap in the medical field by training people to become nursing assistants. Recognizing the tremendous need for technical education options, it has since expanded to include a broad range of studies including business administration, law, fashion design, education, health, hotel business and gastronomy. 
CampoAlto student and Kiva borrower Idalith, studying health administration.
CampoAlto's bold mission statement -- "To develop and provide access to high quality educational services, thereby improving Colombia’s human resources and knowledge base, and establishing ethical values in business" -- has guided it toward adopting policies and class schedules that accommodate the unique needs of their students, of which 78% are women and 27% live below the poverty line.
To help them launch their careers, CampoAlto works with a network of private companies to place students in internships that could become full-time positions.
Kiva's zero-interest capital will help the institution offer an established loan program to students who couldn’t otherwise afford tuition. This gives CampoAlto the support it needs to reinvest its own revenue to improve facilities and open up new branches throughout Colombia.
We recently posed this question on Twitter: Is there a moral obligation to educate the billions of people in this world who are intellectually starved?
Unsurprisingly, the answer from our followers was overwhelmingly YES. We share our community's enthusiasm for education, and this new partnership is one way that we are working to help feed the intellectually hungry.
Unsurprisingly, the answer from our followers was overwhelmingly YES. We share our community's enthusiasm for education, and this new partnership is one way that we are working to help feed the intellectually hungry.
Support one of CampoAlto's students today here. If all loans are funded, stay tuned for more soon.
Questions or comments about Kiva and our partnership with CampoAlto? Email us at blog@kiva.org.
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