Kindergarten School Project

I held a meeting w/ the parents of the students that attend kindergarten school to discuss and inform them of the project. It went well, but I was disappointed in attendance. They’re 56 students, so an excellent number would have been anywhere from 56 to 112 parents. The second time around, I received 11 parents. Can’t ask for much more than that I guess. The first time I tried to hold the mtg, only 3 parents came. What’s even better though is they’re all men. Men tend to pull the weight on decision-making, money-related decisions. We formed a committee and they’re going to present a long-term plan on improving the kindergarten school. I’m really glad. That’s one thing that has come from this project that I can honestly say I’m really proud of--people working together. The idea is long after the construction of the fence, the parents are going to keep interest in improving the school. They’re going to follow the plan until the school is completely refinished. In this sense, the project is sustainable. With community involvement and motivation, much can be accomplished. But I did want this blog to discuss the project more in detail. The kindergarten school is a one-room school that houses 56 students and lies in an open-field. There are no desks, just mini-wooden stools, no toys, and no form of security. There is one dedicated teacher who was before this project without a lot of support. The fence I’m raising funds for is to provide the students w/ a secluded and protected learning environment. The students tend to play or wander away from the school, posing safety concerns. Motorists and unauthorized vehicles drive on the school’s premises. With 56 students, it’s really difficult for the teacher to watch all the students w/out a visible perimeter. In addition to the need of a fence, the school needs desks. B/c there aren’t any desks, the students sometimes sit outside in the porch area. There are mini-wooden stools, but not enough for all the students. The school also lacks games. The teacher invests her personal money in games created by the local carpenter for the children’s amusement. The mayor wanted the project to include all of those items: a fence, desks, and games (specifically a seesaw and swing set), and if not too expensive, another room, but the total costs were around an unfeasible $12,000 (w/out the cost of building an extra room). With the fence alone, we’ve reduced it to nearly $8,000 w/ a partnership contribution of more than $4,000. It is unfortunate that we can’t take care of all the expenses, but I’m hoping that’s where the committee will pick up. Maybe in time, the kindergarten school will have all of that and much more. In the meantime, we are taking donations for the school. Anyone reading this can donate by simply going to peacecorps.gov, clicking the “donate now” tab in the left-hand corner, and using one of the search indicators(name-listed, country: Mali, state: SC), and find the project entitled Child Care Center Construction. Simply click on that and donate!!!