Spanish mothers strip for calendar to save school bus

A new measure introduced in July cut funding for the school bus running in the Monserrat district of Valencia in eastern Spain. A group of mums got together and posed for an erotic calendar to raise money for their children's transport.

The problem is that, according to Spanish law, the government only has to provide transport if students live more than 3km away from the school. However, this new austerity measure states that the distance has to be calculated in a straight line, and this meant that "Evaristo Calayatud" school in the Monserrat District of Valencia was no longer eligible for a school bus. 

 

However, as Silvia Lucas, one of the mothers, points out, “We have to scale a mountain and climb down a cliff to get to the school. On foot, using the most direct route it’s 4.5km, if you walk on the road it’s six." 

 

Some of the parents are unemployed and have problems paying for petrol to drive the children to school themselves. For this reason, and to try and raise 43,000 euros, the group of mothers got together, disrobed and posed for the erotic calendar. 

 

To make their point, the mothers struck various poses, including scaling cliffs and pushing prams along dirt tracks, which clearly illustrate the 6km walk their children were being forced to endure every morning. They figured that not only could their calendar raise the necessary money, it could at the same time “give the politicians a slap in the face.” 

 

It took just over a month after the launch of the calendar to raise enough money for the bus to run for three months for the 83 affected children. 

There were difficulties along the way, when police ejected them from the town center for illegally selling the calendar. However, Silvia Lucas pointed out, “We were not selling them, we were collecting donations.” 

 

She further said that while the calendar is not to everyone's taste in the neighborhood, there was little other choice. “A lot of people tell us that we could have organized a community meal and not the calendar, but that would not have made nearly enough money. Our husbands are happy with the result and proud of our achievement” added Lucas, saying that she had done it for her children.

Read more and view video: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/340157