The Sister School Project

Sister School Project Newsletter #2

October 2005

Hurricane Stan and the Santa Ana Volcano

Some of you may have heard about the disastrous effects of Hurricane Stan on Central America from the media.  Unfortunately, El Salvador was hit hard.  We had more than one week of constant, steady rain, and mudslides and flooding occurred all over the country, taking many people’s houses, and some peoples lives, with them.  Over 50,000 people are living in shelters, mostly due to the rains, but some due to the eruption of the Santa Ana Volcano, which unfortunately erupted right as the tropical rains were beginning.  The good news is that even though many people lost their homes, the government did a good job of evacuating people before the storm, so many people’s lives were spared.  Also, our sister school was left unscathed except for some muddy floors due to flooding.  Some of the students in our sister school suffered damage to their homes, but nothing severe.  

English Classes

After having met frequently with the school’s principal, I wanted to have a more personal relationship with the school’s students, so the principal suggested I teach an English class to the 9^th graders.  Every Tuesday and Thursday, and occasionally on Saturdays, I teach my class, and have been utterly taken aback by the dedication and motivation of these students who in most cases have very little in the way of material possessions.  All 15 of the 9^th graders have stayed after school in order to attend my lessons, and they are studying and learning.  When I gave my first lesson on a Saturday, 14 of the 15 students showed up with their uniforms on!  If only more students in the U.S. appreciated education as much, but then complacency in the face of excess seems to be a tendency of human nature. 

An Economic Problem

In talking with the 9^th graders at El Zaite, I discovered that each one of them had a desire to continue their education past 9^th grade at a national institute called a bachillerato that serves as a high school in El Salvador.  For many people, bachillerato is a gateway from poverty to a lower or middle class career.  The problem arose from the fact that government sponsored education continues only to 9^th grade in El Salvador, and bachilleratos cost about $150 dollars a year to attend, a price far out of the range of many students’ families who make the minimum wage of about $5 dollars a day.   Without a bachillerato degree, the 9^th grade students of El Zaite would not be able to find jobs outside of the difficult, and low paying maquiladora (factory) jobs where many of their parents work. 

Maquiladoras are the factories where many U.S. clothing brands are made, and the work is grueling.  There are many of these maquiladoras in the Zaragoza area, and many of Zaite’s students parents are employed in these factories.  Labor laws are often broken in these factories, and reports of women workers being forced to take pregnancy tests monthly, not being given bathroom breaks during an entire day, being fired for taking sick days, and other abuses are not uncommon.  The anti-sweatshop movement in the U.S. in the early part of this decade improved conditions in the U.S. owned factories, but there are still many owned by non-U.S. companies that do not adhere to international labor law, and unfortunately some U.S. factories still breach these laws as well, according to workers in the factories.   

Scholarships

The principal of the school told me that of the 15 students in 9^th grade, only two could afford to go to bachillerato.  Many of the students live in single parent homes, and two of them are orphans, so the prospect of continuing their education is far out of reach.  After using some of the Sister School donations to provide basic necessities for the school such as making sure that every student had notebooks, pencils, and pens, I decided that the most beneficial way to aid the students and the community would be to invest in the human capital of the 9^th grade class to allow them to reach their dreams, and encourage them to use the increased social status they would attain by a bachillerato education to return to the community of El Zaite and help their brothers and sisters who are the next generation. This seemed like a more personal and significant development project than an infrastructure project like a wall that could be completed by the local government.

 I announced to my 9^th graders that for any of them who attained good grades (C or better) and who wanted to go to bachillerato, but whose family could not afford it without help, that the Sister School program would provide them scholarships.  Since then, I have met with the parents to explain the program to them, have met with two bachilleratos that offer different vocational diplomas, and am meeting with each family individually in their house to verify their family situation and get a clear sense of the daily life of the students.  As you might imagine, there is intense enthusiasm for the program in the entire community.

A Personal Story

Jonathan and Adilio are two of the 9^th graders at El Zaite and they are brothers.  They are both extremely intelligent, and have scored straight A’s in my English class.   I went to their home, a laminate dwelling in a poor part of Zaragoza, to meet with their parents.  Their father has just returned from four months in the hospital for treatment of infection of the pancreas.  He is still sick and is not able to work.  Their mother has not been able to find a job.  The four of them are living off of the father’s pension check of $120 a month. 

Jonathan had always wanted to be a doctor when he was young.  He says he realized that due to his economic situation, he would not be able to afford the eight years of schooling required to become a doctor, but he still holds out hopes that he could become a nurse and help people who are sick.  He wants to attain a diploma in health from a bachillerato so that he can become a nurse.  Adilio wants to get his degree in commercial technology and work with computers. 

Jonathan and Adilio’s parents knew that they wouldn’t be able to send both of their children to high school, and they had even talked about possibly sending one son to work in order to pay for the other son to go to high school, but they couldn’t imagine how they could make that choice.  With the Sister School Program scholarship, both of the boys will be able to go to high school.  Their mother began crying at our meeting because she was so happy her sons could continue their education.    

The Scholarship

The scholarship given to the ninth graders will be for two years, and will be contingent upon their getting adequate grades throughout the program.  I will meet with their teachers and the students monthly to monitor the progress of the students and pay their tuition.  The students will choose a vocational degree that interests them.  Some of the degrees students will study are:  industrial mechanic, accounting, technical commercial, auto mechanic, business, and healthcare. 

I hope that through this program, the students will form a community of dedicated individuals who will use the professional skills they learn to return to their community of Zaite and improve it, serving as an example to the other young people that there is a path outside of the gang life and alcoholism that unfortunately claim many of those here who are unemployed and without opportunity.  With the money already raised, my own contribution from my salary with La Escuela Americana, and future fundraising efforts, I hope to provide full scholarships to the ten neediest students, and half scholarships to three others.  

As always, please contact me with any questions, comments or concerns.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Rusty Carlock

011-503-2257-2512

rustycarlock@yahoo.com

The school’s marching band, practicing for the independence day  parade on September 15^th.