December 2007
If We Build a School…They will come. 257 bright-eyed, young scholars showed up for the
first day of classes at the new Octavio Paz (formerly Nueva Creaciòn) primary school. We
were surprised, delighted and more than a little panicked. We had planned for only 180
students. The scramble to accommodate these deserving children began.
The new school was built to provide the only educational opportunity available to the
economically disadvantaged, mostly indigenous children who live in the makeshift homes
high on the hill above downtown Zihuatanejo. The nearest alternative school is more than
two kilometers down the steep hillside, an impossible journey for the younger children.
The Nueva Creaciòn Building Fund, whose partners include SailFest/Por Los Niños de
Zihuatanejo, Project Million Amigos, Los Niños, International Rotary Clubs and the City of
Zihuatanejo raised more than one million pesos to construct three permanent classrooms,
a school office and two bathrooms on safe land donated and cleared by the City.
The initial plan to divide the kids between the new school and the ramshackle old school,
while fundraising continued, was quickly abandoned. The crumbling cliff face at the old site
had become too dangerous, and we now had simply too many children.
The school parents, as always in this community, rose to the occasion. They put out a call
for neighborhood volunteers and built three temporary wooden classrooms, utilizing
donated materials, in only ten working days. The new school was now open for business,
albeit, with as many as 56 students in a single classroom.
Maryellen, and her crew of dedicated volunteers, have worked hard to provide uniforms,
shoes, learning materials, scholarships and supplemental teacher salaries. A Texas
foundation, Pennies From Heaven, has donated a nutritional grant to help provide healthy
lunches for those children who would otherwise go hungry.
Fundraising continues during Zihua SailFest 2008 to provide three additional classrooms,
retaining walls and a playground.
More than 150 additional neighborhood children still wait patiently for the school
infrastructure to develop so that they may attend classes as well. With your help, we will do
our best not to disappoint them.
January 2006-October 2006
170 students this year and still growing! Most of these impoverished children would not be
attending school without your generous and compassionate support. Many walk more than
a mile each morning to attend Zihuatanejo’s only free school. They, and their parents, are
sincerely grateful for the opportunity that your help provides.
In July, 11 sixth-grade scholars received their diplomas at our first-ever graduation
ceremony. Their families, teachers and friends were bursting with pride. The event was
dedicated to the volunteers of Los Niños. 10 students were awarded $250 scholarships to
Secondary school to pay for tuition, uniforms, books and school supplies; 5 scholarships
from Los Niños and 5 from Por Los Niños de Zihuatanejo.
Ground has finally been broken for the new school. The required ecological, archeological,
historical and artistic impact reports, and the topographic survey, consumed 10 months.
As of today, in addition to my bulging document folder, we have a nice new dirt road to the
top of the property, two level platforms, each large enough for two three-classroom
buildings and a level area for a future soccer field.
And, we cut only 6 of 28 trees. We hope to plant 20 additional trees at the start of the next
rainy season in May. Would you be surprised to learn that the kids and teachers are
campaigning for mangos, coconuts and limes?
The Nueva Creación Building Fund is up to $26,800, thanks to local efforts, a direct grant
from an Alberta, Canada Rotary Club and a grant from Por Los Niños de Zihuatanejo. Our
three-year goal is to contribute $70,000 in construction funding toward the $160,000 budget
to build the basic school structures. (The cost of building materials has increased more
than 50% in Mexico during the past three years, and new seismic construction standards
have been adopted because schools serve as emergency shelters for the community.)
We expect to raise $4-6,000 at a winter benefit concert and anticipate an additional pledge
from Por Los Niños de Zihuatanejo, in February 2007, to help fulfill our commitment to the
children. Rotary International, which does not fund construction projects, has pledged to
raise $20,000 to help outfit the school with classroom furniture, bathroom fixtures,
electrical & water systems, and other much-needed equipment.
