Finishing Up

This past Saturday Assist Jiquilillo, Inc paid three amazing workers to complete several large projects at the primary school, Camilo Zapata. As I will be heading out within the next few weeks, it is important that the large projects are completed before with time to spare, in case of any loose ends. I am sad to say no new projects will be started any more.

Robert Ruiz and his helper Yakson were in charge of changing the broken roof panels over the 2nd and 3rd grade classroom. This was a huge problem for teacher Virginia, as the broken panels happened to be located just above her desk, so every time it rained it saturated all of her teaching materials and anything left on or in her desk.

Roberto has been working as lead carpenter of all school projects for the past several years, always donating his time and services for no charge. This time around, as it was one of the last large projects, Assist Jiquilillo Inc. will be working on, I thought it was important that he and Yakson his apprentice receive not only money but a power grinder to help further their careers! As you can see from the smiles these two were thrilled! Thank you Roberto and Yakson. Roberto still potentially has two more small jobs to finish up with us at the Camilo Zapata School, including the installation of new glass window panels and the reparation of approximately 50 broken desks.

The other large project that needed finishing up at the school is the latrine system. This has been a project two to three years in the making. It is a very exciting time for the school to finally have bathrooms which are almost completely functional.

Carpenter Abran Hildalgo, who has been working as head carpenter of Rancho Esperanza for the past several years, has been in charge of the last carpentry job for this latrine system. Abran was the lead carpenter in charge of making the doors, repairing door frames, and hanging the doors. All his work has been completed, and looks and works wonderfully. Abran’s work has been so meticulous that I saw it fit to give him a big surprise. On top of a small amount of pay, Abran received a new skill saw, which he has been saving his money to purchase for the last several months. This will go along great with his recent gift of an electric drill from Rancho Esperanza!

This means that projects at the school are winding to a close. Biographies are still being written for the sponsored students and will be completed and e-mailed to their sponsors soon. It has been hard and slow process as lately there have been many long lasting power outages due to the crazy amounts of rain we have been getting here. More to come as my stay winds to an end!

Great Projects Complete! More Ideas Brewing!

So I’ve finally found more than 10 minutes to sit down and write about my adventures in Jiquilillo since February. As usual, I wish I had kept better notes on everything that happened. During my stay in the community from January 28 until September 17th I saw a family of five fishermen lost at sea and never heard from again, two homes burn down, one woman leave her abusive husband, at least five new healthy babies born, several trips to the hospital, children break bones and heal quite nicely, properties transferred, and major renovations at the school including a well (started three separate times and finally completed), two new latrines, a food storage area, and a small new Spanish library.

As you all know my main focus in the community of Jiquilillo is the children, with a current focus on the local public primary school. Last year, thanks to many people caring about this community and making donations, I was able to sponsor children to attend school, purchase a vehicle to be used as a community ambulance, bring in well needed simple supplies to the local public primary school including pens, paper, calculators, maps, dictionaries, and much more.

This year I was also able to complete some exciting new projects. After many meetings with the head teacher of the school, the community leaders, the school committee, the parents, and even the children, I was able to pick and choose a few projects which were considered the most important for this year. We were also able to compile a list of projects to be completed within the next two to five years. This year’s projects were more about maintenance and the functionality of the school rather than specifically focusing on the education. This doesn’t mean programs to improve the educational needs weren’t also addressed.

Starting with the fun stuff, the educational improvements include new textbooks for the teachers so the students can work in small groups using 2009 textbooks as opposed to the old outdated textbooks they were previously using. Basic supplies including notebooks, paper, markers, pencils, erasers, and pencil sharpeners. This year the teachers decided sponsorships were not as important as last year as almost all the students had a one uniform. The teachers and school committee thought it may be more beneficial to provide sufficient supplies to the school including notebooks and pencils which could be distributed by the teachers accordingly. This honestly seems to be working quite well this year. Perhaps we will go back to the normal sponsorships as in 2008 for next year or keep it the same; however, this all depends on the teachers and the community members.

As for larger functional projects, well this was actually fun too, and includes some pretty major work in my mind. First, a well was started by another hotel in the area; however their volunteers working on this project returned to their homes before finishing the project leaving a gaping hole and toxic metal barrels in the school yard. The teachers and I decided this was not appropriate or acceptable. A bit of brainstorming, a change of my original plans to build a food storage facility for the school, a couple days, and a couple hundred dollars later, a huge truck filled with all necessary building supplies arrived (bags of cement, several hundred cement blocks, construction sand, nails, lumber, zinc, and cement pillars).

The community all joined forces, and after only a little difficulty in organizing many people began to dig and construct a well, two latrines, and a sink/washing station. (Refer to the pictures). During all this exciting construction not only was I able to lend a hand but I also managed to round up an excited owner and some motivated guests and volunteers from Rancho Esperanza to assist with a school property clean up including trash removal and tree and shrub trimming. After the completion of all construction projects and cleaning, I was able to start what I had really been excited about, a food storage unit for the school lunch program associated with the World Food Program, and a mini community Library. Just take a peek!

I’ll post more information soon; I’ve got tons of photos and would really like to get into more detail on the projects. The school and I are excited about several projects for the upcoming year including the expansion of the library, (a generous supporter has just donated 160+ children’s Spanish books), reparations of the school structure including an entire new roof, reparations of the old latrine systems, and a mangrove reforestation project on the school property. These were just a few ideas the teachers, community leaders, school committee, and I were mulling over. However, we’ve got plenty of time to think some more. Enjoy and please drop me a line, I’m in the United States only until December 3, 2009.

Stephany (Estefani) Guyot