A tribute to children and teachers who risk their lives for the chance to provide and receive an education.

On April 13, 2009, children in the
mountain town of Coracora, Peru, were
walking home from school along with two of their teachers – just as they did every other school day. However, theirs was not like most children’s commutes to and from school in developed countries. Their daily trek included crossing a 130 foot long suspension bridge that spanned a ravine whose bottom lay 320 feet below.

A week before the bridge was schedule to be repaired, the wooden slat and steel cable footbridge snapped in two under the weight of its precious travelers returning home. Seven children, most between 10 and 13 years old, and 2 of their teachers died in the fall. More than 50 other children were injured, many gravely. This month’s featured organization, Bridges to Prosperity, constructs sturdy and reliable bridges in remote areas and provides training to local residents on bridge maintenance and repair. They create opportunity and save lives every day.

In March, 2001, Ken Frantz saw a photo in National Geographic that showed a man being pulled by rope across a gap in a massive stone bridge missing its mid-section in Amhara, Ethiopia. The gap stretched 40 across and loomed 50 feet above the Blue Nile River. That photo captured the sheer guts and determination people living in the world’s most remote areas display on any given day just to survive. With 30+ years of experience in construction and development along with his own business, Ken knew he could fix that bridge. Within a month of seeing the photo, Ken had formed Bridges to Prosperity and found a new calling: to build or repair bridges for the poor around the world.