MiraclesInAction.org - Build a School

Help Build a School!

Miracles in Action School #28 is being sponsored by Jay Berube. To learn more visit http://www.encompasscares.com

Be a part of this miracle - donate today!

How do we build a school?

FINDING A PROJECT: (The story of School #18). We were asked to visit a remote village called Captzincito, in Huehuetenango. Alirio, our charity partner, warned us, “It is in the middle of no where, over dirt roads, and at 9,000’ elevation". We agreed to take a look. The village was as he described it, and also, freezing cold. To our surprise, the women and girls wore towels around their shoulders, because they were too poor to buy a sweater or coat. As a result, the village of Captzincito was nicknamed – Towel Town. The girls in this photo are Towel Town girls.

BEFORE: This community used an old church building to hold classes for grades 1-6, all in one room with one teacher. The room had no windows, making it very dark inside. Wind whipped across the mountain top, and went straight through the cracks in the wall boards, creating dusty, freezing cold conditions. The floor was dirt and no desks were available. Some students sat on a cinder block, others squeezed together on a bench. The room was too small for all the students, so many of the village children did not attend – there was just no room for them.

The children looked so unhealthy with chapped and wind/sun burned cheeks, runny noses, and cold hands with red, cracked skin. We swallowed down the lumps in our throats and were brave enough not to cry in front of them. We waited until later to shed a few tears and sit down to make a plan with our partner charity to build them a school and bring them some warm blankets, sweaters, coats, hats and mittens.

AFTER: When we raise funds to build a school, we try to find donors who will be project partners. For Captzincito we asked Marla Zell (a flight attendant coworker of Penny's) to sponsor the school. Marla lost both her parents in the same year, and she wanted to honor them by building a school. Edward and Maureen Talton were both educators, and Marla was certain they would be pleased with how she used $17,000 of her inheritance. Their names are proudly painted on the front of the building, and also on a permanent corner stone plaque.

Jay Berube Dreams of building a school and making a difference in the world. Jay will be our project partner for school #28 in Canabaj, a poor rural village in Huehuetenango. Canabaj school needs 3 classrooms and latrines. The villagers have agreed to do all the manual labor.

Budget:
Building Materials $21,300.

Desks and white boards $2,412

Total: $23,712

Photo above: villager's signatures on a document, where many can only sign with their thumb print.
Photo left: Distributing donated American Airlines 1st class quilts.

You Can Help

No donation is too small.

A desk can be purchased for just $20.

Every dollar donated will go towards construction materials, nothing is spent on operational expenses. Miracles in Action has no paid employees, only volunteers, and our low office expenses are covered by the sale of handicrafts.

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