On Wednesday morning, we headed up into the mountains to the town of La Avanzada.  It was a crazy ride zigzagging back and forth and then heading up a rutted dirt road for about an hour.  The road was narrow and there were no guard rails so it was very exciting!  We went straight to the little public school.  It is the building in the second picture.  The little girl in the top picture was dressed like a cow girl because she is going to be in a competition with some other schools.  The school is very overcrowded and teaches kids who are in preschool-6th grade.  They go for half a day.  Most children drop out in the 2nd or 3rd grade - most will go through their lives without ever learning to read.  When CALMS first came to the school, the children were so malnourished that they didn't even have the energy to play.  Most families exist by eating tortillas - and maybe corn and beans.  No milk, no fruit.  They can buy Coke cheaper and they also drink a lot of coffee because they grow it in the area.  But things have changed because now each child gets a protein drink each day. It has milk as one of the ingredients.  The children bring a cup to school.  Several moms come in and volunteer to prepare it each day.  Now the children are in better health than they have been before.  However, they still suffer from parasites in their tummies because of the water.  They were so precious and loved having their pictures taken.  The bottom picture shows Bob looking at a coffee bean plant.  He thought coffee grew in cans so it was an interesting lesson for him.