I believe there is a momentous opportunity now to address the global lack of access to educational materials, using digital technology. The growth of mobile networks across developing countries has boomed in recent years; over the past year alone, mobile telecommunications services in developing nations have grown 78%, and 39% of the developing world now has access to 3G networks.
Ecuador, where the theory of evolution was first conceived, is home to a unique richness of life and natural resources. However, like all countries, our most precious resources are our young people. The true measure of our success as country and a people is how well we prepare them for the future. In fact, the education of our young is so important that we have tripled our investment in this sector over the last six years. No other national resource will impact our social and economic well-being as this.
It doesn't take a meteorologist to see that Araruna is located in one of the driest regions in Brazil, and it doesn't take an economist to see that it is also in one of the poorest. In a city of roughly 20,000, the infrastructure is limited, investment is nonexistent, and the unemployment rate is extremely high.
At buildOn, we believe the power of our programs lie in the direct connection between U.S. inner-city students and community members in rural villages around the globe. While U.S. students work to rebuild their neighborhoods through service, villagers around the globe are contributing volunteer labor to build schools for their children. And through buildOn's Trek for Knowledge Program, these two seemingly different groups of people are joined together in one goal: to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service and education.