The remarkable Maryellen, Helen, Vicki and crew have solicited sufficient donations to pay
modest $180 per month salaries to our two unpaid teachers. They have also raised funds
to provide three teachers with one-year scholarships to an English language academy; Por
Los Niños provided two additional scholarships. The teachers are quickly passing on their
hard-earned, new skills to the kids.
Did you know that the average Mexican child attends school only four hours a day?
Nueva Creación has extended the school day by one hour to help these disadvantaged
children keep up with kids in the more fortunate schools. Fifth and sixth graders receive an
hour of English instruction; all grades have reading classes one day a week. (Mexico
places last in reading comprehension among 15-year-old students in the 30-nation
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.) Children who have never owned
a book are now devouring them as fast as we can supply them, which, alas, is not fast
enough. Los Niños provides the learning materials and a small stipend to the teachers for
their extra work.
In February, the sixth grade students crafted bracelets from donated beads, sold them at
SailFest events and raised an astonishing $1,450, which they promptly donated to Por Los
Niños. Por Los Niños matched the donation and returned $2,900 to the school to pay for
government-required, but-not-provided workbooks and teaching materials for the
2006/2007 school year.
There have been many other victories as well; Diana, one of our scholarship students, is
first in her class at Secondary school (I’m her very proud sponsor); four newspaper articles
and two TV news reports have praised our efforts and focused community attention on the
school; the Director of Education has invited Nueva Creación to march in the “Place of
Pride” in the November 20th Revolution Day parade; and a group of city officials visited our
ramshackle school, many for the first time, declared it to have the worst conditions in the
county and vowed all available city support to help build the new school.
Your generous, personal donations insured that all the needy children had uniforms, shoes
and backpacks this year. The on-going challenge to provide them with sufficient school
supplies continues.
Mexico understands the need, and has a passionate commitment, to educate its’ children.
In fact Mexico spends a greater percentage of government revenue (18%) on education than
any other country in North or South America (including the U.S.). Alas, that revenue is pretty
thin when 37% of the national population lives in poverty and pays no taxes. Mexico has had
success in raising the average length of school attendance from 2.7 years, in1970, to 7.2
years today. New laws mandate school attendance through 10th grade and pre-school for 3
and 4-year-old children. Unfortunately, without new funding resources, these well-
intentioned efforts are probably unenforceable and will likely dilute the current inadequate
funding for existing programs.
In Mexico’s poorest states (Chiapas, Oaxaca and our state of Guerrero), where 50% to 75%
of the population lives in poverty, the problems are naturally magnified.
Mis Amigos, none of us Los Niños folks are wealthy; we can’t begin to address Mexico’s
nearly overwhelming educational issues. But isn’t it comforting to know that our modest
contributions can change the life of a child for a month, or a year, or perhaps, forever?
May 2005-December 2005
Wow! It’s been a busy eight months. The school has grown from 122 to 152 bright-eyed
young scholars. We built a ramshackle, partially-enclosed classroom to accommodate the
additional 30 kids. We provided the materials, and the dads provided the labor, to replace
the bathrooms destroyed by a storm. (It’s got to be the cutest two-room outhouse in
Zihuatanejo.) Your donations of $1,770, supplemented with local contributions, provided
uniforms, shoes and enough teaching materials and school supplies to carry the school
through January 2006.
We have a new “sister” organization. Por Los Niños de Zihuatanejo, AC, is a Mexican
charity that was established last summer for the administration and distribution of funds
raised by SailFest activities. I was asked to be the administrator and, since our goals are
identical, I accepted. Each year, our winter sailboat community and local businesses host a
five-day festival to raise funds for children’s education in Zihua. The Bellack and
Underwood Foundations, in the United States, match the proceeds of the fiesta.
Last year, we distributed more than $40,000 to six under-funded schools (including Nueva
Creación); established six-year scholarships for high-achieving, economically-
disadvantaged students; and helped fund nutrition and child care at a dormitory for
indigenous children who live too far from town to commute to school.
