By Diana Rae Lewis | Founder and President
OUR MOTHERS ARE HANDS-ON AT OUR SCHOOL !
And they work hard on school projects to help their daughters succeed in school. The heavy February and March rains of Cusco have made it impossible for our new bus to traverse the road all the way to the school. The girls must walk across muddy, slippery clay dirt and arrive to school with wet muddy shoes that make the girls and classrooms a mess. Thanks to our California clothes drive we have a clean clothing change if needed. Also, Ruth found a way to dry off those wet feet, replacing mud caked shoes with classroom slippers their mothers are making out of recycled clothes and sole inserts Ruth learned how to make for inside the classroom use. This has resulted in a cleaner working environment in the classroom. It might seem unimportant to us in developed countries, but not in rural Cusco schools. Imagine thick mud caked fingers, then on papers, and the blackboard...all a reality without a creative idea like this one. Now at print time Ruth finally convinced the city to bring heavy equipment out once again to grade the road - at least to avoid having a bus load of girls slip and slide or worse in this soft clay.
The indigenous culture of this region is not normally outspoken or too talkative, they demonstrate by their actions their enthusiasm and support to educate their girls, an education that they and their mothers never had the opportunity to receive. They work tirelessly at the school in projects like this one, as classroom mothers, and planting and harvesting our vegetable garden to help manage the meal budget. Every year we see more and more mothers and a few fathers jumping in to help their daughters school.
Our moms and available dads have come to harvest potatoes in this image. This year we had a huge harvest, double the quantity in this image. Corn, Quinoa, cabbage and lima beans are also planted at the school.
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https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/educate-110-poor-girls-in-cusco-for-economic-survival/
“Girls are one of the most powerful forces for change in the world: When their rights are recognized, their needs are met, and their voices are heard, they drive positive change in their families, their communities, and the world.” – Kathy Calvin, United Nations Foundation President & CEO
THANK YOU
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The food our parents plant and harvest end up on these plates every day and help to control our hefty food budget. Since we began the meal program 2 years ago, there has been a big increase in attention, focus and overall health for our 112 girls. We monitor their health at the start of school in March of the new school year.
These are the ways our mothers and fathers speak out to their friends and communities about the importance of education for their daughters and all girls. The understand that their girls will have a much better life with opportunities never dreamed of and escape their poverty.
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By Diana Rae Lewis | Founder and President
By Diana Rae Lewis | Founder and President
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