Las Lagunas De Nisibón Hurricane Relief School Repair Project

I. PROPOSAL SUMMARY

The purpose of this project is to provide hurricane relief to the town of Las Lagunas de Nisibón, Dominican Republic, through the repair of the primary and high schools. Both schools were severely damaged after Hurricane Jeanne directly hit the east coast of the island on September16, and are currently functioning with five fewer classrooms than normal. The schools’ parents and staff are requesting $3,878 to replace 6 lost roofs, 17 broken windows, 50 water-logged desks, and 16 light fixtures. The community’s in-kind and cash contribution will be in the amount of $ 3,375, including $1,931 from the national Secretary of Education.

II. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Escuela San Juan Bosco is the principal primary school in Las Lagunas. With two sessions (in the morning and afternoon), the school serves 1020 students from 4 communities. With 3 out of 11 classrooms completely destroyed in the hurricane, students have been studying in the assembly hall and crafts room of the Catholic church. Two classes of 50 students share the hall, separated by a moveable chalkboard which blocks neither noise nor sight of the adjoining class. A third class of approximately 45 students is squished among sewing machines and cooking supplies in the crafts room. Two other classrooms in the primary school are being used despite having damaged roofs, and the director’s office is damaged such that the director is working out of the supply closet, with all of the students' files stored in the bathroom.

Liceo San Vicente de Paul is the only high school in the 85 km stretch between Higüey and Miches, serving 321 students from 8 major communities. 2 out of 8 classrooms were completely destroyed in the hurricane, forcing class sizes of up to 70 students. In one classroom, students are sharing chairs and sitting in the hallway for lack of space. In addition, the Liceo’s computer lab has been rendered completely unusable due to the resulting lack of electricity in Las Lagunas. The lab had been a great community resource, with required high school classes in the morning, teacher training in information technology in the afternoons, and community classes in the evenings.

While the repair of these two schools is the responsibility of the national Secretary of Education, due to a lack of resources, they have only committed to repair the three roofs at the primary school. They are unable to repair the classrooms at the high school, nor replace windows, broken/damaged desks, broken lights, or repair the director’s office. Without any outside assistance, the high school will continue to hold classes of 70 students, with many students sitting on windowsills and tables in place of chairs. The windows in both schools will remain torn apart. And the director will continue to store her students’ files in the bathroom. In addition, the Secretary of Education continues to stress that repairs will not arrive quickly due to the lack of funds, even though this is considered an “urgent” situation.

The community of Las Lagunas, however, considers this an extremely urgent situation. Students are losing valuable class time and teachers are overwhelmed with too many students. Moreover, the scraps of metal and wood from the roofs that remained after the hurricane, pose a serious threat to the community’s safety.

Las Lagunas is a relatively poor agricultural town. Its residents depend on rice production, the sale of livestock, and most recently tourism, for their livelihood. After Hurricane Jeanne, with the hotels of nearby Uvero Alto closed for a month; hundreds of cows, horses, and goats killed; and 75% of the rice crop destroyed, Laguneros are expecting some extremely difficult times ahead.

III. PARTNERSHIP GUIDELINES

1. Community Initiated and Directed

The damages to the two schools have affected nearly every resident in Las Lagunas—every household has a son, a daughter, a cousin or a friend in the school system. While many community members are busy repairing their own houses after the hurricane, they are willing to lend their support in any way possible. The schools’ directors and parent association are eager to get the schools fully-functioning again and are strongly committed to the following actions:

The community will:
· Volunteer the man-power required to reconstruct roofs, install windows, connect the electricity, and paint the damaged classrooms.
· Pay for necessary cables and wires to repair the electrical system in the computer lab.
· Provide transportation to Higüey to buy needed supplies.
· Buy over half the paint supply (10 tubs)

The school will:
· Pay for fuel to run the generator needed to keep the computer lab operating, by charging a user’s fee to all students.

The Secretary of Education will:
· Pay $1,931 for the repair of 3 roofs in the elementary school. The repairs will be co-managed by the primary school director, Ana Valerio, the high school director, Nestor Mercedes Sandoval, and the Peace Corps Volunteer, Mary Clark.

2. Community Need

Classroom size in Dominican schools is extremely high, due to the lack of funding for new buildings and new teachers. After Hurricane Jeanne, the problem in Las Lagunas has intensified, and teachers spend the majority of their class time disciplining students and attempting to obtain order. Students are losing valuable class time and teachers are becoming extremely frustrated at their inability to teach effectively. That is when school is in session. When it rains, the classes still housed in the primary school are canceled due to leaking roofs--and it rains a lot during hurricane season. Students and staff feel an overall sense of depression at seeing their school so totally destroyed.

Short-Term Goals
1) Re-construct 5 classrooms (replace roofs and windows, paint) so that the elementary and high schools are functioning at their full capacity.
2) Repair Director’s office so that administrative work can be completed efficiently.
3) Repair the electrical and lighting system in the computer lab so that students, teachers, and community members have access to information technology.
4) Supply 50 new desk sets so that every student has a chair to sit in and a desk to write on.

Long-Term Goals
1) Classroom sizes are reduced such that no class has more than 60 students.
2) Teachers are trained in using information technology as an educational tool in their classrooms.
3) Community members utilize the computer lab and contribute to its maintenance and growth.
4) An Information Technology Committee is set up with the help of members of this oversight committee, utilizing the newly renovated computer lab.

3. Project Implementation

Political Situation: The project will involve cooperation among all political groups.

In-Country Means of Support: Even though the national Secretary of Education has plans to help with school repairs, they have only committed $1,931, which only covers 26% of the repair costs. In addition, we have reason to believe that this support will be long in coming, given that hundreds of desks, chairs, and windows, promised by the Secretary of Education after Hurricane George in 1998, have yet to arrive. We cannot afford to wait six years this time to put roofs on our schools.

Resources and Time: Repairs should not take more than 4 weeks, given that all supplies are available in Las Lagunas or Higüey, and given that all manual labor will be provided by community members.

Sustainability: If built securely and maintained adequately, the schools should serve as educational centers for many years. With the repairs, the community will once again take pride in its schools and contribute to their maintenance.