Community Center in Chuparipal

We want to thank you for your support in raising funds for our most ambitious project: ''More than a school for Guaruchal''.  Because of your donation, we were able to raise 20% of the total goal for the construction of this great dream. We appreciate your trust, generosity and commitment.

The project has taken an unexpected but interesting turn and it is important for us to share it with our allies. 

The school project began in November 2019 when we received a letter signed by the community in which they expressed the need of an ecological school, built with local materials. Trazando Espacios decided to take on the challenge of supporting Guaruchal in a year and a half.

We developed workshops in which approximately 30 people participated, where they identified the main needs of the community, designed the school they dreamed of and learned construction techniques with local materials such as rammed earth. Additionally, our social development team carried out population and agricultural censuses, house-to-house information activities, community assemblies, and pedagogical support in order to keep the community informed and motivate their participation throughout the process. All this in order to promote the leadership and economic growth of the community and ensure the sustainability of this ecological school.

At the end of August 2021, as part of the closure of the rammed earth construction workshop, joint agreements were established to begin building the school. One of the commitments was the construction of a module by the community, using the technique learned. This space would serve to store tools and put into practice the knowledge learned before starting phase 1 of the project and demonstrate the responsibility of the community towards the project. We agreed to complete this task in one month. For 6 months, the Trazando Espacios team made weekly visits and provided the necessary materials, tools, and support to complete the module. Despite efforts, the community did not fulfill its commitments, only 5 adults helped sporadically.

 On February 26, 2022, Espacios called an assembly to decide how to move forward with the project. Fifty-two adult representatives attended the assembly from different sectors, including sector leaders. This meeting reviewed the commitments, activities and achievements of the organization and the community to date. Likewise, all attendees were informed about the importance of the presence of responsible leadership and the commitment of the majority of the community to carry out a project. However, one group stated that they wanted a concrete school built by external personnel hired solely for this purpose, instead of an ecological school with local materials as they had requested in a letter in 2019. Finally, a vote was held, where only 38% of the attendees (representing 15% of the adults in the community) expressed their commitment and willingness to build the school using local materials and actively participating. The remaining 62% did not express interest or willingness at any stage of the process.

Trazando Espacios's mission is to transform people and spaces through participatory tools, generating identity and a sense of belonging. We are convinced that the sustainability of our projects is only achieved with a leadership that accompanies, empowers and motivates a significant percentage of the population in the search for solutions to the problems faced by the community.

For this reason, Trazando Espacios will use the funds raised to build a meeting place for education and community development in another community in the region. The community will be chosen through a contest by demonstration of willingness to actively participate work hand in hand with the organization.

To begin, we invited three communities to participate: Río del Pilar, Chuparipal Abajo y Las Casitas. On April 21, we presented a document that they must submit before May 2, through which communities were formally invited to apply for a community project that will be built using a participatory design with local materials in the state of Sucre. On May 20th we will announce the selected community to build a new meeting place for education and community development.Through this competition we will ensure that we select the right community to make the most of the resources that have been raised to date and meet the goals promised to donors.

Our organization is committed to the transparent and responsible use of resources. We understand that every project carries risks and in some cases they are high. The work in Guaruchal left the team with great learning that will help us trace a successful route in the community where we are going to materialize this ecological school and in all our projects.

During the last 3 months, the community manually cleared the land for the preliminary works and built a 3x3 module with the construction techniques learned and a hut to store and dry the soil that will be extracted for the construction process.

Meanwhile, the social development team updated the community census, visited Guaruchal weekly to build a work schedule together, organized community assemblies to manage the community's expectations and, prepared the work crews to begin construction. Within the teams, a group of women walls builders was formed, who will be in charge of building the walls, while the men are in charge of the heavier work.

To close 2021, we organized a sewing workshop where more than 20 women participated, to strengthen community entrepreneurship for the economic development of the community and to guarantee the sustainability of the school. We also provided the community with the necessary tools for the field work that will begin in January 2022.

Our next steps will be to level the land and stake out the spaces to start the construction of the school.

If you want to learn more about the process or help us spread the word about the project, follow us on social media @trazandoespacios. We still need the support of many people to make this dream come true!