Hey everyone,
Haven't posted in a while, but a lot has been going on. Here's a brief overview:
Computers: buying 5 in good condition with new keyboards from Cesar at $300 a piece, using the money I received from Hopkins
Books: All kinds of stuff going on. Cesar found a market where they sell used books for really cheap in Tegucigalpa (the capital city) and so were going there on Monday.
Cesar also talked to the owners of a private school here in Sigua, who told him that they would be donating books and material as soon as they are finished organizing their own library and know what they no longer need for their school. But they are sure they will have things to donate.
Talked to the principal of the big public high school here, who is also the owner of the only book store in town. And happened to have founded two libraries himself 2 years ago. So he knows what he's doing. He promised to give me about 20 books, to guide me through the process of connecting this library to the national library network (which guarantees them about 80 new books a year), to show me which books to buy, and to give me a discount on any of the ones I buy from his store.
So the plan is: Cesar, Claire and I are going to his store on Saturday morning so he can show us which books we should be getting. We will take note, then check on Monday how many we can get secondhand. Then buy the rest new, and perhaps add our own.
The goal is to have a lot of books, so with limited funds I wanted to make sure that I could get a lot (hence buying used books). But I also want the library to be attractive, so I want to have a decent amount of new books as well. The teachers of the younger kids also wanted to have books to teach kids how to read, so I think we will be buying some of those, as well a some learning materials for the school.
That principal is also going to help me organize the community into what he calls a 'Comite' that is charged with keeping track of all the books and events, to make sure that the library stays up and running over time. Though he suggested that it only be run by youth, from my experience talking with the parents and how excited they are about the project, I think a combination of youth and parents to jointly organize and manage the library would be perfect. Next week I'll be working on setting that up.
Because it is so cheap and would be so helpful for the school, I think I will be paying to put electricity in all of the other classrooms. As of now they only have it in one room, and to extend that to the other rooms would cost about 50 dollars, something I think is worth it. That way we could house the computers in a much more secure classroom and wouldn't have to worry as much about people stealing them. Still some security worries though. Tey will have a new classroom built by December, and they will make sure that that one is secure so they can put the computers in there without worrying.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
More computer info
Talked to Cesar today, he's said in the past that he was selling his internet cafe, but i didn't think he was serious. Now he told me that its actually happening, and that if i wanted he would sell me all the computers for cheap. He wants to sell me 5 computers. I really only want 3. But he would also be throwing in all the chairs, desks, software, everything in with the price of the computers. Which is probably worth it. I told him that I wanted to have a lot of money left with which to buy books, because I wanted to be sure that I wasnt just setting up computers.
In that case, he told me he would talk to people at the private schools (he knows just about everyone important in Siguatepeque) and would ask if they had books for kids that they could donate. And if not that we could go to the capital and find the used book store and so get more books for our money. Im kind of trying to rope him into finding as many books as possible before I buy the computers from him.
In other news, still unsure about the teachers. I didn't quite understand what happened, but for some reason someone didnt want the teachers to sign "blank contracts" which was what the Promotor showed up with today. So they still haven't signed anything. But it still seems better than it was before. If not though, I think I'll just work through the community members rather than the teachers, and make sure that they run the place themselves.
In that case, he told me he would talk to people at the private schools (he knows just about everyone important in Siguatepeque) and would ask if they had books for kids that they could donate. And if not that we could go to the capital and find the used book store and so get more books for our money. Im kind of trying to rope him into finding as many books as possible before I buy the computers from him.
In other news, still unsure about the teachers. I didn't quite understand what happened, but for some reason someone didnt want the teachers to sign "blank contracts" which was what the Promotor showed up with today. So they still haven't signed anything. But it still seems better than it was before. If not though, I think I'll just work through the community members rather than the teachers, and make sure that they run the place themselves.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
July 6th
I talked to education guy at Proyecto Aldea Global, who told me that he would help with the library, and would also be open to being interviewed for my research. He said that I should have a meeting of the community members, and that it could stay in the same community regardless of whether the teachers change. He also said that all in all it would take about a week to set up. I doubt his optimism because off all the security and internet issues. But its nice to hear someone who knows what hes doing say that he would help. That way I know I can ask him questions when I go to start setting things up.
July 7th
Today I sat in on a meeting of the community members (about 50 mothers and not a few babies), the teachers, a representative of the PROHECO and the teachers' lawyer. I learned a few things about the structure of the school and the way everything works around here.
First of all, the school doesn't really get any funding except for to pay the teachers. And sometimes to buy new books. All other work, painting, repairs, small construction projects...all comes directly out of the pockets of the community. The school is run under a project called PROHECO, which basically stands for community involvement in the administration of schools. Only some of the schools in Honduras are part of the project. I think (I'll have to research this more) that it's funded in part by the World Bank. In any case, this school is partly funded by the World Bank. And so they argued that the government really didn't have the ability to void their contracts like they said they did. The teachers haven't been paid in months. Normally, WB and government funds get pooled and the teachers take their paycheck out of them, but these teachers haven't been able to get the money because the government said they were no longer eligible.
