Crepes & Waffles
Designing new ways to learn: rethinking rural education through local experience
CONTEXT
In Cajamarca, Tolima—a ZOMAC region historically impacted by armed conflict—Crepes & Waffles committed to a unique form of territorial development: building a high-quality rural public school. This initiative gave birth to La Leona School, built through Colombia’s “Obras por Impuestos” mechanism, and designed to inspire learning through dignity and desire: “This makes you want to learn.”
From the start, the goal was clear: it wasn’t just about building a school—it was about cultivating a powerful educational model to transform the way rural children experience learning.
CHALLENGE
Crepes & Waffles saw the school as more than a building—it was a living space, where learning meant caring, transforming, and creating new possibilities for the territory and its people.
The challenge was to co-create an educational strategy tailored to the rural context—one that connects students with their environment, their culture, and their future. That’s when Actual joined the effort to bring the school to life with a contextual, purpose-driven model.
SOLUTION
Actual led a deep immersion process to understand the students’ daily lives, their aspirations, their cultural and territorial realities. In parallel, we reviewed the school’s Institutional Education Project (PEI) to identify opportunities for pedagogical innovation.
This led to the creation of a context-sensitive learning model centered on active and experiential education, where students connect school knowledge with real life. Three pilot programs were co-designed with expert partners:
Biodiversity Classroom (with Oasis Agroecología): A regenerative school garden becomes a living classroom, blending academic content with agroecological practices and environmental awareness.
Rural Entrepreneurship Program (with CESA): “Be effective to generate income” is a pilot that fosters entrepreneurial thinking among students, showing them they can learn and earn, helping reduce school dropout rates.
Learn to Read Together Program: A literacy program that strengthens foundational reading and writing skills in primary school, unlocking long-term educational and personal development.
IMPACT
The project took shape as a contextualized educational model that integrates infrastructure, pedagogy, and community—positioning La Leona as a benchmark for rural educational innovation.
Through the integration of the Biodiversity Classroom, the School Entrepreneurship component, and the "Let’s All Learn to Read" program, students have strengthened their connection to the territory, gained practical tools for personal development, and broadened their professional horizons.
This experience highlights the importance of rethinking the Institutional Educational Project (PEI)—a process that continues today, reaffirming education as a true pathway for social mobility and collective development.
CONCLUSION
La Leona School proves that it’s possible to turn structural educational challenges into tangible development solutions. The school has become a space where students shape their identity, imagine future possibilities, and build real life projects.