The Margaret Eyre School Project

The Margaret Eyre School Project

About a year ago, Mano a Mano friends Richard and Susan Eyre started working on raising funds to build a school in honor of Richard’s mother – Margaret Eyre. Richard and Susan have been amazing supporters of Mano a Mano and extremely active – appearing on radio shows, hosting craft sales, traveling to Bolivia, among many other things – and this effort was no different.

At the office, at least once a month we’ll open the mail to find a new stack of checks from the Eyres and their friends to go towards the school project.

We have now raised enough funding to select a community and get started on the project – a 4-classroom school project in Sora Sora, a small community of about 1,800 in the province of Chapare, municipality of Colomi, department of Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Last week, Mano a Mano’s co-founder Segundo Velasquez traveled to Chicago to present a plaque for the project to Margaret Eyre.

Note from Segundo

Margarita, friends, and family who contributed to the construction of this school project were touched with the gesture and the special trip made to Chicago. Margarita is 97.5 years old and she is still pretty sharp. Margarita supported her son, Richard Eyre when he was serving in Bolivia in the Peace Corps and has supported Mano a Mano in the recent past.

We wished her a Merry Christmas.  They asked me thank everyone at Mano a Mano for your work in Bolivia….

Pictures from Sora Sora, Bolivia

Partnership Model

As with every Mano a Mano project, this school project is a partnership with many different people coming together. Donors in the US, Mano a Mano (in this case Mano a Mano International in the US and our counterpart organization Mano a Mano Bolivia), the municipal government, and the community all play integral roles in making this project happen.

You can learn about our partnership model here.

Letter From Margaret Eyre

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2015.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year. I am still at Valley Hi Nursing Home and I am doing well there at 96 years old. My only complaint is that every day is the same. The holidays are wonderful and so many people and groups come to entertain us.

The ‘Margaret Eyre School’

One great piece of news is that Mano a Mano International is going to name a school in Bolivia  in my honor. If anyone would like to donate money designated to the ‘Margaret Eyre School’, send it to:

• Mano a Mano International
• 925 Pierce Butler Rte
• St Paul MN 55104

Thanks to everyone for all the love, letters, visits, and calls. It makes me happy!

Love,  Margaret

Would You Like to Support this School Project?

If you would like to make a donation to support this school project in honor of Margaret Eyre, you can make a donation on our project page on Razoo.

Making a Difference in Rural Bolivia