According to some papers published by the ECO, that the community members promptly produced in the meeting, an assembly has to be called before the ECO can do anything like changing the teachers. And they hadn't done that. In the meeting last week with the guy at the mayor's office, that was one of their demands. And that was why the 'Promotor' was there at the meeting today.
Many parents wanted to keep the teachers totally, but the Promotor (representative of the ECO) didn't want to. He said that it was a decision that 'came from above,' from politics rather than logic. BUT, one of the teachers, who I was sitting next to, told me that he definitely had the power to change that decision. Just that he might be punished. He just wasn't willing to stand up to them. It was really clear that what was happening was not necessarily legal, but rather just political. Which means that they couldn't really bring it to court, because the politics controls the courts.
At the meeting, the Promotor was on his heels, and stayed seated most of the time. A few of the community members really pushed him around. One of the big points of the final resolution was respect: that the ECO respect its own rules and that it respect the community with which it worked.
The final compromise, because it is true that in the end the politics are more powerful than a group like the ECO, was that the teachers would stay this year (and be paid for the months they worked for free) and that next year they would re negotiate contracts or bring in new teachers. But if new teachers do come, they have to be qualified.
On Friday, the teachers are re-negotiating their contracts.
I talked to education guy at Proyecto Aldea Global, who told me that he would help with the library, and would also be open to being interviewed for my research. He said that I should have a meeting of the community members, and that it could stay in the same community regardless of whether the teachers change. He also said that all in all it would take about a week to set up. I doubt his optimism because off all the security and internet issues. But its nice to hear someone who knows what hes doing say that he would help. That way I know I can ask him questions when I go to start setting things up.
July 7th
Today I sat in on a meeting of the community members (about 50 mothers and not a few babies), the teachers, a representative of the PROHECO and the teachers' lawyer. I learned a few things about the structure of the school and the way everything works around here.
First of all, the school doesn't really get any funding except for to pay the teachers. And sometimes to buy new books. All other work, painting, repairs, small construction projects...all comes directly out of the pockets of the community. The school is run under a project called PROHECO, which basically stands for community involvement in the administration of schools. Only some of the schools in Honduras are part of the project. I think (I'll have to research this more) that it's funded in part by the World Bank. In any case, this school is partly funded by the World Bank. And so they argued that the government really didn't have the ability to void their contracts like they said they did. The teachers haven't been paid in months. Normally, WB and government funds get pooled and the teachers take their paycheck out of them, but these teachers haven't been able to get the money because the government said they were no longer eligible.
According to some papers published by the ECO, that the community members promptly produced in the meeting, an assembly has to be called before the ECO can do anything like changing the teachers. And they hadn't done that. In the meeting last week with the guy at the mayor's office, that was one of their demands. And that was why the 'Promotor' was there at the meeting today.
Many parents wanted to keep the teachers totally, but the Promotor (representative of the ECO) didn't want to. He said that it was a decision that 'came from above,' from politics rather than logic. BUT, one of the teachers, who I was sitting next to, told me that he definitely had the power to change that decision. Just that he might be punished. He just wasn't willing to stand up to them. It was really clear that what was happening was not necessarily legal, but rather just political. Which means that they couldn't really bring it to court, because the politics controls the courts.
At the meeting, the Promotor was on his heels, and stayed seated most of the time. A few of the community members really pushed him around. One of the big points of the final resolution was respect: that the ECO respect its own rules and that it respect the community with which it worked.
The final compromise, because it is true that in the end the politics are more powerful than a group like the ECO, was that the teachers would stay this year (and be paid for the months they worked for free) and that next year they would re negotiate contracts or bring in new teachers. But if new teachers do come, they have to be qualified.
On Friday, the teachers are re-negotiating their contracts.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Fight the power!
This morning I marched with the school parents into the mayors office, to talk about the change in teachers. There were about 30 of us, and we filled up the room of the guy we were talking to, who seemed like he felt pressured into doing something. But it appears he will be looking into the matter for us, and we should have an answer by Monday. He seemed pretty positive that the principal of the school will stay, which bodes well for the library. The community kind of told me to give him an ultimatum that what I was bringing wouldn't actually happen unless they did as the community asked, so I had a few minutes to tell him about what I was doing and why I was there with them, and I think it helped.
But so far we have no definite answer, it was clear how little he wanted to take ownership of the situation. I didn't really know his position, but he was in the office of community development. We would have talked to the mayor, but he was 'sick' and not in his office. (in quotation marks because everyone else doubted the truthfulness)
More news on Monday then.
But so far we have no definite answer, it was clear how little he wanted to take ownership of the situation. I didn't really know his position, but he was in the office of community development. We would have talked to the mayor, but he was 'sick' and not in his office. (in quotation marks because everyone else doubted the truthfulness)
More news on Monday then.
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