Project Schoolhouse

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

Selina

Greetings From Our Executive Director

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Dear friends,

We’re excited to share project updates and photos of the multi-community water, sanitation and school project we broke ground on late this summer in the region of La Ponsoña, Matagalpa. With one water capture, we can deliver water to seven communities at once, leveraging costs and efficiency as we scale the water system technology that has been our mainstay for 17 years. Our team continues to prove themselves as they put their expertise to work. I hope you enjoy the project update below.

In addition to the news from the field and community stories we typically share in these newsletters, today I wanted to share a bit more about those in the US who give their time and talents to make this project a reality. 

We are fortunate over the years to have gathered a group of dedicated professionals who are writing grants, reviewing legal documents, doing all the multi-currency bookkeeping, preparing and reviewing financials, producing events, writing letters and content, providing IT technical support for our Nicaragua team, and keeping our community surveys and databases updated and relevant. We have a dedicated Board of Directors who provide guidance, strategy, and support in more ways than I can say. Just as the projects in Nicaragua are powered by volunteer community labor, the entire non-profit is powered by volunteers in the US who give from their hearts, collaborating through shared vision and goals. It’s a pretty special group of people, and I’m grateful to be a part of it.

Sincerely,

Selina   

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Greetings From Our Executive Director

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Dear friends,

In the first few days of 2024, we hit the ground running! The team broke ground on a new school project in the community of Rosario Las Vegas, where we finished a water and sanitation project last year. And, I am thrilled to announce the expansion of our After-School Club tutoring and mentorship program into a second community.

We are happy to share our 2023 Annual Report showcasing the progress made last year, thanks to the sustaining support of the foundations and individuals (YOU!) who generously invest in these projects.

At the beginning of 2024, in anticipation of a transformational grant from a new supporter, we invested in a Nicaraguan-based  Director of Operations to provide in-country leadership and technical capacity to our team. We are honored to have Mirle Zeledon, a civil engineer with experience in water and sanitation projects throughout Central America, join our team. 

We are thrilled to report that this catalyzing grant has been approved! In a few weeks, we will break ground on phase one of the largest project in our history. With one spring capture, we will deliver safe water to seven communities and build functional schoolhouses in each community! This acceleration in the pace of our work begins a new chapter at Project Schoolhouse. 

I invite you to read more detailed project updates below and look forward to providing updates as we move into this exciting new year. 

Gratefully,

Selina

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Greetings From Our Executive Director

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We are so happy to end this year by reporting on the completion of a beautiful new school for the community of Bilampi, and I am grateful to so many who made this happen. We’re grateful to the community who waited patiently for funding to come through, delayed by all of the new rules and reporting requirements, never losing trust in our commitment to this project, and working so hard as soon as materials were available. 

We’re grateful to our team in Nicaragua, who worked with unwavering persistence, determination, and faith that all would work out. And we’re grateful to all of our sustaining supporters (YOU!) who trust us to put their investments to work. 

There are so many benefits to these educational and water infrastructure projects beyond the obvious ones with which we begin  (improved health, safety, access to education). In this new school, with multiple classrooms, the local ministry of education is adding the first three years of high school to the classes taught there, with additional teachers to support this higher level of learning. Children will no longer have to walk long distances to attend the high school in a neighboring community, and those whose parents didn’t consider it safe enough to walk will now have access to high school in their community. In the new year, we will begin our After-School Club in this community to help children catch up in their studies and set them up for success. 

This work is slow and steady and so very necessary. In the words of Anne Frank, “How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment. We can start now, start slowly, changing the world. How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make a contribution toward introducing justice straightaway. And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness! 

Wishing you all peace and joy in the new year!

Selina

Community Meeting
Team Touring Communities
Students showing us their water bottles

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Greetings From Our Executive Director

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Dear friends, 
I’ve just returned from a whirlwind listening tour in Nicaragua. 

Last week, our team visited the communities next up in our pipeline of prospective projects – 10 community meetings representing 5 thousand people. In 3 very long days, traveling in off-road vehicles to the beautiful countryside surrounding Rio Blanco, Matagalpa, we were welcomed with kindness, warmth, and hope for help with the same challenges expressed by all – the desperate need for safe water and functional schools.

We heard from parents who described how weather patterns are changing, dry spells are lasting longer, and water holes they have traditionally relied upon for water to drink, cook, and bathe are dry, forcing them and their children to walk further to find water.

We heard from children who showed us the water bottles they carry to school and talked about how they have to ration the water so it will last through the school day.

We heard from one impressively confident and articulate young boy (pictured below) who shared how challenging it is to focus in school when he is thirsty after the long walk to school. He has a small bottle he fills in a stream on his walk to school each day, but it doesn’t last the full day. He shared he doesn’t like drinking it because it tastes bad, and the water is particularly mucky in the rainy season, but it’s all he has.

We heard from teachers who showed us where the water pours into their classrooms when it rains, who spoke of how hard it is to keep the school clean when the floor turns to mud, and who showed us the holes in the ceiling tiles where the bats live.

We have been working in this region for 16 years, and while that progress has been life-changing for the 18 communities with completed projects, it was humbling to hear how many more are patiently waiting for help. We have 1 fundraiser a year to raise the funds to pay for projects next year. I write today to invite you to join us at ‘Cien Amigos 2023’, an inspiring evening where you can invite family and friends to join you in investing in these projects. Event details follow below, and I hope to see you there.

