Facing potential eliminations, Heroe Camina, a staple of the Social Service Program at The Columbus School, might be cut this year due to financial hindrances. 

The three leaders, Alejandro Escobar, Sofia Nuñez and Paloma Urrea, are worried because of reliance on NHS’ monthly budget allocation. They believe that Heroe Camina keeps teens connected to people outside their socio-economic “bubble.” Additionally, they encountered negligence on behalf of school directives. Amidst restless attempts, the leaders decided to reach out to Camilo Polanco for guidance. Everyone remotely responsible for the program is trying their best, but obstacles seem to be piling up daily

“Our program is expensive because bringing the heroes one day [costs] 250 thousand pesos and one entire year would cost 8 million pesos…the Foundation stopped giving us money a couple of years ago so we relied on the money [from NHS],” Sofia Nuñez, one of three Heroe Camina leaders, said.

Money is a burden for many activities at school but not all provide quality time with people that can teach students valuable lessons and share life experiences aside from attending basic english classes.

“I [came] to Hero because I realized that it was fun and enriched our thoughts towards people that [protect] our country. We live in a bubble and having connections with people that have tons of stories and lives different than ours [is something to be] thankful for,” Nuñez said.

Not all TCS students realize how privileged they are, and Heroe Camina seems to offer this experience for students. Even though it’s a teaching space, leaders tried to explain to directives why it was important for students beyond the academic realm.

“Directives don’t even know about the program, they don’t give the program importance and they only look at the english [teaching part] and not the value that it [provides] the students,“ Nuñez said.

Since directives displayed negligence towards Heroe Camina, leaders decided to reach out to Camilo Polanco, the Foundation’s executive director to find middle ground, come up with modifications and salvage the program.

“We want to design a different agenda, we want more activities. Maybe they can watch a movie with the students, play instruments with them, and try robotics. We want to plan a [myriad] of activities which the heroes can choose from,” Polanco said.

With new adjustments Heroe Camina might have a good shot of saving itself,come back as a concrete, strong activity and will surely help more students complete social service hours.

“This is the actual value of the program: to connect, to learn, and to not exclude these type of people from our lives since we are indirectly connected to them [because] they take care of our country,” Nuñez said.