Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Today was our third full day in Honduras. After visiting two more schools yesterday that are in serious need of repair, we came up with a plan --- to replace the roofs on four schools by the end of the week, as well as paint each of these schools inside and out. With eleven in our Rotary group, plus the help of the teachers, community members, and Santa Barbara Rotary Club members, we are very optimistic that we can reach this goal. This morning we drove two hours up a narrow, winding dirt road into the mountains south of Santa Barbara, to the village of San Antonio de Malera (N1440.570' W08815 591'). When we arrived, the aging, leaky tile roof on the two-room kindergarten building had already been removed by the village residents, and materials for the new metal roof had been delivered. The two kindergarten teachers, Lesly Sabillon and Nohemy Guardado, greeted us with smiles and freshly brewed Honduran coffee. Out came the ladders, the power drills, work gloves, paint brushes, water bottles, and sunscreen. Five hours later, the little school had a new roof and a new paint job. It was a great team effort. When we visited this school on Sunday, we saw that the teachers had almost no books or teaching materials. The teachers told us that the government does not supply them with any teaching materials, and they use their own personal money to purchase supplies. Sadly, there were only three items on the shelf designated for hands-on learning about natural resources: a rubber ducky, a bowl of sea shells, and some egg shells. There were only coloring books on the library shelf. Because of all your generous donations to this project, we were able to give them a suitcase packed full of school supplies, books, and other materials. Thanks to all of you for your donations. I can assure you that the teachers were very, very appreciative. 

 
 

 


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