(about 10 minutes away). With houses scattered along both sides of
the road there really isn't a community center other than the school.
The previous school is in total disrepair and desperately in need of
replacement. Built from bamboo and palm fronds, it barely held out
any rain and was constantly wet and muddy inside. it really was
desperate situation. Project Schoolhouse hadn't been planning on
replacing this school this year, but after adament encouragement from
the local Mayor of Rio Blanco and the department of education, we
agreed that the school in El Aulo should be a priority.
The community of San Andres, 10 minutes down the way, is the last town
on the road, which stops at the Tuma River. San Andres has about 500
inhabitants and feels alot like Dodge City 100 years ago. Mule,
horses, and stray dogs outnumber the vehicles by at least 20 to 1.
Stores and houses line the main street just like a city from the old
west. the rest of the community is traversed by footpaths and
horsetrails. They have a two room schoolhouse that struggles to house
the 160 students that end up scattered through a number of private
homes and open air shelters. Adding 4 classrooms to the school in San
Andres is one of our upcoming projects.
Across the Tuma River, either by horse or dugout canoe, and walking 2
kilomters is Kiwaska, where last year's school is located. On
saturday i traveled there to see the completed school for the first
time. Rounding the last bend as the school came into view i was
struck by it's sheer size compared to everything around it. I'm
honestly not sure how it actually got built. No wonder this year's
project seems so easy and is coming along so quickly. We didn't have
to bring water or build 2 kilometers of road across two rivers with
picks and shovels.
The school is beautiful and spacious and makes a wonderful addition to
the community. It is famous in the region and perhaps that example is
also making this year's project go quickly because the recipient
community now understands better how this model works.
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