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VILLA CATALINA SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION |
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The Problem |
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Villa Catalina is a new community of 116 families. These families were living next to and surviving from the Chinandega municipal garbage dump after Hurricane Mitch leveled Nicaragua in 1998. They endured 7 years of deplorable living conditions. In 2004, Amigos for Christ purchased 54 acres of farmland and for the next 2 years the families (along with Amigos mission teams and local employees) built their own homes while living in tents. They also built a 3 room school. Because of the number of children in the community, only half can fit in this school and the rest must go to school in a makeshift shelter made from used billboards from the U.S. We would like to take this down and build a 6 room school house that will serve not only primary school children (k - 6th grade) but secondary (7th – 11th) as well. |
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| Challenge | ||||
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2 of 3 children in the Chinandega do not finish 6th grade. We learned this the hard way when we asked each head of household to sign a document and half used their thumbprint instead. The reasons are plentiful, but we must take action. In addition, there are many unemployed teachers in the country due to the lack of schools and facilities. These teachers also need opportunity. |
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| OUR Approach | ||||
| Amigos for Christ works with the Nicaraguan Ministry of Education to build primary schools and employ qualified and motivated teachers. After 1 year, the Ministry of Education incorporates these schools into the national education system and assumes financial responsibility for the school. We also start feeding centers at these schools as an additional incentive to come to school and at the same time offer valuable nourishment. The attendance rate increases dramatically when children and parents know a good meal is waiting at the end of classes. | ||||
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Why |
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| We partner with local schools to promote this basic service to all kids, but encourage the national education system to administer the school. In such a poor country, the national budget does not include new school construction which we feel is very important. That is why we help in this area. | ||||
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The Plan |
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| We would like to build the school beginning in JANUARY 2008. The total cost is $35,028. The students and teachers currently in the make shift shelter would immediately move to the new building upon completion. | ||||
| The Follow Up program would follow the one currently in place. The school’s Director reports directly to the Ministry of Education and must follow their guidelines. Amigos for Christ does independent evaluations that are geared to help the school succeed and provide needed resources. | ||||
| Our future plan for the school would be to offer both high school and adult education classes. | ||||
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| Experience | ||||
| We have successfully constructed 5 school buildings that are either exactly the same design or very similar. All of these schools are now currently run by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Education. | ||||
| BUDGET |
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