They climb up mountainous paths, swim across rivers or fight their way through icy wastelands with -50 degrees Celsius.
Their path takes them through amazing natural landscapes, producing spectacular scenery for a very ordinary task.
The participants, at times without shoes, are mere students on their way to school.
Episode 1: Philippines

Episode one follows the children from Madibago in the southern Philippines. They have one of the most spectacular and dangerous ways to school in the world.
Some walk alone through the jungle for hours and others risk their lives in order to make it past a steep face of rock and boulders. Each rock face is covered by overgrown tree roots and slippery moss.
Episode 2: Ethiopia

Episode two follows the schoolchildren in Ethiopia. When they wake up to the first rays of sunshine, the temperature is already over 30 degrees Celsius.
They live in a village by the Danakil desert in northeast Ethiopia, near an active volcano, in a region that is the world’s hottest on average.
Amongst these children are 6-year-old Looita and his sister Khadiga. Their route to school, which is many kilometres long, takes these children of the Afar tribe over jagged earth, over seemingly endless lengths, and every day they are confronted with much more than just the astounding heat.
Episode 3: Bolivia

Visit the Yungas Valley in Bolivia in episode three: a unique landscape, where the Andes Mountains meet the Amazon Rain Forest.
In this remote section of one of the poorest countries in South America, children have a very long and incredible dangerous walk to school ahead of them. All for one goal: education – for a better life.
Seven-year-old Elmer wants to become an engineer and to build his own house, far away from the 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 live on a rusty iron pulley and a worn plastic bag.
Episode 4: Nicaragua

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 world’s poorest countries, and the youngest of them has just turned five; the oldest is nine.
They row across the Rio Escondido. Not only is it one of the largest rivers in the country, it is simultaneously one of the most dangerous routes to school.
While they have to watch out for snakes lurking in the trees over the river, the three sisters also struggle against the current and must ensure the dugout does not fill up with water – because it has multiples holes and could sink at any minute.
Episode 5: Colombia

In northern Colombia, in the region Bajo Cauca, more than 180 miles north of Medellín, the landscape is marked by water and seemingly endless expanses.
Every day, the children who live there face this rough, unpredictable wilderness – with just one goal in mind: making it to school. Because this is their chance to break out of poverty and create a better life.
Like the ten year old Kendys and the other schoolchildren. For this, they subject themselves to a daily dose of danger.
Episode 6: Mexico

Every Monday, little Lorenzo struggles alone as he makes his way over slippery scree and past steep canyons. And all this just so he can go to school and receive something to eat there.
The 6-year-old lives in northwest Mexico in the extensive Sierra Madre Occidental. This is the home of his people, the Rarámuri. These indigenous peoples live well-hidden in the mountains and have hardly any contact with the outside world. Their daily lives revolve around agriculture and livestock; poverty is a big issue for the Rarámuri.
To escape this fate, Lorenzo must literally overcome more than 1000 metres altitude. One small lapse of concentration, one careless step and Lorenzo could fall off the edge.
Episode 7: Mongolia

Episode four travels to Mongolia, a place with a harsh unforgiving climate.
Following two Mongolian school kids we’ll see them crossing icy, treacherous and every-changing rivers. One small miss-step and they could be killed or crippled for life.
Episode 8: Kenya

Episode five shows the way to school leads two schoolchildren through the leopards valley in Kenya – infamous for roaming predators.
The Kenyan savanna is a huge open air zoo with an incredible diversity of species. Seen from the perspective of parents who send their children to school every day, it is an unfenced zoo, though. An open space where the natural law of eat or be eaten is part of every day life.
It takes a bit of courage to go to school here.
Episode 9: Nepal

Those who attend school in the mountain village of Kumpur in Nepal, walk across the mountains of the highest situated country on earth. Nearly half of Nepal lies more than 4 000 Meters above sea level.
Today we’ll follow the kids who take the journey this perilous journey to school almost every day.
Episode 10: Himalaya

Episode ten takes a look at schoolchildren in Himalaya and their trip to school. It is a trip so dangerous these children are accompanied by their to supports them over thin icy rivers and slippery mountain slopes.
To ensure safety, a sense of utmost precaution is needed. These Himalayan schoolchildren must have a total trust in the experience and skill of their father.
Episode 11: Siberia

In Oymyakon, the cold controls everything. The town is located in eastern part of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), which belongs to Russia and is know as the world’s Pole of Cold.
Nevertheless every morning the children march to school, the youngest just 6 years old, making their way by temperatures of -50 degrees Celsius.
Such circumstances would seem completely inconceivable for many people, but in the coldest town in the world, it is the beginning of an ordinary day.
Episode 12: Papua New Guinea

For some of the children in Papua New Guinea, an island in the Pacific Ocean – in the middle of one of the world’s largest rainforests – the routes to school are hard.
That is certainly the case for 8-year-old Junior and his cousin Ruth.
Their journey in the so-called ‘Land of 1000 Rivers’ is a five-day one which leads the students through jungles, in which new and unique animals are continuously being discovered, and in whose branches the notorious green tree python lurks.
Their journey to school is too risky to tackle alone; that is why father Michael accompanies his son and niece on this adventure. They travel over one hundred kilometres, and on this trip the children fear nothing more than the large Takali river.
Will there be an update on the children
Hi Shun, as of right now there aren’t that many updates on the children and their lives – other than they still attend school.
I’ve reached out to the documentary film director and will update this page if we receive a response.
Hello again, I managed to get a hold of one of the documentary film directors who had this to say about an update:
“I am sorry to say it is hardly possible to stay in touch with the kids because they live in remote areas, and communication possibilities as well as the language barrier time by time make it impossible to always know how they are, especially because all the shootings took place a couple of years ago.”
So, sadly, it’s hard knowing the exact lives they live today.
How can I help
Hi Sheila, great question. There are different ways of doing it.
You could either donate to charities like Save the Children, find the schools viewed in the episodes and donate needed resources or even get a more hands-on approach by sponsering a child’s education. You’ll find the best resources by Googling and determining what you’d think is the best way of helping.
Please study the charities or schools before donating; as some places sadly are corrupted and play on your emotions to gain your support.
So far, personally, I’ve found donating physical items (likes shoes, pens, papers, books, clothes, socks, old useable electronics, etc.) directly to the families are the best course of action. This is mostly because you know how the items will be used compared to that of money (unless you decide to donate to a larger organization or well known school).
All in all, if you do decide to help, there’s definitely some children who might get better educational chance and with that; a much better life. 🙂
Why won’t The parents move closer to the school don’t they care about their child(ren) safety?
Hi Pat, excellent question. There’s usually more than one reason. However, boil it all down and you’ll notice it’s because of survival risk and poverty.
Usually the parent’s only means to survival have been in the neighborhoods they’ve settled. And if those settlements are far from the school, it’s because the schools have only been an afterthought (until their child needed it). Establishing yourself closer to the school requires money, time and a surplus of energy to build a new house – something most poverty stricken people don’t have the luxury to do.
On top of that, the school itself might not always be in one location. A lot of the schools in rural third-world countries are abandoned if there aren’t any volunteer teachers or funds to keep them afloat. These switches, where the schools close in one area and (maybe) opens in another area, doesn’t warrant the cost of moving to adjust to the school.
In a world where food and shelter is the top priority, most impoverished people live day to day rather than thinking months or years ahead. So all in all – there’s simply not enough room to change things without a lot of headaches, hardships and uncertainties.