New School Almost Complete in Guitarrani, Bolivia
A new school project in the community of Guitarrani, Bolivia is about 98% complete!
Mano a Mano staff and members from the Rotary Clubs that have supported this project are traveling to Bolivia to participate in the dedication ceremony of this new school later this month.
The project includes 3 classrooms, a teacher housing unit, and bathrooms. The new school will be a much more comfortable learning environment for the students, and a more comfortable working environment for the teachers.
Guitarrani is a community of about 780 people in the municipality of Icla, province of Zudanez, department of Chuquisaca, Bolivia – about a 9-hour drive from the city of Cochabamba.
Why Are These Projects Important?
Access to education in rural Bolivia is a huge challenge; Bolivian adults (25-65) in urban areas have on average 9.98 years of schooling, whereas Bolivian adults in rural areas have on average 4.85 years of schooling, one of the biggest gaps in Latin America. Education can have a big impact; each additional year of schooling can increase income by up to 10%, and a child born to a mother who can read is 50% more likely to survive past age 5. The first step in improving education for kids in rural areas is to decrease the distance to get to a school, improve school infrastructure & the learning environment, and have motivated teachers that are consistently available.
Pictures from the Construction Process – May 2017
Working Together to Make These Projects Possible
Every project that Mano a Mano does, including this school in Guitarrani, depends on many people working together (read more about our partnership model here). The Guitarrani School project is a collaboration with:
- our counterpart organization Mano a Mano Bolivia
- the community of Guitarrani
- the Alcaldia of Icla
- funding from donors in the US, with many Rotary Clubs supporting this school project in Guitarrani:
- Rotary Club of Thunder Bay (Fort William)
- Fort William Satellite Club
- Rotary Club of Thunder Bay (Port Arthur)
- Lakehead Rotary Club
- International Falls Rotary Club
- Duluth Harbortown Rotary Club
- Cochabamba Concordia Rotary Club
Thanks to everyone that is involved in this project!