March 6, 2013
It has been a while since I blogged about Cuesta Arena. The school is running beautifully and I could not be any more please with the parents, the teacher, and the church. They have completely taken responsibility of everything and have not only continued with the school but improved along the way. Tomorrow afternoon we will have the monthly parents meeting and begin discussing the next school year, the six children that will graduate from our school and begin public school, and the plans for this summer.
After serious consideration, we have decided to continue with our plan of filling in the hole the system at large has left. This means that there is currently an elementary school en Los Almacigos, a middle school in Batey 1, and high school in La Canela. It is not ideal for the children of Cuesta Arena due to distance and quality of public education and many of our parents are nervous about having to send their children into the various areas for education. However, we are not abandoning the children when they begin public school. Our plan is to begin construction on the second floor of our current building with an open area that can be divided or used as one open area. If we can finish this summer (not an expectation), we will begin with tutoring in the morning and in the evening to help the children (here some of the children go to school in the morning and some in the afternoon). If we do not finish, in the fall we will begin with tutoring in the afternoon a few days a week. After talking with the Bishop who started a school in Sabeneta we are talking his advice and going with programing similar to Compassion. The new program will include tutoring, bible school, counseling, and snack. Our goal is to help the children be successful in their education in the public school. In June, we are planning to have a graduation ceremony for those that will be entering the public school and approach the ceremony as a commission to be lights in the schools in which they will be going. Much like a missionary gets commissioned, we will commission the children and their families to service in their schools. As we begin planning this ceremony, I will post more.
As far as the water system, we met with the Rotary Club, whom we are so grateful for their donation and support to complete this system.We have finished the roof for the new tinaco and have completed the protective box around the new generator. These were both expenses we did not foresee and therefore did not write into our grant. However, a church from Pennsylvania donated money, to the project and with their help, we were able to construct these necessary items for our water project.
We are thankful to all churches and individuals who have made all of these projects possible and who continue to support us monthly and annually through their donations, service, and prayers. I am currently working on the next school year and our needs as I know many have asked how they can help and be involved in the coming school year.