Project Schoolhouse

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

People Driven Development

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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2024 Project Update: Rosario Schoolhouse

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We are so excited for the opportunity to continue working in this community by building our 17th schoolhouse! 

Thanks to the incredible volunteer efforts of the Rosario community and our team on the ground, the building of this school has progressed rapidly since its groundbreaking in early January. With the school’s frame and walls almost complete, community members will move to painting and building doors next.

As we near the final strides of this school, we highlight the difference between learning and not learning: having a dry and well-ventilated functional schoolhouse where the floors don’t turn to mud every time it rains and where school materials can be kept safe and dry really makes a difference. 

We expect this project to be finished in mid-May. The Rosario students are eager to start learning in their new classrooms!

Inside of School
Foundation of School

2024 Program Update: New After-School Club in Bilampi

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With the success of our After-School Club in El Aulo, we are excited to announce the expansion of the After-School program to the new Bilampi community school!

We’ve had amazing success partnering with this community, as the parents are very motivated and driven to provide a better future for their children. 

In preparation for this expansion, our staff trained local volunteers, who have been working hard to create fun learning opportunities for the students. The program will benefit 40 students with homework help, a reading club, math tutoring, and a mini-library to encourage a love of reading. Students from 4th to 6th grade are in the process of learning multiplication tables. Students from 1st to 3rd grades focus on literacy, alphabet, and art projects. 

After-School Club Volunteer

We’re thrilled to be fostering a love for learning and are eager to see how the after-school club helps them grow their skills. 

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New School
Old School

We want to thank The Kathryn B. McQuade Foundation for their support in building this school.

A Successful Cien Amigos 2023!

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Thanks to your support, we were able to meet the Still Water Foundation’s $25k Challenge match, doubling the impact of donations on the night.

We are grateful to our friends, family, and supporters for joining us virtually and in person on our biggest night of the year! This is not your typical fundraising ‘gala’ but a simple, but inspiring evening where those who believe in this work invite friends and family to learn more.

We’re grateful to the Austin Cosmopolitan Rotary Club, UT UNICEF, and Public Health student groups for volunteering to make this event go!

If you would like to receive these photos, send us a message! info@projectschoolhouse.org

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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El Aulo After-School Club Program Update

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A successful year for the Club!

We received this update from Cristian, who leads the volunteer effort of the After-School Club program:

“As the program coordinator, I am proud to call this school year a huge success. With the help of volunteers and the teacher at the El Aulo School, we have accomplished the goal of instilling and helping reinforce literature and language, math, and storybook hours. We have worked hand in hand with the volunteers and the teachers to come together and help the students with their struggles academically. 

We utilized a lot of learning and teaching strategies to do this work with the help of the UT Global Health group led by Dr. Felkner, a professor in the program. These activities have led the students to become more motivated to learn, write, and read. It has helped the students enrich their vocabulary and their writing skills. 

We have seen the change in the students; they are more sociable, they participate, and are more sure of themselves. They also enjoy the benefits of extracurricular activities, education, and a hot lunch, which has increased school attendance.”

We are excited to expand this program into new community schools in 2024.

Thank you for your support of the afterschool program in the Aulo school!

Bilampi Schoolhouse Project Update

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We are pleased to announce the completion of the new school in Bilampi! Keys to the school will be given to the school board in early January, just in time for the new school year to begin! 

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New School
Old School

The road to life-saving infrastructure in the community of Bilampi has been a long one. The Bilampi community first approached us wanting to build a school; the parents and teachers were eager to give their children more opportunities with access to education; they were also in dire need of safe water. We were excited to partner with this community due to the high level of motivation and persistence they showed as they advocated for support, and we began to work with this wonderful community 3 years ago. In 2021-22, the community members worked very hard to build the most extensive water system to date in Project Schoolhouse’s history, stretching 22 kilometers of trenching to bring water into each home. This year, they have finally made their dream a reality by building a new school in their community that is safe for the children to learn in!

Because of the new facilities, 3 new grades will be added to the curriculum. Students in the community can now study through the 3rd year of secondary school! This expansion of grades is a great opportunity for the community and especially for young girls whose parents thought sending them to the neighboring community to continue their studies was unsafe. This has been a dream of the community members, and now it will be a reality starting in 2024!

A few words of gratitude from a teacher and a student at the Bilampi school:

A big thanks to Project Schoolhouse for having made our school possible. With effort and dedication, they have built this for us, where boys and girls today will study with dignity. May God continue strengthening each of you a thousand thanks and blessings.

EVELING, teacher

On behalf of all of the students at the Bilampi school, we want to thank you and God for building this school. We will now study in a school that is dignified, clean, safe and secure. We promise to keep it clean and take care of it really well. GRACIAS!

EVA, sTUDENt

We would like to thank The Kathryn B. McQuade Foundation for their support in building this school.

The last finishing touches
Shelves and furniture being brought in

Bilampi Schoolhouse Project Update:

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This year we started constructing a new school for the community of Bilampi. Community members have finished the foundation of the school, they continue to build the frame of the structure and work continues amid the rain.

We hope to have this school completed by the end of the year. We’re excited to report that thanks to the new facilities, 3 new grades will be added to the curriculum! Students in the community can now study through the 3rd year of secondary school. This expanded opportunity is huge, particularly for young girls whose parents thought sending them to the neighboring community to continue their studies was unsafe.

We would like to thank The Kathryn B. McQuade Foundation for their support in building this school.

School Frame
Handwashing station at school