For hundreds of migrant children living in shelters

at the border, this CNN Hero’s mobile classrooms

offer education and stability.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/06/americas/california-mexico-border-school-migrants-cnnheroes?
fbclid=IwAR2erYd4X22r9NBFKBBJ3UAgwQoPn4z1Tg9Ft4Cw3OykIQ-9CchFgUP0QSY

Estefanía Rebellón was a migrant child. She knows the trauma that stems from being forced to flee your
home for safety. Over 70 million migratory and forcibly displaced children live in the world, and she is
aware of their dread and uncertainty. She was 10 when her family fled Cali, Colombia, because of death
threats to her father, who had been forced into hiding. They settled in Miami, and with the support of
teachers at school, Rebellón thrived. Now, she offers education to kids living in shelters along the US-
Mexico border who are in a precarious situation through her non-profit organization , the Yes We Can
World Foundation. When Rebellón was 21 years old, she relocated from Miami to Los Angeles to seek a
career in acting. In 2018, she was so moved after volunteering in migrant camps in Tijuana that she put
her career on hold. To set up a makeshift school at the border, Rebellón and her partner, Kyle Schmidt,
spent roughly $1,000 of their money to buy tents and supplies.They enlisted volunteer teachers to
provide learning opportunities in the camps.

Transforming a bus into a classroom

When the families who had been living in the camps were transferred to shelters in the months that
followed, Rebellón and Schmidt wanted to keep offering educational services. Over the next year,
Rebellón and Schmidt purchased and gutted a bus. They then worked with shelters and drove the
transformed bus over the border. To keep children in school, they aim to provide bilingual educational
programs. The school system run by Rebellón employs professional teachers and tailors their curriculum
to meet the individual requirements of each pupil. Despite the difficulties she had as a child of migrants,
she claims she was fortunate to have teachers who stood up for her and helped her along the way.

Never forgetting her family’s journey

Any time she get a chance, she share her immigration story with the kids. She always want the kids that
come through our programs to realize that being a migrant is not something they need to be ashamed
of. Today, the Yes We Can Foundation teaches 250–300 children every day via its three mobile school
buses,four school locations along the border. According to Rebellón, the organization has helped more
than 3,100 immigrant kids from ten different countries since 2019. They offer their program from 9:00
am to 3:00 pm, Monday through Friday. There are no summer breaks and classes last the full school
year. Additionally, they offer free school materials, bags, and uniforms. Lessons focus on common core
instruction in the subjects of language arts, math, and science as well as addressing practical and
immediate needs like how to translate basic information including phone numbers and addresses.