The Pededewatu School has already benefited from our sponsorship but there is still much work to do before this school is operating to its full potential. We have been able to provide this school with a new well and toilets, as well as some tables and chairs and school supplies that we distribute at the start of each semester to all of the 285 children that are enrolled in the school. This school is large compared to others in the area because it is situated in a rather densely populated area of the region. There are three classroom buildings at this school; building #1 is in usable condition even though the windows and doors are rotted away. Building #2, which was not in use last year because at that time it was considered unsafe, is now being used because the third building is verifiably unsafe. During a site inspection of building #3 in October, one of the classroom walls collapsed and the students were rushed out of the building. Those students have now been moved to the unsafe second building. The children deserve better than this! Our priority now is to renovate the worst of the three classroom buildings as soon as possible so that it is safe and can be used. If we have sufficient donor support we hope to be able to continue working on the other two buildings so that all children in the area, and there are several hundred of them waiting to enter this school, can receive an education and become assets to their community. The teachers at this school are wonderful people who are dedicated to doing the best they can with what little they have to work with. The principle worked with us every day mixing and carrying cement for the American families who volunteered to patch the floors of one of the buildings and paint murals on the classroom walls. We look forward to the day that this school will once again be ready to provide a quality education to the children living in the vicinity. We are seeking private funding to renovate the classroom buildings at this school. We have broken down the major portions of the work as follows:
$3,200.00: to replace all of the windows and door frames of the building.
$2,700.00: for 60 new tables and benches for this school. ($45.00 each set)
$3,500.00: to build new floors in the 4 classrooms of this building. The existing cement floors have completely disintegrated and are now dirt.
$1,500.00: to repair the walls that are cracked, to reinforce the foundations of the building, and once completed repaint the whole building.
$8,500.00 to build a complete new roof with ceilings. The existing roof structure is rotted and rusted through.
$2,000.00: to repair the walls that have collapsed, to reinforce the foundations of the building, and once completed repaint the whole building.
All donors will receive quarterly updates on the progress of the project, and as a show of appreciation a brass plaque with the donors name will be mounted to the wall of the school. Donations can be made by check directly to The Sumba Foundation, or by Credit Card through the Network For Good website.