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| Edison |
SUPPORTING THE KIDS - EDISON
Escuela Tuetal Sur currently has a special situation - his name is Edison Alonso Rodríguez Zamora
Edad: 5 años 6 meses
Madre: Elisa Rodríguez Zamora
Vivienda: Viven en una casa alquilada en Tuetal Sur en un barrio que no tiene el acceso adecuado para la situación de salud que el niño presenta.
Situación de salud: el niño presenta un síndrome de ¿?????? El cual le genera un problema muscular degenerativo lo cual nos indica que el niño requerirá de aparatos y en algún momento de una silla de ruedas.
Situación Económica En este momento pagan 45.000 colones de alquiler.
Además paga 58.000 colones por mes para que una señora cuide al niño.
Para que la madre pueda trabajar y darle el sustento. Pues no tiene pareja.
Acciones realizadas por la escuela:
La docente y el orientador, han tomado acciones de atención tanto medica como de soporte económico para cancelar estas citas y exámenes médicos, y ahora se busca el apoyo para el resto del tratamiento, así como los procesos para asegurar al niño, pues la madre tiene una condición de ilegalidad, por lo que no puede hacer estos tramites
Necesidades presentes y futuras - en este momento se requiere de zapatos numero 31 o 32 medias calzoncillos, talla 6 camisetas talla 6 suéter, cobijas. Además de alimentación balanceada, entre otros cereales, leche, frutas, verduras,
Entre otros requiere de juegos que le ayuden a mejorar su motora fina, que la escuela no dispone. Ni puede adquirir por presupuesto y la idea es que el niño pueda practicar en el hogar.
Al ser la enfermedad genética y degenerativa, conlleva otra serie de enfermedades que pueden presentarse a futuro. Por lo cual requiere de tratamientos más costosos y requerirá un mayor cuidado. Esto implica que la madre deje de trabajar para cuidarlo, o buscar una persona especializada que le pueda brindar la atención necesaria.
Así como de gastos para el traslado para las terapias y citas medicas. Que hasta el momento puede hacerlo en autobús.
SUPPORTING THE KIDS - BUILDING A LIBRARY
As we have mentioned elsewhere, schools in Costa Rica work diferently
than "whatever you may have experienced". There are many reasons
for the shortage of books and the lack of a reading habit that is
an indirect spin off of the culture - a culture that is probably
more committed to their children than most. And a culture that is
proud of it's history of pacifism, healthcare and literacy. How is
it possible to have one of the highest literacy rates on the planet
(around 97%) and almost no libraries and few books?
But how do YOU define literacy?
Here it essentailly means the child can "read and write". But when
mandatory schooling stops at age 12 what is the likelihood that
you will later bump into Kafka or Marquez?
How will you grasp the significance of the precedents for the
Geneva convention or even the history of evolution.
Kids can graduate from school life with
very little access to books here. They are just too expensive and
take a beating in the wet and creature filled neo-tropics. For the last
few years we have had good success cajoling our guests to bring
some books for the kids along with their luggage.
These books have been donated to Escuela Tuetal Sur
which is located in a small modest rural community just north of
Alajuela. This is a typical public primary school - the mandatory years
of kindergarten through age 12. This school has 350 children this year.
If we get books more
suitable for older kids, these are now going to Colegio Tuetal Norte -
the closest high school about 1km from the hotel. The colegio has 510 children
this year and a library with about 300 old useless books.
The education and literacy issue is a complex one but here are a few local
factoids. In Costa Rica, the government (MEP - Ministry of Education)
provides the teachers but the neighborhood
must find ways to house them (build classrooms, assembly areas,
toilets and the like). Most schools do not have libraries and
there is no funding for such. The children are fed their main meal of
the day for the equivalent of 25 cents (US) or about 100 colones.
The schools have very few supplies and in many poor rural neighborhoods the parents
are unable to afford to help. Kids drop out of "colegio (high school)" early primarily
due to the inability to afford books and uniforms.
Thanks
to the efforts of the school staff and the help of some of the gringo
visitors a library is now an active part of school life at Escuela Tuetal
Sur. To date our guests have donated many books as well as a
large amount of school supplies. This is an ongoing effort and this
year we are "adopting" the local high school and will make every effort
to get a libary working there. As yet this high school has essentially
no computers or internet connections either.
What Can Visitors Do?
Book donations have helped and if you want to help the kids in some way
we hope you will consider bringing one book or 10 books if you are visiting
Costa Rica.
