The Most Dangerous Ways to School

Torrential rain and more than 4000 meters above sea level are not the only challenges that nature has placed on the dangerous school route of the youngest inhabitants of the village Kumpur The children of this tiny tribe must walk for over 2 hours then cross the dangerous river Trishuli It is a brutal march and they walk it every day just to obtain a tiny iota of education

Over 30 degrees Celsius barefoot and walking a distance of over 10 kilometers For the children of Massai people in Kenya this is the daily way to school Their way to school takes them through the Dorn Savanna past the elephants and the hyenas All this for just one goal to get to school

The way to school takes 4 daysnbsp It is so long that the children only travel it four times each year They go to a boarding school Twice there and back 100 kilometers 4 000 meters above sea level and in temperatures below minus 30 degrees

On the Titicaca Lake in Peru 3800 meters above sea level totora reeds make life possible The Uros that live here build everything from these plants and live on islands made from these totora reeds Their children paddle every day in selfmade boats to school some for hours at a time This is the way to school for the fascinating unusual culture of the Uros

Oymyakon located in eastern part of Russias Sakha Republic is known as the worlds Pole of Cold Nevertheless every morning the children march to school making their way by temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius Such circumstances would seem completely inconceivable for kids in other regions but in the coldest town in the world it is the beginning of an ordinary day

6yearold Looita and his sister Khadigas route to school is many kilometers long They are confronted with much more than just astounding heat Not one shadow offers coolness water is a rare and expensive commodity Even if a breath of wind blows through the desert it most often quickly evolves into a sandstorm But they deal with this every day so they can go to school

Every morning the three sisters Julia Yulissa and Kenya climb into their dugout in order to row to school They live on the east coast of Nicaragua one of the worlds poorest countries They must row across the Rio Escondido one of the most dangerous routes to their school They must struggle against the current and ensure their tattered dugout does not sink at any minute

The ice covering the river is treacherous and ever-changing in appearance. Despite this, Tuguldur has to find a suitable point at which to cross the river to get to school. The 10-year-old nomadic boy rides his horse alone to school in the north of Mongolia. He cannot trust the ice everywhere. One wrong decision and his horse could slip or break through into the cold water below.

8-year-old Junior and his cousin Ruth journey to school through vast jungles, where unique and dangerous animals are watching. They travel over one hundred kilometers, and on this trip the children fear nothing more than the large Takali river. It separates their home - the jungle - from modern civilization, and has already claimed the lives of many who have attempted to cross it.

Every Monday, little Lorenzo struggles alone over slippery scree and past steep canyons just so he can go to school. His indigenous tribe lives well-hidden in the mountains and have hardly any contact with the outside world. To escape the poverty in his village, Lorenzo must literally overcome heights of over 1000 meters. One careless step and Lorenzo could fall off the edge.

In southern Philippines, the thinly populated coastal strip gives way to sharply rising mountains. Eleven-year-old Aible's school is located in the heart of the mountains. A ride on a motorbike taxi costs only one US-Dollar, but Aible's family simply doesn't have the money, just like most of the families here. For decades, children from Madibago have been taking the shortcut through the jungle.

Every day, the children who live in the Bajo Cauca region face rough, unpredictable wilderness with just one goal in mind: making it to school. Some of them must even cross a ramshackle bridge that could collapse at any moment. One false step and they could drown or break their legs.

Seven-year-old Elmer wants to become an engineer and to build his own house, far away from his remote village. But his only way to school leads over a ravine more than 650 feet deep and about 1000 feet long: a kind of homemade zip-line. He has to entrust his life on a rusty iron pulley and a worn-out plastic bag.