The Kankuamo are the most westernized indigenous culture of “the four brothers” of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. 

Currently numbering about 12,200 people, the Kankuamo have endured numerous invasions in the past 500 years.
During the 50 year civil war, they suffered disproportionately, over 80% of the population killed in some villages.
Their culture remains under attack, their language is endangered, and their worship sites burned by arsonists.
Despite these challenges, passionate leaders are working to recover their language and cultural heritage.

The schools play a central role in these re-existence efforts.

In September 2018, a Repurpose-IT team was accompanied by members of ONIC on visit to Resguardo Kankuamo.
This implementation in December 2018 was significantly larger than any prior work.
The full Repurpose-IT team trained 51 teachers from 12 schools across the Kankuamo territory.
2,076 Kankuamo students now have access to Repurpose-IT educational tools.

We donated 32 laptops and upgraded 28 existing laptops with open source educational content.
During this implementation, we led focused teacher workshops on art, language, and technology.
The Kankuamo teacher training marked our first workshop for the dinamizor role.

Learn more about the Kankuamo.