Connect Education International is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization committed to promoting educational and nutritional opportunities for children in developing countries. Connect Education International has no religious or political affiliations.
Downloads
Partnership Format (pdf)
Photo Gallery
Video Slideshows
Why they suffer....(PPT)
Soy at Santa Luisa (WMV)
(You need to have Powerpoint or Windows Media Player installed to view these slideshows)
La Javilla
<<< Back
This rural community is located in the region of El Salvador infamous for having the highest rate of malnutrition in the country. Most adults from this village work in agriculture harvesting corn and beans or commute to the capital as factory workers and domestic laborers. During the coffee harvest, many of these families stop their daily work to go and pick coffee. Historically the children have been out of school at the time of the coffee harvest so that they can provide extra hands in what once was a lucrative activity in El Salvador. Now, families earn little from the coffee harvest as El Salvador has since fallen from being one of the biggest exporters of coffee in the world.
Many children from La Javilla do not make it past sixth grade. Often children are pulled out of school because their families cannot pay. While education is a public good provided by the government of El Salvador and is thus free, uniforms and school supplies are still costly – expenses that families often cannot spare.
The community of La Javilla struggles with issues such as malnutrition, domestic violence, and alcoholism, but the people struggle in a way that inspires hope. There is a spirit of community amongst the people of La Javilla that makes it obvious when one enters that the people are ‘all in this together’. When asked about the visible generosity in the community, one of the community members responded that food was always shared with those who had none. “We will eat together today,” she said, “and if we have nothing tomorrow, we will suffer together then.”
In January 2007, thanks to the generosity of a wonderful family from St. Louis, the “Louise Naumann Resource Center” was opened in La Javilla. This family decided to name the center after Louise Naumann who has inspired them and served as an amazing example of unconditional love.
The Louise Naumann Resource Center houses 10 computers where 70 students ages six to eighteen have 
computer classes at least once a week. The students are not only learning how to use the computers but also the internet as a source of information they have never had access to before. The computer classes are supplemented by a soy based nutrition program in which the students receive a glass of soy milk and a snack each day they have computer class before going to school.