The land grant for the new school is finally official. The rainy-season landslides at the
existing site have created a potential death-trap for the kids that simply could not be
ignored. Silvano Blanco, our energetic new mayor, promises that the land will be ready for
construction by February 1st. I suspect he is a tad optimistic. I tend to believe the process
as described by the director of Development. In January, a topographical survey to
determine the siting of the buildings; then a study of their existing architectural plans for
site appropriateness; modification of the plans as necessary; and finally, a comprehensive
budget. The school construction will commence in coordination with the paving of the
existing dirt road and the extension of utilities to the site as funds become available.
Although we don't have a firm budget yet, the director of development estimates the cost
will be $12,000 to $15,000 per classroom. So, add bathrooms and a kitchen for a probable
budget total of $100/120,000. We are dedicated to raising one third of the total as our
contribution. Without our help, it is unlikely that the school will be built for at least two or
three years; our small city, population: 75,000; 40% of whom live below the official poverty
line, simply doesn’t have enough money.
Por Los Niños de Zihuatanejo, in partnership with Los Niños, the city of Zihuatanejo and the
Zihua Rotary Club International, has established the “Nueva Creación Building Fund”. Por
Los Niños has increased the earlier SailFest grant to $10,000; a recent benefit concert
netted $2,500; the Gray family, from Alberta, have collected and pledged $3,200CDN; and
two compassionate local expatriates have each donated $1,000. The next SailFest, in
February, should sweeten the pot with at least $5,000 more. So, we are within about
$18,000 of our goal, but have exhausted all our local resources. I suspect I have picked
every willing pocket in Zihuatanejo.
As a shiny-new Rotarian, I am also writing Rotary grant requests for non-structural items,
such as fans, furnishings, playground, etc. The Rotary charter does not allow them to fund
the actual construction.
My favorite volunteer, Maryellen Jackson, a woman of very modest means, convinced her
friends to hold a yard sale and sent the $900 proceeds to Los Niños for the school. A yard
sale? Is it really that easy to build a school? You know, it certainly could be. If twenty more
of us held yard sales, construction of the school could begin this March, instead of perhaps
a year from March.
Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo!
November 2004 – April 2005
Our rewards can be seen in their faces; the awe when clutching their first pair of shoes; the
wonderment of receiving their first book; the sense of pride and community while wearing
their first school uniform; the eager discovery of the joy of learning.
Your generous contributions have provided $ 4,073 to help the kids. We spent $2,810 on
school shoes, uniforms, teaching materials, student supplies, arts & crafts supplies,
athletic equipment and building repair materials. Our expenses of $262.60 were related to
website and printing costs. Of the remaining $1,000.40 cash on hand, $300 is reserved for
40 additional pair of school shoes on order, and $500 is reserved for two scholarships to
send our highest achieving boy and girl student to secondary school. (Free education in
Mexico ends at the sixth grade.)
Additional help for the school came from many sources. Sympathetic merchants donated
about $1,000 in discounts on our purchases in the community. Caring visitors to
Zihuatanejo brought down at least $800 worth of school supplies, books, art materials,
athletic gear, toys and other goodies for the kids. A group of professional photographers,
here for a creativity workshop, donated original photos for an auction that raised $1,200 for
school children ($500 for Nueva Creaciòn) and recently sent more photos for a second
auction.
ProjectsZihua, a local non-profit group, provided school supplies, the materials to build 60
desks and other valuable support for the kids. Maryellen Jackson, a tireless volunteer, dug
into her own shallow pockets to provide more than $800 worth of uniforms and school
shoes.
SailFest, an annual fund-raiser sponsored by the sailboat community and supported by local
businesses, pledged $5,000 toward the construction of a permanent school building.
Work parties, comprised of parents, students, sail boaters and other local volunteers, spent
two weekends painting the buildings and new desks, carving out the hillside for additional
stairs, fixing up our primitive electrical system (one light bulb per classroom), and repairing
our nearly-non-existent water system (one faucet and 100 feet of garden hose.). The dads
and I worked two Sundays to replace the badly damaged tarpaper roofs, so classes would
no longer be canceled on rainy days.
