Dangerous road to school

For most children and their parents, crossing the road on their way to school is the most dangerous part of their journey to school. But look at the Chinese children from Genguang village. Every day, these children walk along a dangerous cliff road to get to their school in Bijie, in the southwest of China's Guizhou province. Banpo Elementary School is halfway up the mountain, and their path winds along a dangerous cliff, passes through passes and tunnels. This paved path is less than 0.5 meters wide, which means that children must cling to the rock to squeeze further. This "road" appeared 40 years ago as an irrigation ditch, and although there is another, safer route, but it takes two hours. The only thing that somehow calms the parents is that 49 children are accompanied by an experienced teacher.

1. This story may seem incredible to some, but for children from similar regions, such a road is a common routine on the way to knowledge.

2. You will be surprised to learn what dangerous roads some children have to go to school.

3. For example, in Sumatra, Indonesia, about 20 students with a strong will to knowledge must walk a rope at a height of one meter above the river to get to their class in Padang city.

4. By the way, that's not all – after crossing the river, they still have to walk 11 km through the jungle. Thus, local children have been going to school for two years now, after heavy rains washed away the suspension bridge located here.

5. In another Indonesian village, Sangyang Tangyung, children living on the other side of the Siberang River must cross a broken suspension bridge to get to the other side, where their school is located.

6. Of course, you can get to the other side by another way, but then it will take them half an hour more to get on the road.

7. And these children do not want to be late, so they choose a shorter, but dangerous path.

8. But there is also good news: the largest steel producer in Indonesia, PT Krakatau Steel, has decided to build a new bridge to replace the old one, which was damaged by a flood in January 2012.

9. In another Indonesian village, children are quietly riding bicycles along the aqueduct that separates the village of Suro from the village of Plempungan in Java.

10. Children prefer this path, because it is shorter, although this aqueduct is not designed for people to walk on it.

11. And even though it is dangerous, children prefer it rather than a detour that is 6 km longer.

12. In the Philippines, elementary school students use inflatable car tires to cross a river on their way to school in a remote village in Rizal Province, east of tManila.

13. Students have to walk for at least an hour to get to school (and back).

14. And if the river overflows its banks due to heavy rains, students have to skip classes or take shelter in the homes of relatives.

15. The local community has petitioned the government to build a suspension bridge and make the crossing easier, faster and safer.

15. At least Filipino kids have tires. And these Vietnamese children don't even have that. Dozens of children from 1st to 5th grade swim twice a day to get to school and back. In the town of Trong Hoa, the road to school passes through the river. And so that clothes and textbooks do not get wet, children put them in bags and swim across the river almost naked. On the other side, they take out clothes and put them on. This river is 15 m wide and about 20 meters deep.

17. Such gondola bridges are quite common in Nepal, where there are practically no good roads. Children use them to get to the other side. For decades, this lack of safety measures has led to numerous accidents. Fortunately, now several charitable organizations are trying to build safe crossings.

18. In Colombia, the children of several families living in the rainforest, 65 km southeast of Bogota, go to school on these ropes connecting the two sides of the village. It's the only way to get to school. The steel cables are 800 m long and suspended 400 m above the Rio Negro River. This girl Daisy Mora and her brother Yamid are moving at a speed of 80 km/h. Yamid is sitting in a bag because he is too young (5 years old) to cross the river on his own. The journey takes 60 seconds.

19. But back to China…

20. These children live in a boarding school in Pili, and every day they have to overcome the road on dangerous cliffs.

21. This road is located in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Children must cross these cliffs once a semester.

22. Children must also wade through the cold waters of the river, then cross a 200-meter bridge and four narrow bridges. The journey takes two days!

23. And finally, this photo should finally awaken in your children the desire to learn! This girl clearly intends to gain knowledge – she goes to school in the midst of the conflict between Israeli troops and Palestinians in the refugee camp in Shuafat.