SPONSORED STUDENTS START SCHOOL YEAR IN CHUKUMUK

Some of the families from Panabaj who lost their homes during Tropical Storm Stan in 2005 started 2009 in a new home! The local government had given them the land and the families had to help build their own homes in Chukumuk, an area outside of Santiago, but away from the mudslide risk zone. Many others are still living in shelters or in their old homes situated in a high risk zone. The reasons vary; some of them can’t afford the materials they need to start their new house, and others are still waiting for the local authorities to assign them with a piece of land.

This has changed the reality for some of the sponsored students. The 2^nd of February, the sponsored students who now live in the Chukumuk neighborhood started the School Year at a building situated in the same neighborhood. The Provisional Chukumuk School is for now an Annex to the Panabaj School. It opened its doors this year with 197 students.

The building of the Provisional Chukumuk School is not finished completely as its walls are pure block without plaster, the floor is rough cement, the electricity is inefficient, and water is scarce. The building wasn’t meant to be a school so its classrooms are small with little natural light.

Despite all these deficiencies, the need to have a school in Chukumuk was urgent. Chukumuk is quite far from downtown Santiago, and it is even farther from Panabaj. The educational authorities faced a serious drop in school attendance if they didn’t have a school in Chukumuk because the families don’t have the resources to pay transportation for their children to go to study in town or to continue going to the Panabaj School.

Pueblo a Pueblo, Inc. is continuing to work hard to increase sponsorship coverage so we can benefit individual students and their families and also the whole school. They need our help now more than ever as there are two sections, the Main Panabaj School, which continues in a provisional building with plywood walls, and the Provisional Chukumuk School, which needs to improve in many ways to be able to offer a good education to its students.

If you are interested in knowing more about the Education/Health Sponsorship please visit http://puebloapueblo.org/child_ed-health.html To Make a One Time donation in support of this program Click here.

I want to become a SPONSOR.