In the news last autumn, Televisa, Mexico’s largest TV network, told the story of La Escuela
Nueva Creaciòn on their national evening news broadcast. They described how the
dedicated parents build the school; how the school was supported solely by donations; and
challenged the government, rather bluntly, to do their part. And the government responded.
Last week, the State of Guerrero announced a 6,574 sq. meter land grant for the
construction of a new school. They plan to bulldoze in a new road and have utilities on site
by August. Unfortunately, there is no word yet on the possibility of government construction
funding, but we remain hopeful.
Current projects include an English as a Second Language (ESL) program. None of our
teachers or students speaks English. In our tourism-driven economy, knowledge of basic
English is an important key to employment and advancement. When Maryellen and Carol,
our volunteers, announced the optional, after-school program, 27 kids quickly signed up.
Los Niños will sponsor Reyna, our school director and fifth/sixth grade teacher, at a local,
accredited English school. We desperately need more ESL materials and, hopefully, funding
for additional teachers ($45 per month for 20 hours of instruction).
My personal passion is a children’s library. Many of these impoverished kids have never
read, and certainly never owned, a book. Developing a passion for reading will reward
them, and to some degree their communities, their entire lives. My arbitrary goal is to
acquire at least twenty books for each of the six reading levels. Obviously, more are better.
Well, folks, you did it. You educated 122 deserving children for an entire school year. You
gave them pride, dignity and hope for the future. It would not have happened without your
compassion and generosity.
It now seems inevitable that the school will receive its accreditation and, subsequently,
government funding for teacher’s salaries, basic learning materials and building
maintenance.
But, alas, the children will still be poor. They will still need your help with uniforms, shoes,
school supplies, the children’s library, tuition fees, the ESL program and all the other
necessities that will help them break the ugly cycle of poverty and become productive
members of their community.
If We Build a School…They will come. 257 bright-eyed, young scholars showed up for the
first day of classes at the new Octavio Paz (formerly Nueva Creaciòn) primary school. We
were surprised, delighted and more than a little panicked. We had planned for only 180
students. The scramble to accommodate these deserving children began.
The new school was built to provide the only educational opportunity available to the
economically disadvantaged, mostly indigenous children who live in the makeshift homes
high on the hill above downtown Zihuatanejo. The nearest alternative school is more than
two kilometers down the steep hillside, an impossible journey for the younger children.
The Nueva Creaciòn Building Fund, whose partners include SailFest/Por Los Niños de
Zihuatanejo, Project Million Amigos, Los Niños, International Rotary Clubs and the City of
Zihuatanejo raised more than one million pesos to construct three permanent classrooms,
a school office and two bathrooms on safe land donated and cleared by the City.
The initial plan to divide the kids between the new school and the ramshackle old school,
while fundraising continued, was quickly abandoned. The crumbling cliff face at the old site
had become too dangerous, and we now had simply too many children.
The school parents, as always in this community, rose to the occasion. They put out a call
for neighborhood volunteers and built three temporary wooden classrooms, utilizing
donated materials, in only ten working days. The new school was now open for business,
albeit, with as many as 56 students in a single classroom.
Maryellen, and her crew of dedicated volunteers, have worked hard to provide uniforms,
shoes, learning materials, scholarships and supplemental teacher salaries. A Texas
foundation, Pennies From Heaven, has donated a nutritional grant to help provide healthy
lunches for those children who would otherwise go hungry.
Fundraising continues during Zihua SailFest 2008 to provide three additional classrooms,
retaining walls and a playground.
More than 150 additional neighborhood children still wait patiently for the school
infrastructure to develop so that they may attend classes as well. With your help, we will do
our best not to disappoint them.
January 2006-October 2006
170 students this year and still growing! Most of these impoverished children would not be
attending school without your generous and compassionate support. Many walk more than
a mile each morning to attend Zihuatanejo’s only free school. They, and their parents, are
sincerely grateful for the opportunity that your help provides.
