2000 Education Committee
Project
…. cont. from pg 1
We completed our contribution of 200 thousand
pesos to the construction of the lower half of Amado Nervo Primaria.
This 1.5 million peso project has been a combined effort of the Puerto
Vallarta Department of Education, the City of Puerto Vallarta, local entrepreneur
Robert Kisner and the Association of Timeshare Operators, the Rotary Clubs
of Dallas & Puerto Vallarta and the IFC. The school was officially
opened in September and the construction of the remaining upstairs classrooms
will continue under the auspices of the Department of Education.
In the late spring and early summer, we
completed the tiling of the floors at the Kindergarten in La Cruz (15 thousand
pesos) and we joined Gale Hankel at the official opening of the Las Brisas
Primaria where we had previously built washrooms and completed two classrooms.
In the summer we made funds available for the purchase of computer accessories
to make their student computers useable at Tecnica 15 Secundaria (4.6 thousand
pesos), a donation for classroom needs in a new school area at San Esteban
(2 thousand pesos) and matched City funds at the Las Brisas Kindergarten
to complete the playground area (10 thousand pesos).
Late last year, the Club entered into an
agreement to accept 98 refurbished desks and 136 chairs from the Rotary
Club of Saratoga, California. The shipment was carried out through the
auspices of the US Coastguard Vessel Alert, the US Navy base in San Diego,
the Navy League and Club de Clubs and arrived in Puerto Vallarta on September
4, 2000. |
Jimmie Ellis, Gale Hankel
& Tom Wichie taking delivery of the desks
With the help and cooperation of the
Department of Education and DIF (the Federal Government’s family &
social services organization), we were able to officially deliver the desks
to the Department of Education in late September. They have of assembled
them and, with our preferences in mind, have placed them in the new
Las Brisas Secundaria and the older El Cantón and Hermosa Provincia
kindergartens. The Rotary Club had been endeavoring to set up a long-term
supply agreement with our Club for refurbished desks and they anand
the IFC wanted to assess the practicality of the operation before committing
to joint placement of future desk deliveries. As a result of the success
of the operation, the Rotary Club is offering us more desks – to be available
soon – and, in all likelihood, this project will become a longer-term program
of the Club. The Department of Education has asked me to extend their sincere
appreciation to all who participated in this recent endeavor and has reminded
us of their continuing willingness to receive and place as many future
desk deliveries as possible. I, on behalf of the IFC, wish to extend
special thanks to Paul & Pat Kelker of Saratoga and Puerto Vallarta.
This operation would not have been possible without their innovative approach
and perseverance combined with the generosity of the people of Saratoga
California.
The Education Committee is also responsible
for the Club contributions to the Library and the Becas organization. The
level of these contributions will be determined later in the year.
As you can see, the summer months have been
very busy – but rewarding - for our year-round members. This summary
report in no way can reflect the countless hours spent, or the patience
and determination needed to get the job done by these Club members. In
particular, I want to thank Tom Wichie not only for his time, effort and
expertise but also for his good humor and patience when dealing with some
very frustrating situations.
We will keep you posted on the status of
our programs over the winter months. |
