The aim of this project is to build a classroom in a remote rural community located in Southern Costa Rica. The 200 residents of this community practice subsistence farming on small plots of land. In the town center, 11 months out of the year, 44 students attend a weathered one-room primary school which was first built in 1990. After school hours, over 50 adults attend several different classes taught both by the Costa Rican Learning Institute and a Peace Corps Volunteer. Most of the adult members of the community have only completed primary school education as there is no high school nearby.
In the primary school, grades 1 through 6 are taught together by two different teachers in one classroom that is well over capacity. With a new classroom, primary school students will be able to learn in a new and spacious environment, and more adults will be able to participate in adult-education classes. A portion of the materials will be donated by the community, as will the labor necessary for construction. If this project is not completed, the only educational center in town will remain overstrained and learning opportunities will continue to diminish. The education committee, composed of parents and community members, is very determined to see this project through to completion.
