HOW MANY BLOCKS DOES IT TAKE TO BUILD A SCHOOL?

Mon, 5 Jul 2010 23:49:55 -0700

(...all the details you haven’t heard)

It all started with a couple BLOCKS...

Several months ago we were told about an opportunity we would have to petition for $15,000 from a club who raises money to support organizations like ours. Last month we did just that. We gave a presentation that seemed like a slam dunk, and in reference to the other presentations that were given that day, we were sure that we would qualify. For some reasons, political or otherwise, we were informed yesterday that we would not be issued the money. Despite our field work, intensive research and the several year track record that we have, we were told that we were not going to be granted the money because they would prefer to partner with an organization that has "a little more experience."

Anyone is welcome to make a judgement about our capacity… but no organization starts off ten years old and I was reminded of a favorite childhood quote. Its not about the size of the dog in the fight... or the age or whatever... it is about the amount of fight in the dog. In the very moment we were being turned down I could still see the utter success of this project flash in front of my mind. I knew as long as we kept fighting for it we would be fully capable of achieving success without their money.

You see, we have an incredible project planned for this August in Western Kenya. We have ten extremely well trained, prepared teammates who have cumulatively put in thousands of hours this year to prepare each of their own aspects within this project. We have been researching, planning and preparing day and night like a physicist on the edge of a break through.

We have been in constant communication with the community leaders and already have one of our teammates, Mikel, who is on the ground RIGHT NOW, in Western Kenya meeting with leaders, interfacing directly with the community, promoting our upcoming initiatives and workshops, fine tuning our project initiatives and setting the scene for an extremely successful project. We have teammates who are in charge of our youth development programs, teammates who are prepping to set up our computer ed facility, teammates who are organizing our community library and others who are preparing for community sanitation workshops. We have yet others who are preparing agriculture workshops and still other preparing for our leadership trainings... and even further we have others who have been working tirelessly to prepare for our business development workshops and ultimately, a pinnacle of this project our micro-credit program, which will be able to give these capable rural citizens the resources and tools to help them make their dreams come true. This has been a massive preparation with tremendous amounts of sacrifice from our 10 traveling teammates and our dozens of support volunteer staff.

The story goes on. This August we will be building off of a project we started last year. You see, before our team hit the ground, amongst other things, there was no school for community members to send their young capable children to where they could learn to read and write - we didn't have plans or funds to build a school.

So we decided to do what we could do. We bought a couple bags of cement, mixed it with the sand and water from the lake and made these huge concrete blocks. One by one… and we built a small, one room community center. Before the construction was even completed, the magic began to happen. Again, we went there because we were interested in community sanitation, health education, computer training and business development… not to build a school. With this simple building, the community itself created their own primary school.

An unemployed teacher stepped up and said, now that you have build a building, we are going to run a school... so we stepped back… and run the school they did... Florence, our new teacher, got parents and children together and started to go to work. We supported them in buying some very basic school curriculum resources and school supplies. We committed to pay her a very modest salary and we also committed to the salary of a community center manager. That is how we left it... as the months rolled on through 2009 and into 2010... the members of matoso community continued to prove their capabilities… our school was building momentum without us! Because the community wanted it - Because the community owned it.

Every time we called, we heard the good news that there were more and more children enrolled and what was even more impressive... more and more teachers were working for the school. We never increased what we were sending out for salaries.. not one cent… and they took what we sent, in addition to their well managed school fees, spread it all out and paid themselves subsistence salaries so that they could continue to teach the children. The community was so proud of what they had accomplished themselves.

Then our beloved manager, William, who had done so much to ensure the success of the center fell sick with Malaria and passed away. We were concerned that that would be the end of the growth and development... We were wrong. This school was not about the Manager… it was about the community. And the community would not let it fail. One of the teachers was appointed by the others to take over as manager and the growth continued.

Now let me tell you the more serious side of the story - the ONLY part of the story that really matters, right now. The school was started because we made blocks and built a building... As the school grew, VERY quickly, the classes were all moved outside, as there was not enough room for everyone in our small center. It turns out that we had done enough to excite and mobilize the community towards education that they were not going to be limited by the confines of walls or roofs.