In July, 11 sixth-grade scholars received their diplomas at our first-ever graduation
ceremony. Their families, teachers and friends were bursting with pride. The event was
dedicated to the volunteers of Los Niños. 10 students were awarded $250 scholarships to
Secondary school to pay for tuition, uniforms, books and school supplies; 5 scholarships
from Los Niños and 5 from Por Los Niños de Zihuatanejo.
Ground has finally been broken for the new school. The required ecological, archeological,
historical and artistic impact reports, and the topographic survey, consumed 10 months.
As of today, in addition to my bulging document folder, we have a nice new dirt road to the
top of the property, two level platforms, each large enough for two three-classroom
buildings and a level area for a future soccer field.
And, we cut only 6 of 28 trees. We hope to plant 20 additional trees at the start of the next
rainy season in May. Would you be surprised to learn that the kids and teachers are
campaigning for mangos, coconuts and limes?
The Nueva Creación Building Fund is up to $26,800, thanks to local efforts, a direct grant
from an Alberta, Canada Rotary Club and a grant from Por Los Niños de Zihuatanejo. Our
three-year goal is to contribute $70,000 in construction funding toward the $160,000 budget
to build the basic school structures. (The cost of building materials has increased more
than 50% in Mexico during the past three years, and new seismic construction standards
have been adopted because schools serve as emergency shelters for the community.)
We expect to raise $4-6,000 at a winter benefit concert and anticipate an additional pledge
from Por Los Niños de Zihuatanejo, in February 2007, to help fulfill our commitment to the
children. Rotary International, which does not fund construction projects, has pledged to
raise $20,000 to help outfit the school with classroom furniture, bathroom fixtures,
electrical & water systems, and other much-needed equipment.
The remarkable Maryellen, Helen, Vicki and crew have solicited sufficient donations to pay
modest $180 per month salaries to our two unpaid teachers. They have also raised funds
to provide three teachers with one-year scholarships to an English language academy; Por
Los Niños provided two additional scholarships. The teachers are quickly passing on their
hard-earned, new skills to the kids.
Did you know that the average Mexican child attends school only four hours a day?
Nueva Creación has extended the school day by one hour to help these disadvantaged
children keep up with kids in the more fortunate schools. Fifth and sixth graders receive an
hour of English instruction; all grades have reading classes one day a week. (Mexico
places last in reading comprehension among 15-year-old students in the 30-nation
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.) Children who have never owned
a book are now devouring them as fast as we can supply them, which, alas, is not fast
enough. Los Niños provides the learning materials and a small stipend to the teachers for
their extra work.
In February, the sixth grade students crafted bracelets from donated beads, sold them at
SailFest events and raised an astonishing $1,450, which they promptly donated to Por Los
Niños. Por Los Niños matched the donation and returned $2,900 to the school to pay for
government-required, but-not-provided workbooks and teaching materials for the
2006/2007 school year.
There have been many other victories as well; Diana, one of our scholarship students, is
first in her class at Secondary school (I’m her very proud sponsor); four newspaper articles
and two TV news reports have praised our efforts and focused community attention on the
school; the Director of Education has invited Nueva Creación to march in the “Place of
Pride” in the November 20th Revolution Day parade; and a group of city officials visited our
ramshackle school, many for the first time, declared it to have the worst conditions in the
county and vowed all available city support to help build the new school.
Your generous, personal donations insured that all the needy children had uniforms, shoes
and backpacks this year. The on-going challenge to provide them with sufficient school
supplies continues.
Mexico understands the need, and has a passionate commitment, to educate its’ children.
