As we close out our third quarter of the fiscal year, we’re feeling very proud of all that we’ve accomplished so far! Here are just a few highlights of some of the local initiatives we have funded this year:

School constructions in El Horno, Sabana Grande, El Jicaro 1, and El Flores: This year we financed not one, not two, not three, but FOUR school constructions! We have finished three, and are starting on the fourth. In El Horno, we financed two high school classrooms for students in rural communities to continue their education after elementary school. In Sabana Grande and El Jicaro 1, it was a pre-school classroom and a school kitchen with an improved wood stove and bodega. In Sabana Grande, the children were in a wood shack with a dirt floor, and in El Jicaro 1, they were sitting at a table outside.

Now we’re headed for El Flores, to finance a school where there is no structure at all – the children are attending class under a piece of plastic tarp. As always, we provide the materials and the contractor, and the parents of the community build the school. To learn more, click the link above.

 

Teacher certification programs: This year we teamed up with a local non-profit called Comité Mano Vuelta and World Vision to finance two teacher certification programs – one on national curriculum content, and another on ending child labor and school dropouts. Eighty teachers are being trained from San Ramón, and as a part of their participation, they will go on to train their colleagues in what they have learned. To learn more, click on the link above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before and after of installation of improved wood stove  

Reforestation and improved wood stoves with Fundación Denis Ernesto González López: In November, we finished up a project in conjunction with FUDEGL, a local non-profit, to combat the encroaching deforestation that threatens San Ramón. We installed 40 improved wood stoves in rural homes, in order to reduce the amount of firewood that people use to cook, as well as reduce their exposure to smoke and high temperatures. This pilot project was a complete success, and we hope to install 100 more in our upcoming fiscal year. To learn more, click on the link above.

These are just a few of the projects we have completed this year! To learn more about the work we’ve been doing, click here. If you’d like to talk to someone about how you can get involved in these amazing projects, please contact us!