This work is only possible with your support. We are so grateful.

Community Meeting
Team Touring Communities
Students showing us their water bottles

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Greetings from Executive Director

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Dear friends,

We wanted to let you know about important milestones we’ve reached and update you on current projects.

We’ve successfully navigated the new government requirements to continue to operate in Nicaragua. I am grateful to our team in Rio Blanco for their persistence in working through those challenges over the past months. We’re happy to be working. The current school project in Bilampi is going faster than planned, with high levels of community engagement.

We are excited to be planning ‘Cien Amigos 2023’ in a new venue for us, The Austin Winery! It is our only fundraiser of the year, and we hope you will join the fun! More details here.

We wanted to share this video of our After-School and Programs Coordinators, Cristian and Norma. As they mention, we plan to build two new schools this year in the communities of Bilampi and Rosario Las Vegas. The two schools will complete our work in those communities where we finished fully distributed water systems in 2022. I get a little teary when I hear from them how much these projects mean. I hope you enjoy meeting them. They are an inspiration to the young girls who study in schools we’ve helped build.

With gratitude,

Selina Serna 
Executive Director

Greetings from Executive Director

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Bilampi, Bocana de Paiwas: We completed a water and latrine project in Bilampi, which began in 2021. This was one of the most extensive, fully-distributed water projects in our history, including 22 km of hand-dug trench to lay the water distribution lines to reach every home, plus two churches and three schools. It’s really a beautiful part of the country, further east than we’ve ever worked, in the region of Bocana de Paiwas. We’re grateful to Rotary International and several Austin-area Rotary Clubs who supported this project.

  Children in the community of Fatima, Bilampi, with clean water at their school!
Community member, Bilampi, Nicaragua, with safe water in her home. 

Rosario Las Vegas: In July we broke ground in the community of Rosario Las Vegas on a fully-distributed water and latrine project. We’re grateful to The Burdine Johnson Foundation for their support of this project. We expect to turn on safe, clean water in homes by Christmas! 

Image: Community members trenching for the main conduction line in Rosario Las Vegas, Rio Blanco.

San Isidro, Rio Blanco: Lastly, in partnership with UT Austin Enactus and Localized Water, we installed our first rainwater catchment system at the school in the community of San Isidro. This project was a pilot to test out a solution that gets safe water to schools in a quick, low-cost way while we work our way through the multi-year pipeline of communities waiting for the fully-distributed system we typically install.

Left to right: Community members in San Isidro with the UT Students, UT Team working on Rain Water Project. 

We are particularly proud to have completed all of these projects while navigating the ever-changing complexity of the local government laws and regulations. We are optimistic that we’re through the highest of these hurdles, allowing us to refocus on the projects and programs that are so crucial to the communities with whom we partner. Huge thank you to our local team who has worked tirelessly through these hurdles and uncertainties with persistence and tenacity. I wanted to share a couple of photos of our team at work. The treks into these communities are long and arduous; these projects would not be possible without their dedication. 

Left to right: Our head builder Manuel, with his trusty T-square. Maria Ines, Cristian, and Norma escorted by a community member.

Looking ahead to 2023:

I had the opportunity to travel extensively in Nicaragua this summer, my first trips since covid lockdowns, and I can say the need has never been greater. We plan to partner on new schoolhouses in Rosario and Bilampi and in a third community, a fully distributed water project.  Your support makes these projects possible – thank you. For any questions or a more detailed update, you can always reach me at selina@projectschoolhouse.org.

With gratitude and best wishes in the New Year!

Selina Serna 
Executive Director

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Greetings from the Executive Director

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Just this week we are wrapping up the water and latrine project in the community of Bilampi, Bocana de Paiwas which started in 2021. This is the most spread out community water project in our history and the families worked so hard to get water to every home, in total hand-digging 22 kilometers of trench to lay the water distribution lines to reach every home, plus 2 churches and 3 schools. We hope to return to this community in late 2022 to build new schools for the children, replacing the dilapidated wooden huts in which they currently study, one of which is dangerously close to collapsing. I fear for the safety of the children but the only option is to study outdoors.. 

 In April we broke ground on a fully-distributed water system, latrines, and a new school in the community of Rosario Las Vegas, Matagalpa. This community is all the way around Mount Musún, the mountain around which we’ve been working for the past 15 years. It’s emotional, actually, to have made it all the way around this beautiful mountain (photo above) and continue the circle back to our home office in Rio Blanco, passing all of the projects we’ve built in past years. There are many more communities off the main road waiting to partner with us, but this feels like such good progress.

Finally, in the first 2 weeks of June, I traveled with a group of UT Austin students and their faculty lead to install our first rainwater catchment system at the school in the community of San Isidro. The students first built a prototype on the UT Austin campus, then worked with our head builder in Nicaragua to modify the design for locally available parts. We envision this low-cost, quick-to-install solution as a way to get clean water to schools first, while we complete full topography studies and raise the funds needed for the fully-distributed water systems we traditionally build in the hundreds of communities still needing clean water. It was great to see the success of this project and so inspiring to witness the generosity and ingenuity of the student group.

Gratefully,
Selina Serna

Greetings from our Executive Director – 2020 Year in Review

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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