The children continued to learn and the parents were so happy. Then the government rolled up. Apparently, it is illegal for a school to operate outside. They have now told us that unless we have enough classrooms for the respective classes, we will not be allowed to continue our education program. This school has not only been able to bring reading and writing and primary education to hundreds of very impressionable children in rural Kenya, but it has also brought in an excitement for learning in general and, more importantly, has served as an icon for the community to realize how much they can accomplish themselves regarding their own growth and development if they believe, commit and organize themselves... just from building blocks!.. we would hate to see that hope and vision shut down.

Now, here's where you come in - the $15,000 dollars we were hoping to get was going to cover the cost of building this new school. Without this money we will still carry out other aspects of our projects, but it will be impossible for us to build. Without a miracle, we will have to show up and tell our 200 SCHAP students that school will not start again in September. We have the people, we have the plan, we have the place and we have the tools… we even have the plane tickets! Right now we are only lacking the funds to build more blocks and help make the dream of this one community come true… the dream of having the freedom to take the education of their children into their own hands.

And we don't need the money for someone to help build it either… our team will work side by side with the community to build the school together. We've made blocks before, we can make them again. We just need to buy the cement, so that we can make more blocks, buy a little wood and tin to make a roof.

Realistically, in order to build and support this school we would need to raise about $20 thousand dollars in the next 20 days. We will need to make 2,000 blocks. We realize, that if we can get this message out to enough people and if each of you can sponsor one, or two blocks… or as many as possible, we WILL be able to keep education alive in Matoso. Just $10 per block. Can you help? Will you be a part of the miracle? Please pass along our plea. Please, help us empower the capable.

…one BLOCK at a time.

COMPLICATED PROBLEMS REQUIRE COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTIONS

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:01:48 -0700

There is something in our human nature that perpetuates a fallacy, the idea that one problem has one cause and therefore one solution: Pests?…DDT, Economic Resistance?… war. Climate Change?… decrease carbon output, and my favorite, Malaria?…Nets! I think that this may come back to some combination of our ego and the market. In one sense we like to package things very simply in order to get the glory for discovering or inventing that magic bullet. From a market perspective, over simplifying complex problems (having one source and therefore one solution) makes it very easy for us manufacture something that others will be convinced to buy for themselves or others. Regardless of that which supports this fallacy, I stand to say that such a simplistic mindset is childish at best and destructively evil under other circumstances.
When we find problems in this world they are almost always the result of a convergence of various contributing drivers and legitimate and sustainable solutions can only be found by understanding the many tributaries, following them back the their origin and cutting them off at the source. I would like each of you to please watch this YouTube video below which tell a story about the destruction of AIDS in Western Kenya. This AIDS tragedy IS NOT the result of lack of understanding although this is important… and it IS NOT the result of a lack of condom availability although they can save lives… this problem is the manifestation of a convergence of social, environmental, economic, health and technological shortages that have contributed to such widespread death and suffering. As you watch this video please refer to the list below, and like looking for purposely imbedded hidden objects in certain children’s picture books, try to identify how each of these topics could be involved with the problem and/or the solution. Enjoy.

REST IN PEACE WILLIAM... OUR FAVORITE COMMUNITY CENTER MANAGER

Tue, 8 Jun 2010 17:00:09 -0700

On my second project trip to Western Kenya I was suggested by the local leaders of the community a man who was capable and trustworthy for the job of community center manager. I was introduced to him and was not very excited about him at first, mostly because I had had my eye on another man who I thought would be best. I listened to the council of the local leaders and took the time to get to know him. As I had been recommended, I came to find that we has an extremely loyal, committed and intelligent man... fully capable of running our small community center that houses our elementary school and our community computer education facility. I spent as much time with him as I tried to do what I could to groom him to be the leader that we needed to stay behind and ensure that our efforts there would be sustained and we not in vain. I quickly found that there was little grooming to be done on my part... he seemed born for the job. Not only was he a great manager, but his skills in bringing people together and his extreme proficiency in English made him my go-to man for translation for every community address that I gave. I grew to trust and love this man and knew that our center would be in good hands.

