An update on the Internet Project and Final World Map photos
Conéctanos: Internet in San Isidro
So, the long and short of what's going on: I went home for the funeral in December and when I got back to my site, I found out the building for the cyber cafe had been given to a different organization. I met with the owners and explained to them that we still needed a building, blah blah blah, and well, now we have an even BETTER building. I got some estimates this past week for the repairs that have to be made (it's a lot since the building is made out of adobe currently and there is no electricity), and I think I'm going to be soliciting you (friends and family) shortly to help out with the costs for the repairs. Basically, the general plan now is to create a sort of cooperative. Community members/organizations can donate $$ to the project costs and in return, will receive X% of the earnings (the X% will change depending on how much they donate up front). And all of you that donate will have the option of choosing an organization that you want your portion of the money to go (school, church, clinic, farmers' cooperative, etc.) I still need to formally present this idea to the community (I'm more concerned at the moment with getting all the info for the reconstruction), but we're moving full speed ahead.
And a fellow volunteer from my group, Jared, is spear-heading a project to bring in computers for the school system that cost the community $70 per computer. We have solicited for computers for the elementary/middle school (where there are no computers currently) and additional computers for the high school. And the thought is that 11 of the computers we solicited for the school can be used for the cyber cafe, thus being one of the investments that the school makes, gaining them return money in future months to help purchase and maintain their computers and other technology equipment. More or less, that's where we stand. I would LOVE to hear your feedback about this plan sometime.
Final World Map Photos
Well, I had planned on putting final touches on the world map while the kids were on break in December, but since I went home, it waited until the week before school. But, finally, the map is done and everyone seems to love it. See photos below.
If you're interested in reading about my December trip home, click here.