Help School fight Climate Change w/ Green Building

We would like to thank our special donors again who make the development of our Green Built school and education for our students possible. We have an update of your impact since "summer" break ended in min-January, and our students have returned for a new school year. Our school is growing, and we are excited to share this culmination of efforts with you. 

We now offer another high school grade. We are thrilled to be continuing and close to completing our offerings of secondary education. This is becoming increasingly important as our lower grade students are moving up, and we hope to provide support all the way to university.

We have added 10 new teachers equipped to support our growing student body. These teachers are primarily for our high school grades, as our high school programming is expanding. It has been wonderful to see so many new faces a part of our community!

We have just started our 2nd Green Building Academy on the 1st of March, with 5 eager and motivated participants joining us for the month of the course. We are excited to get going on building a new sustainable home from the ground up, starting with the foundations, whilst also working on a halfway finished LWH green building house next door. Our participants will therefore get a chance to practically work on many different stages of green building, from start to finish. We are hoping to build a community of green builders that spread these urgent values and teachings around the world.

In a small community called "Santa Maria Sibaja" in the valley of the Fuego Volcano, we are now constructing a Health Center for the community. In this disaster relief effort we are partnering with REKKO, who provide medical services, and the Ministry of Health to bring healthcare to more than 105 families. The center is built out of bamboo, trash-bottles and rammed earth tires. Locals are learning how to use local materials and repurpose their own trash. We are excited to have this new Health Center by the end of March. 

Thank you for your generous support that allows our students to learn how to tackle issues in their communities, whilst allowing families to benefit from their growth. We will be providing updates on other developments in our school, as well as the projects and initiatives our students are able to produce for the community. Please consider supporting our school further throughout this 2019 year as we are excited to continue this expansion.  We appreciate your support and always enjoy the opportunity to share our stories with you, the people that make them possible. 

We thought you would like to know how you have made an impact on our students and community! Our middle and high school students have had amazing success this year, finishing 2018 school strong with their individual Green Community Projects! This is a real highlight of our sustainable schools’ development and we are happy to see our democratic curriculum come to life. 

After preparation throughout the whole year in planning and investigating, students and teachers eagerly went to work on their final projects. It was fantastic to see our young students dedicated to helping disadvantaged families in their own hometown of Comalapa.

The 1^st graders of CETC middle school built a smoke efficient stove for an older couple in dire need of a health-friendly method of cooking. Living just a couple of meters away from the school, they can now cook without respiratory-threatening smoke, leaving a dramatic impact on their lives. 

Our 2^nd graders built a subterranean water tank to improve water availability for a family in Comalapa. Now the mother can have consistent access to water storage to provide better care for herself and her 5 young sons and daughters.

For the first time at CETC (!), the 3^rd graders started their community project of planning for and building a dry composting latrine.  The recipient family lives at the top of a hill and used a simple hole as a toilet. They now have a sustainable latrine system which both produces natural fertilizer for their crops AND contributes greatly to the families hygiene and health.

Last but not least, our first high school class constructed a tire retaining wall to help a family in a nearby community, Xiquin Sannai, protect their tiny house for a lifetime. Their living space was in constant threat by a land hang from a cornfield. Now they can safely occupy their home and protect their chickens and garden without the fear of a landslide. 

Thank you for your generous support that allows our students to learn how to tackle issues in their communities, whilst allowing families to benefit from their growth. Our 2019 year students would benefit immensely from an end-of year gift, so they can expand our projects and our impact!  We appreciate your support and always enjoy the opportunity to share our stories with you, the people that make them possible. 

Links:

• Democratic Education Model