A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Colombia, leaving hundreds dead, thousands injured and more than a hundred thousand people affected. The Ford Business Group Foundation works so that families in Chocó and across the country can once again have safe classrooms, standing health centers and a future ahead.
Official UNGRD figures as of 13 August 2026 (preliminary). See sources
We are a Colombian non-profit foundation based in Yopal, Casanare. We focus every peso and every effort on three fronts that define the life of a community: the education of its children, the health of its people and the infrastructure that connects them.
Rebuilding Colombia from its most important foundations.
More than 2,100 educational institutions were affected. We rebuild safe classrooms, starting with the most remote schools in Chocó, where getting there was already a challenge before the quake.
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236 health centers were affected and entire hospitals were evacuated. We support the recovery of hospital infrastructure and bring medical assistance to isolated areas.
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Damaged roads, bridges and aqueducts left entire towns cut off. We rebuild the infrastructure that lets communities move, supply themselves and gather again.
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World Central Kitchen, CC BY 4.0
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake — the strongest Colombia has experienced this century — originated about 110 km deep near San José del Palmar, in Chocó. The tremor lasted nearly two minutes and reached cities such as Cali, Pereira, Manizales and Bogotá.
Source: UNGRD / El Tiempo, official balance as of 13 August 2026 (preliminary and rising figures).
Official UNGRD figures as of 13 August 2026. Assessments are ongoing and numbers may rise.
The epicenter was in Chocó, one of the poorest and most remote departments in Colombia. There, about 80% of the population lives in poverty and many rural schools can only be reached by river. The earthquake did not create this inequality, but it deepened it.
That is why we start where it is hardest to reach: the schools of Chocó left in the middle of nowhere, so that no child is left without a classroom for living far away.
CHOColombia, CC BY-SA 3.0
When the earth shook, all of Colombia held its breath. In seconds, classrooms where children learned and hospitals where life began were reduced to rubble. Our response cannot be resignation.
At the Ford Business Group Foundation we commit to standing with communities until the last school reopens its doors. I invite you to walk this path with us.
Whether as a volunteer, institutional partner or donor, there is a place for you in the reconstruction. Write to us and we will tell you how to begin.