Projects

The new classrooms

Sontule School Building

The next stage

We are truly overwhelmed by the help and support we’ve received, and the people of Sontule were overwhelmed too. But there’s still a lot to be done. The school, like most houses in the village, has no water supply. If we can set up a decent water source at the school then at least the children will have access to clean water while they are studying.

We also want to build new, hygienic latrines for the children, to replace the old overflowing ones with no doors. And we want to add a reading room, that one day might become a classroom if more teachers can be provided (the three teachers each teach two classes in a single room at the moment). We also want to create a recreational area where the children can play safely, and reforest the eroded area around the school.

Please help us to keep up this good work, and give the children of Sontule the school they deserve.

New Classrooms Completed!

The new school building is now ready for first and second years to use. Work began in March, and the teams of community volunteers raced to get the roofs strengthened and the building work done before the rains came in May. Unfortunately the rains came early, damaging some of the work and putting back what remained to be done. By early October though the new building was ready for the students to move in. “Its great”, said Jaritsa, a tear one student, “before when it rained the water came through the roof and damaged our books, but now we stay dry and we have enough light to read as well.”

‘A Community Project’ An Interview with Marlon Villarreyna, Community Coordinator, Sontule School Fund.

Marlon Villarreyna, Community Coordinator

Marlon Villarreyna (MV): Well, one of the many problems has been the walls and the roof. The walls had become so unstable that we lived with the risk that they might come apart and that falling debris could injure the children. The roof was in such a bad state that it came off easily in high winds. Several times we had to go and pick up the roof when it flew off and landed in the highway.

MF: How do you think the project compares with other projects in Miraflor?

MV: To an extent there are similarities, but there are differences too. With other projects the people responsible (who are people from outside Miraflor) decide who is going to work on the project, what the design of the school will look like, where they are going to build. Whereas with this project, which we can call a community project, the community itself has decided the design, the location of the building and who should be involved.

The parents’ council has been involved, and through them we have planned a rota for the manual work. Two or three members of the community come to the school each day to work voluntarily alongside the builder. So that’s the difference, that paid workers aren’t building our school, but rather the members of the community themselves are doing their own community’s work.

Nuevo Amanecer Women’s Cooperative

In October 2004 the twenty-two women of the Nuevo Amanecer (New Dawn) Cooperative piloted a bag-making project, crafting a range of simple, hand-sewn bags, Each bag was different, embroidered with designs that the women created, inspired by the bird and plant life of the Miraflor Nature Reserve. The project was a roaring success, and the bags sold quickly over Christmas 2004 to friends and supporters in the UK. The women chose to pay themselves a nominal wage for their labour, but most of the profits were donated to the Sontule school fund. “We are proud to contribute to our children’s future through our own efforts”, said Isabel Flores, President of the cooperative.

In 2005 the women worked hard to expand the project, and the fruits of their efforts are still available for sale. This time the profits will not go to the school fund, but to the women’s cooperative. Many of the women are single mothers without land, and in a rural community like Sontule having no land means having no way to make a living. In time, the women hope to buy land in order to farm collectively, and grow traditional medicinal plants for sale. There are also plans to develop a small bakery.