This Summer, Por Los Niños built a new primary school and a new kindergarten in the rural community of Barrio Nuevo. The Zihuatanejo and international communities stepped up and made miracles happen.
1. La Colonia 3 de Diciembre donated two lots, side-by-side, for the construction of a primary school and a kindergarten.
2. Sailfest volunteer Austin Brown, our nine-year-old whiz kid, donated $21,000 USD for the materials to build 3 classrooms, and a bathroom at the Primary school.
3. Sailfest volunteer Jane Fiala donated $10,000 USD for the materials for the primary school kitchen. Viva Ixtapa!
4. The Zihuatanejo city government supplied sand, gravel and foundation stone, and two workers for each school for 14 weeks. And have reassured us of school certification before commencement of classes in late August. The city and state have promised to provide qualified teachers. (Update! They have kept their promises.)
5. Ing. Jorge Sanchez Allec, former coordinator of Municipal Public Works and current mayoral candidate, provided the concrete for the floors and roofs, and machinery to level the playgrounds.
6. Grupo El Plateado, our building materials supplier, provided all building materials at their cost. Their manager, Fernando Ceballo, has joined our Por Los Niños advisory committee.
7. CONAGUA is extending the government water system to both schools. The colonia currently has no water system.
8. CFE, the federal electrical commission, is extending power to the schools.
9. The parents raised the funds to provide 1 bricklayer’s assistant for each school, built the septic tanks, helped plant 100 trees and plants, and have volunteered additional labor.
10. The Plymouth-Foothills Rotary Club in California has applied for a grant to provide classroom furnishings, ($20,000.usd), as part of a $40,000+.usd grant in support of other Por Los Niños projects. We await the final signature for approval.
11. The Bellevue Rotary club wishes to donate additional kitchen equipment for the primary school. ($2,000.usd)
12. Department of Medio Ambiente has donated 100 trees and plants for landscaping.
13. Sailfest volunteer Helen Walsh has raised funds for the Kinder bathroom septic tank materials. ($1,600.usd)
14. The Springdale Arkansas Rotary Club and the Springdale community (and Austin) donated the materials for the primary school septic tank ($3,200.usd)
15. Por Los Ninos has donated approximately $180,000 pesos for the building materials for the two kinder classrooms and bathroom. We also paid for one supervising bricklayer, a metalworker and a plumber for each school and transportation costs for the 4 city workers. Electrical work will come later; fans, lights, and windows are part of the Rotary grant.
16. Our bright-eyed little scholars crafted petitions to local nurseries, asking for additional donated plants for landscaping.
17. Natasha Rosewood, a Canadian Sailfest volunteer, collected funds in Vancouver for 72 school desks.
18. The volunteer family Lauer from California, and 10 vacationing guests from the Club Interwest, helped paint the schools and landscape the grounds.
19. El Club Rotario de Zihuatanejo also helped paint and landscape the schools, and will administer the Rotary Matching grant when received. Por Los Niños will donate $5,000.usd to the Club which will be part of the $40,000+usd grant.
