Tete Source School Completed on April 18, 2011!
The Finished School in Tete Source
This school project,the third school block buildOn has completed in Tete Source, broke ground on January 24, 2011 and was completed on April 18, 2011. The people of Tete Source contributed 1,344 volunteer workdays to the project, finishing on schedule. The new school block in Tete Source has 3 classrooms. The walls are made of cinderblocks reinforced with rebar, and the floor and roof are poured concrete. Students began using the new school block on October 3, 2011.
The Community Education Program for adults began in December 2011, and will run for 18 months. Adults in this high need and motivated community who were never able to complete their primary school education will finally have a chance to learn to read and write.
Tete Source is only the second community in Haiti to have completed 3 school blocks with buildOn.
The past experience of the community in working on the first 2 blocks helped this project run very smoothly. Volunteers were on time, and the leaders already knew how to get people excited and moving. When participation lagged towards the middle of the project due to fatigue, committee members were able to point to the 2 finished school blocks and re-motivate people by congratulating them on all that they had already accomplished together.
This community has truly understood and taken advantage of all that buildOn has to offer. They have worked beautifully in partnership with us, and in just 3 years have turned a community with a small broken down school into one with 9 well-built classrooms and an enrollment of 265 kids. They are showing us what a community can do when they take advantage of opportunities, work together, and make things happen for themselves.
John Marek, buildOn Country Director, Haiti
Our community has been changed by buildOn since we completed our first school block a few years ago. Since then we have, as a community, looked to continue to work with buildOn in any way possible. They have helped our community to organize ourselves, and the structures before us (the school blocks) give proof of our collaboration. We are more organized, more motivated, and better prepared for the future of our children.
Director Rauchel, age 36
It is no easy thing to motivate a whole group of people- to propose an idea, get people interested in it, and get them to change their daily lives in order to come together and work on something for the greater good. And if you have been able to do that, watch out for those negative people who talk in the shadows, taking away people’s excitement, hope and motivation! Despite some naysayers, we at Tete Source have now completed 3 schools with buildOn and we remain proud.
Evoix, parent, age 46
Tete Source Community Profile
The community of Tete Source is a small village in southern Haiti, about 1 hour from the buildOn office in Les Cayes. Most of the 1,500 people who live in the community survive through subsistence farming (growing corn, beans and vegetables) and small remittances sent home from family members living in the United States. They practice both Christianity and Voodoo. The climate in Tete Source is tropical, meaning mostly hot weather year round with a prolonged rainy season from August to November. A nearby mountain spring provides the residents of Tete Source with safe drinking water year round.
Current School Conditions
There are six permanent classrooms in Tete Source, built by the community in collaboration with buildOn over the past three years. Because of overcrowding, some classes are still held outdoors or in temporary structures. Some students also walk about 30 minutes to the community of Ravine Sab to go to school. There are currently 265 students (113 girls and 152 boys) enrolled in the Tete Source school. Seven teachers from the community and nearby towns teach grades 1-7.
Construction Photos
Volunteers work on the foundation for the third school block in Tete Source
The first two school blocks constructed in Tete Source are visible behind piles of rocks collected by the community and the new foundation