As the months passed by William proved his effectiveness. He kept perfect records and reported the activities of the center regularly. Under his leadership, our center grew in patrons and teachers. The school is 3 times the size that we left it and the computers and modest temporary solar system remained intact, functional and well used. He lived up to his calling as the community center manager.

Over this last year as we have been conceptualizing the scope of this next project William was planned to play a central role. In many ways, our project was based upon his leadership and capacity. I was so excited to see him and so excited to bring so much more to the center that he would continue to lead. I looked forward to working with him and I looked forward to speaking with my favorite translator. I looked forward to being with a friend.

Two months ago I was informed that William had fallen sick and that he had been bed ridden for two months. I was alarmed, but not overly concerned, as we have already known several community members who have fallen sick and recovered. William appeared to be in excellent health and took care of not only himself well, but his wife and two orphans as well. Apparently he had contracted Malaria and it had converged with some other health complications as well. Maurice (a community leader) went to visit him in the hospital one day. The next day I called Maurice to talk to him about some routine things and he soberly informed me that "our manager has passed." I was shocked and struck with unbelief. It hit me quite hard for many reasons all at the same time. Who would take care of his wife and children? How could we carry out our community development projects without him? Who would run our center? But most of all...I would miss my friend. For the last year I have had a picture of him right on my desk and I never thought that it would serve as a memento of his life. The picture is still there. He is smiling. He was always smiling. Rural Kenya and he always had a nice collared shirt, clean shoes and a big smile. William will be truly missed and loved. Thank you William for who you are.

- Cory Glazier

MOBILIZING ROTARY FOR MICROCREDIT

Wed, 26 May 2010 08:22:07 -0700

Cory and Kevin participated in Mobilizing Rotary for Microcredit, a monthly meeting of a group of Rotarians from all over the San Diego area. We presented our organization and the microcredit portion of our upcoming Matoso project and heard presentations from a few other groups. It was a great opportunity to get feedback from people with a lot of experience on the topic and see people who were passionate about their own causes. They invited us back for next month's meeting when we'll here if they plan on funding our endeavor.

- Kevin Booher

MATOSO 2010!

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 16:11:32 -0700

Hey guys! Cory here, the project director for SCHAP. First of all we are excited to announce our upcoming project this August in Matoso, Kenya! Matoso is the location of our first international project and it is time to take that community development project to the next level. Last year we only had so much resources and only so much time to prepare. Having established a very successful primary school, computer education facility running off solar power, an integrated waste management system and scratch the surface of health education and business development we are ready to substantially build off that foundation. It may sound ambitious, but as an organization that prides our self with being both sustainable and as comprehensive as possible, here is what is on the docket:

1. Health Education
2. Enlarging our Community Center
3. Agricultural Development
4. Building a New School (If we get the funds!)
5. Business Development
6. Youth Development
7. Improve our Computer Training Facility
8. Enlarge our Solar System
9. Library Creation
10. Waste Management
11. Water Access and Filtration
12. Leadership Development

We have spent the last several months figuring out how to make all these goals feasible and we are very confident in the outcome of this upcoming project. This project is open to up to 12 volunteers, and we have commitments for about half of the open positions.

We will all be working very hard to ensure that we are prepared and ready to go by the end of July with all the money that is necessary, the presentations and workshops completed, the various supplies procured and the execution plan of our project established. If you are interested in getting involved then click on “Getting Involved” and tell us what you are all about. Stay in touch and follow this blog, as well as SCHAP on twitter, for updates about our progress on preparing for and raising money for our August Project Trip.

Cheers!

- Cory Glazier

TWITTERING!

Thu, 8 Apr 2010 15:35:19 -0700

We have caught onto the Social Networking wagon. It has been very exciting as we have realized how much we can increase communication to the community through various social networking engines, focusing a lot on Twitter. We heard the term Twitter bounce around for months, but we will fess up, we really did not understand how it could benefit our organization. We are now happy to let you know we are on board 100% and proud to tweet as often as possible. If you have not already, please take a minute now to follow us @schapinfo or CLICK HERE to go straight to our profile.

We are committed to providing our San Diego community as well as our supporters worldwide with updates about our activities, events, news, projects, volunteer opportunities, travel opportunities and all the other way that you can be involved with our growing organization.

- the SCHAP team