In fact Mexico spends a greater percentage of government revenue (18%) on education than
any other country in North or South America (including the U.S.). Alas, that revenue is pretty
thin when 37% of the national population lives in poverty and pays no taxes. Mexico has had
success in raising the average length of school attendance from 2.7 years, in1970, to 7.2
years today. New laws mandate school attendance through 10th grade and pre-school for 3
and 4-year-old children. Unfortunately, without new funding resources, these well-
intentioned efforts are probably unenforceable and will likely dilute the current inadequate
funding for existing programs.
In Mexico’s poorest states (Chiapas, Oaxaca and our state of Guerrero), where 50% to 75%
of the population lives in poverty, the problems are naturally magnified.
Mis Amigos, none of us Los Niños folks are wealthy; we can’t begin to address Mexico’s
nearly overwhelming educational issues. But isn’t it comforting to know that our modest
contributions can change the life of a child for a month, or a year, or perhaps, forever?
May 2005-December 2005
Wow! It’s been a busy eight months. The school has grown from 122 to 152 bright-eyed
young scholars. We built a ramshackle, partially-enclosed classroom to accommodate the
additional 30 kids. We provided the materials, and the dads provided the labor, to replace
the bathrooms destroyed by a storm. (It’s got to be the cutest two-room outhouse in
Zihuatanejo.) Your donations of $1,770, supplemented with local contributions, provided
uniforms, shoes and enough teaching materials and school supplies to carry the school
through January 2006.
We have a new “sister” organization. Por Los Niños de Zihuatanejo, AC, is a Mexican
charity that was established last summer for the administration and distribution of funds
raised by SailFest activities. I was asked to be the administrator and, since our goals are
identical, I accepted. Each year, our winter sailboat community and local businesses host a
five-day festival to raise funds for children’s education in Zihua. The Bellack and
Underwood Foundations, in the United States, match the proceeds of the fiesta.
Last year, we distributed more than $40,000 to six under-funded schools (including Nueva
Creación); established six-year scholarships for high-achieving, economically-
disadvantaged students; and helped fund nutrition and child care at a dormitory for
indigenous children who live too far from town to commute to school.
The land grant for the new school is finally official. The rainy-season landslides at the
existing site have created a potential death-trap for the kids that simply could not be
ignored. Silvano Blanco, our energetic new mayor, promises that the land will be ready for
construction by February 1st. I suspect he is a tad optimistic. I tend to believe the process
as described by the director of Development. In January, a topographical survey to
determine the siting of the buildings; then a study of their existing architectural plans for
site appropriateness; modification of the plans as necessary; and finally, a comprehensive
budget. The school construction will commence in coordination with the paving of the
existing dirt road and the extension of utilities to the site as funds become available.
Although we don't have a firm budget yet, the director of development estimates the cost
will be $12,000 to $15,000 per classroom. So, add bathrooms and a kitchen for a probable
budget total of $100/120,000. We are dedicated to raising one third of the total as our
contribution. Without our help, it is unlikely that the school will be built for at least two or
three years; our small city, population: 75,000; 40% of whom live below the official poverty
line, simply doesn’t have enough money.
Por Los Niños de Zihuatanejo, in partnership with Los Niños, the city of Zihuatanejo and the
Zihua Rotary Club International, has established the “Nueva Creación Building Fund”. Por
Los Niños has increased the earlier SailFest grant to $10,000; a recent benefit concert
netted $2,500; the Gray family, from Alberta, have collected and pledged $3,200CDN; and
two compassionate local expatriates have each donated $1,000. The next SailFest, in
February, should sweeten the pot with at least $5,000 more. So, we are within about
$18,000 of our goal, but have exhausted all our local resources. I suspect I have picked
every willing pocket in Zihuatanejo.
As a shiny-new Rotarian, I am also writing Rotary grant requests for non-structural items,
such as fans, furnishings, playground, etc. The Rotary charter does not allow them to fund
the actual construction.
My favorite volunteer, Maryellen Jackson, a woman of very modest means, convinced her
friends to hold a yard sale and sent the $900 proceeds to Los Niños for the school. A yard
sale? Is it really that easy to build a school? You know, it certainly could be. If twenty more
of us held yard sales, construction of the school could begin this March, instead of perhaps
a year from March.
Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo!
November 2004 – April 2005
Our rewards can be seen in their faces; the awe when clutching their first pair of shoes; the
wonderment of receiving their first book; the sense of pride and community while wearing
their first school uniform; the eager discovery of the joy of learning.
Your generous contributions have provided $ 4,073 to help the kids. We spent $2,810 on
school shoes, uniforms, teaching materials, student supplies, arts & crafts supplies,
athletic equipment and building repair materials. Our expenses of $262.60 were related to
website and printing costs. Of the remaining $1,000.40 cash on hand, $300 is reserved for
40 additional pair of school shoes on order, and $500 is reserved for two scholarships to
send our highest achieving boy and girl student to secondary school. (Free education in
Mexico ends at the sixth grade.)
Additional help for the school came from many sources. Sympathetic merchants donated
about $1,000 in discounts on our purchases in the community. Caring visitors to
Zihuatanejo brought down at least $800 worth of school supplies, books, art materials,
athletic gear, toys and other goodies for the kids. A group of professional photographers,
here for a creativity workshop, donated original photos for an auction that raised $1,200 for
school children ($500 for Nueva Creaciòn) and recently sent more photos for a second
auction.
ProjectsZihua, a local non-profit group, provided school supplies, the materials to build 60
desks and other valuable support for the kids. Maryellen Jackson, a tireless volunteer, dug
into her own shallow pockets to provide more than $800 worth of uniforms and school
shoes.
SailFest, an annual fund-raiser sponsored by the sailboat community and supported by local
businesses, pledged $5,000 toward the construction of a permanent school building.
Work parties, comprised of parents, students, sail boaters and other local volunteers, spent
two weekends painting the buildings and new desks, carving out the hillside for additional
stairs, fixing up our primitive electrical system (one light bulb per classroom), and repairing
our nearly-non-existent water system (one faucet and 100 feet of garden hose.). The dads
and I worked two Sundays to replace the badly damaged tarpaper roofs, so classes would
no longer be canceled on rainy days.
In the news last autumn, Televisa, Mexico’s largest TV network, told the story of La Escuela
Nueva Creaciòn on their national evening news broadcast. They described how the
dedicated parents build the school; how the school was supported solely by donations; and
challenged the government, rather bluntly, to do their part. And the government responded.
Last week, the State of Guerrero announced a 6,574 sq. meter land grant for the
construction of a new school. They plan to bulldoze in a new road and have utilities on site
by August. Unfortunately, there is no word yet on the possibility of government construction
funding, but we remain hopeful.
Current projects include an English as a Second Language (ESL) program. None of our
teachers or students speaks English. In our tourism-driven economy, knowledge of basic
English is an important key to employment and advancement. When Maryellen and Carol,
our volunteers, announced the optional, after-school program, 27 kids quickly signed up.
Los Niños will sponsor Reyna, our school director and fifth/sixth grade teacher, at a local,
accredited English school. We desperately need more ESL materials and, hopefully, funding
for additional teachers ($45 per month for 20 hours of instruction).
My personal passion is a children’s library. Many of these impoverished kids have never
read, and certainly never owned, a book. Developing a passion for reading will reward
them, and to some degree their communities, their entire lives. My arbitrary goal is to
acquire at least twenty books for each of the six reading levels. Obviously, more are better.
Well, folks, you did it. You educated 122 deserving children for an entire school year. You
gave them pride, dignity and hope for the future. It would not have happened without your
compassion and generosity.
It now seems inevitable that the school will receive its accreditation and, subsequently,
government funding for teacher’s salaries, basic learning materials and building
maintenance.
But, alas, the children will still be poor. They will still need your help with uniforms, shoes,
school supplies, the children’s library, tuition fees, the ESL program and all the other
necessities that will help them break the ugly cycle of poverty and become productive
members of their community.
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"Within every educated child lies the potential to make this a better world."
