Rebuild Schools Damaged by Earthquakes in Mexico

We’re delighted to announce that our Tonameca Earthquake Relief Program is now complete! Thanks to the support, dedication and commitment of our partners and donors, volunteers, staff, local workers and the local community, Santa Maria de Tonameca now has two new, disaster-resilient school campuses.

At Vicente Guerrero Primary School, we demolished four unsafe temporary structures; rebuilt, retrofitted and refurbished ten classrooms; rebuilt the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) facilities; refurbished a storage room and built a new roof for the dining room. We also implemented a new drainage system for the school At Paulo Freire Secondary School, our work included demolition of three unsafe buildings, rebuilding the office and WaSH, retrofitting and refurbishing three classrooms and building a new roof for the dining room. All of these important infrastructure improvements mean that more than 200 students can now return to their regular classes in a safe learning environment.

We are also happy to share that our team has already made preparations to begin working on our next “phase” in Mexico in the municipality of San Lorenzo Albarradas. For this next phase, our staff and volunteers will be rebuilding Guillermo Prieto Elementary School. Our volunteers are set to arrive in just a couple of weeks to get started on this exciting new project! 

Thank you again for your support of our efforts, and we look forward to updating you again soon!

Back in January, we announced the official return of our teams in Mexico to continue repairing schools affected by the devastating earthquakes of 2017. At the time, I shared with you that work had begun at Paulo Freire Secondary school...but I didn’t mention the very exciting news that our teams will be completing TWO schools by the end of the program! In addition to Paulo Freire, we are also completing recovery scopes at Vicente Guerrero Primary school. 

Even with the challenges that COVID-19 poses for the team, they have found thoughtful and creative ways to engage community members and build excitement for the completion of the schools. For example, the team celebrated Children's Day in Mexico by encouraging local students to share their goals for the future. Our team was thrilled to receive drawings from students depicting what they would like to be when they grow up. They have also been busy creating Disaster Risk Reduction podcasts as a fun way for community members to learn about important safety topics and have a direct channel of communication with the team. This month, the team prioritized meeting with parents from the schools to create a DRR committee that will receive further DRR training and help disperse this knowledge within their community long after our program ends. 

If all goes to plan, we are predicting that our teams will complete work at both sites by the end of June. I look forward to updating you again soon!