Here are a few ways you can do this.
If you are visiting Costa Rica and passing through the main International
Airport in Alajuela, stop by the taxi booth at the arrivals exit of the
airport. Give the books you bring in a box or bag labelled
"Pura Vida Hotel/Tuetal Phone:2430-2929 for Escuela Tuetal Sur"
tell the booth that the "hotel pays" and they will taxi the box to the
hotel and we will take them to the school that week.
If you are visiting and staying at the nearbye Pura Vida Hotel (just
up the road from the Escuela Tuetal Sur) leave the books with the hotel on
your visit. If you like you can schedule a visit at the school
and the staff and children would love to show you around and perhaps
put on a small performance for your visit.
If you are visiting ANYWHERE else in Costa Rica, contact
your hotel and ask them
if you can help with something for their closest public
escuela (primary school)
or colegio (high school).
Our PO Box for mailing or M Bags (we no longer recommend this method as a
small box of books costs $80 to mail now - a donation would be more useful
for a bookshelf for example):
Pura Vida Hotel
PO Box 1703-4050
Alajuela,
Costa Rica
Attn: Berni
Phone: 011-506-2430-2929
What Can Visitors Bring?
Below you will find a list maintained by the Escuela of "useful things"
they are always in need of and rarely have available.
For the kindergarten/younger kids, we need:
>>> picture books/work books and such are OK in Spanish or English
>>> learning tools/toy/blocks/flash cards and similar
For the older kids (age 5 to 17)
>>> if you only have access to English books
then reference books such as atlases, dictionaries, biology books etc
>>> we prefer Spanish language books including young age novels, history, geography etc
>>> sets of 20 books of anything for class study
This is a detailed list we recently got from the escuela for
specific books:
>>> Books with a lot of pictures/ to draw in etc
>>> Magazines to be cut up
>>> Science magazines
>>> National geographic books or magazines
>>> Dictionaries
>>> Harry Potter collection/Narnia in Spanish
>>> Books with exercise material/English/Spanish
>>> Books with maps
>>> Computer books basic/internet
>>> Musical books
Also the school has requested we try to get a kid's movie library started
this year to include things like:
1. Fables like Disney movies Cinderella, Pinocchio,etc...
2. Documentaries about environment/science/discovery/national geographic/etc
3. Movies with school's subjects High school musical/Harry Potter/The Chorus/Dead Poets
Finally as much of the teaching here is done from blackboards and copying,
anything you can do for supplies will most definitely improve the learning process - for example:
Can You Bring These? |
CD OR CASSETTE PLAYER |
CORRECTION FLUID |
COMPASS |
CRAYONS |
COLOR PAPER |
COLOR PENCILS |
DISKETTES |
DIFERET KINDS OF STICKERS |
DESK ORGANIZER |
DIFERET KINDS OF STICKERS |
ELECTRIC EXTENSION CORDS |
ERASERS |
ENVELOPES WHITE AND MANILA |
GEOMETRY TOOLS |
GLUE |
INK FOR STAMPING |
INK FOR EPSON C - 67 ALL COLORS |
INK FOR EPSON C - 45 ALL COLORS |
KEYBOARDS |
MARKERS/HIGHLIGHTERS |
MARKERS/WHITEBOARD |
MASKING TAPE |
METAL THINGIES FOR FOLDERS |
MOUSE |
MOUSE PADS |
NOPTEBOOKS |
ORGANIZERS (E.G.FOR 3*5 CARDS) |
RULERS |
PAPER CLIPS |
PLASTIC ADESIVE |
PEN |
PENCILS |
PENCIL/PEN POUCHES |
PENCIL SHARPENER |
RADIO |
RUBBER BANDS |
SCISSORS |
SHEETS OF PAPER |
SURGE PROTECTORS |
STAPLE MACHINE |
STAPLES |
STICK GLUE |
TAPE |
THREE HOLE PUNCHERS |
TOOTH BRUSH |
WATER COLOR PAINTS |
WRITEABLE COMPACT DISC |
We'd like to thank the many visitors who have helped over the years and
have filled the school guest book with their thoughts and wishes. Escuela Tuetal Sur
kids say "muchas gracias!" and the Colegio Turtal Norte is looking forward to
the potential a library can bring.
Wherever you may be visiting in Costa Rica, there
will be a school that can benefit from any of the above
books or supplies. Ask your hosts in Cahuita,
Manuel Antonio, Nuevo Arenal or Sarapiqui if you
can bring books or supplies for them?
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