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Improving Nicaraguan lives by building new, community water systems, and improving sanitation.

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Archives for December 2020

Derlin’s Story

December 26, 2020 by Project Schoolhouse

Derlin Activates Community Spirit

Derlin Activates Community Spirit

Because of the local geography, the walk to school was often unpredictable and unsafe for half the children of San Antonio.  Parents took matters into their own hands and built a permanent pedestrian bridge across a river that was dividing the community in two. The bridge is a great source of pride, providing children a safe, reliable path to school, and the entire community consistent accessibility that sparked capital investment and growing economic opportunity.

What kind of memories do you have of being a kid and exploring the neighborhood? Was it going to your friend’s houses? Or being grown up enough to walk to school all by yourself? In the rural community of San Antonio, the children on the opposite side of the river from the school could see the school from their homes, but would walk an hour in the opposite direction to a different school because often times the river was too high to cross safely.

Meet Derlin. When the community was in discussions with Project Schoolhouse to collaborate on building a school, they decided it was important to make sure children on both sides would be able to have equal, safe, and convenient access to the school. When the residents voiced this need and asked Project Schoolhouse to collaborate on building a pedestrian bridge, Project Schoolhouse was happy to respond to the request.

Derlin is a local father who stepped in as a community organizer. His easy smile and approachable nature contribute to his ability to bring people together to pursue a common goal. While Project Schoolhouse paid for the materials, engineering plans, and skilled labor, the community volunteered all of the manual labor to bring this project to fruition.

The roughly 35 families of San Antonio volunteered 3 days a week to excavate and build a school and bridge. Derlin reflects, “It’s really worth dedicating this time to work. It doesn’t matter if we have to dedicate a year or more to work because it’s an effort that we as parents can do so that our children can achieve more opportunities, so that they can have their school, have water, so that they can feel safe and happy.” Derlin kept everyone energized and engaged throughout the project with his positive attitude and reminders of why the work is important.

The people of San Antonio truly demonstrated their capacity to organize and work collectively. With a Project Schoolhouse master builder directing them, the families volunteered countless hours to get the job done. They collected 5,000 boulders from the river and then excavated the riverbed using 5-gallon buckets. They dug pits, built pillars, and even learned how to weld! They did everything by hand…including lifting and placing the giant metal beams. It took 9 months of hard labor, but the 100-meter bridge that now exists enables all children a quick and safe walk to school.

The bridge has also contributed to a great deal of community pride in San Antonio. Because they built it with their own hands, the bridge has a special meaning. Having this key piece of infrastructure has also contributed to economic activity since it provides consistent, easy to access the community.  We see residents investing in their homes and farms thanks to the stability this infrastructure lends to the community. The bridge has united the community and set them up for growth and prosperity.  It is an example of why Project Schoolhouse takes great care to listen and respond to voiced need, the bedrock of how we work.  

Written by Heather Heiss

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Filed Under: Community Engagement, People Driven Development Tagged With: Stories

Project Update: We push onward into 2021

December 26, 2020 by Project Schoolhouse

2020 has been a challenging year in so many aspects, but in spite of that, our work in Nicaragua has continued to move forward. We are proud of the fact that in collaboration with three different communities, we’ve delivered water to around 1000 people in over 120 households in rural Nicaragua.  

Two of those community projects were part of our very first Rotary International Global Grant which we received in 2019 for $89,000.  We are pleased to announce that those projects are both complete and the final report has been accepted by Rotary.  In 2021 we hope to embark on our second Rotary Global Grant project in the community of Bilampi, Nicaragua where 41 families, three schools, and a church will have clean spring water delivered to their doorsteps through an underground distribution system.     

 

We are growing as an organization, which is so rewarding to see.  Our team in Nicaragua has grown to seven this year, our largest size ever, as we stretch to manage and implement multiple projects simultaneously.  In Austin, we have a core three-person staff buoyed by a strong network of volunteers, interns, and board members all working together.  

Without every component of this complex puzzle, we could never make schools, water, and latrines a new reality for these communities in Nicaragua.  We are so grateful to all of the financial supporters, volunteers, team members, and especially the community volunteers in Nicaragua working to improve their own lives through their own hard work.

I’ve always been amazed by the determination of our crew on the ground in Nicaragua to overcome the unbelievable logistical challenges they confront in making these projects a reality and this year has been no different.  And so we push onward into 2021 determined to keep going and grateful for the opportunity to keep doing so.   

Thank you.

Tab Barker
Director of Operations

Filed Under: Clean Water, News From the Field Tagged With: December 2020 Newsletter

Greetings from our Executive Director – 2020 Year in Review

December 26, 2020 by Selina

https://vimeo.com/493872815

Dear Friends,

This has been a year of such challenge, but also a year of pride and gratitude. 

I am proud of our US team who worked so hard and so successfully to transition all of our stewardship and events to be virtual.  We’ve heard such great feedback on the virtual Cien Amigos fundraiser, a huge effort for our little three-person team. Renata made all of the virtual events all year come together so seamlessly.  Tab worked tirelessly on ever-evolving Covid protocols to keep projects moving while keeping our Nicaragua team safe, and set up our scholarship students to study remotely.  We’re proud to have completed all of our 2020 projects on time and under budget, despite all of these challenges, bringing life-saving water to the homes of almost 1000 people.

I am grateful for the supporters, YOU(!), who so generously continue to support the communities with whom we work.  In these trying and uncertain times, when the need in the US is unprecedented and funding requests are coming from all sides, your trust and investment in the work of Project Schoolhouse and our neighbors to the south means the world to them.   

For those who would like to hear more about our 2020 work and our plans for the future, here is an excerpt from our virtual Cien Amigos.  And if you’d like, you can watch the full event, including two new, beautiful short-films where you can meet just a few of the men, women, and children who now have water in their homes.  One woman, Victorina, speaks of having carried water for most of her 74 years.  You can’t help but smile (and, for me, get a little weepy) seeing the joy in her face as she talks about how much safe water and education mean to her family. 

We wish you all health and happiness in the new year!

Selina Serna
Executive Director

Filed Under: News From the Field Tagged With: December 2020 Newsletter

Cheryl Barker – Board Emeritus

December 26, 2020 by Project Schoolhouse

With tremendous gratitude for her many years of generosity and service, we want to thank Cheryl Barker for her service on the Board of Directors for Project Schoolhouse since its inception in 2004.  She has been a dedicated supporter of the organization throughout her tenure and we appreciate her dedication by naming her as our first Board Member Emeritus.

Many residents of Sheridan, Wyoming will have enjoyed the fruits of her labor at the almost annual Sod Farm Festival held in her driveway from 2011 till 2018.   With up to 500 attendees per year, the event was a significant fundraiser for Project Schoolhouse and couldn’t have been possible without her support.  She’s operated Green Carpet Sod in Sheridan Wyoming for over 45 years and it was a perfect place to host that event.

In 2008 she traveled to Nicaragua to attend the inauguration of our very first school project.   The community we stayed in was so taken by her that they named the elementary school in El Aulo, Nicaragua after her.   Finally, in 2020, we succeeded in completing a community water system in that community after all those years.

We want to wish her the very best in all her future endeavors and thank her for supporting this one for so long.

 Thank you Cheryl!

Filed Under: News From the Field Tagged With: December 2020 Newsletter

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