Across Colombia, having safe, earthquake-resistant classrooms is a huge deal for keeping students protected and making sure school stays open no matter what ¹. In August 2026, a major 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia, damaging over 5,300 schools nationwide and leaving more than 500 campuses needing full rebuilds ². Across the Bucaramanga metro area, where over 26% of families face poverty and almost half rely on informal work, public schools are the ultimate neighborhood hubs ³. When earthquakes wreck school buildings, low-income communities rarely get quick government repair budgets, forcing kids into packed classrooms or putting their education on pause ⁴.
In a peripheral neighborhood of Colombia's Andean Region is a school that is the vibrant heart of the area, serving around 265 kids aged 4 to 13. Back in 2025, HXP built a multi-use classroom block on campus—a build that stood totally rock-solid when the 2026 quake hit. But all of the other classrooms, which the community had originally built on their own weren’t so lucky. The earthquake left massive cracks running through the walls, and engineers immediately shut down some spaces as unsafe hazards. With zero public funding to fix it, students have been squeezed into shared, less damaged rooms just to keep up with their daily classes.
To help sustain learning at this school, HXP Builders is teaming up with local partners to construct a brand-new, earthquake-resistant classroom block. Built to top-tier structural safety standards, this new space completely eliminates room-sharing, gives these 265 students a bright, secure place to learn every day, and ensures their school stands strong for years to come.
Sources
¹ UNICEF – Colombia Humanitarian Action & Education Recovery Appeal
² World Bank Group – Colombia Earthquake Disaster Risk Management & School Infrastructure Report
³ DANE – Bucaramanga Metropolitan Area Poverty and Labor Informality Indicators
⁴ DANE & Ministry of Education – Santander Department Educational Infrastructure & Quality Assessment