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Rotary Report
Over the past year, Club Rotario de Cabo Este (the Rotary Club
in Los Barriles), has been
involved in a project that was designed to improve the living
facilities at the Santiago and LaRibera
Alburgues. Alburgues are shelters established by the Mexican
government to provide room and board
for elementary and high school students from outlying rural areas of
the East Cape from Monday
through Friday so that the students can attend the local public
schools during the week, without having
to commute to school from their distant homes. This Grant from
Rotary International, in the amount of
over $300,000 pesos, was designed to improve the safety, health,
nutrition, and living environment for
the children housed in the Alburgues. These funds were provided by
the local Rotary Club, its
International Partner Mt. Bachelor Rotary Club in Oregon, the
Districts in which each Club is located, and
Rotary International.
Rotary Club members met these goals by providing each child with
their own clean and safe
bed and mattress, and the tools to keep the bedding clean. In total,
15 new bunk beds and 54 new
mattresses with covers were purchased, constructed, and installed. A
number of the existing beds were
repaired by welding and by adding additional wooden slats for
mattress support. Shortly before this
Grant was funded, one of the children actually fell through the
slats of his bed and broke his arm. Three
new washing machines were purchased, delivered, and set up and one
existing machine was repaired
and returned to service, to facilitate washing bed linens and other
clothes.
Sanitation was improved by repairing inoperative bathroom and shower
facilities, which
included drains, faucets, shower heads, sinks, and toilets, many of
which were previously unusable.
Flying insects within the living quarters, cafeteria, and kitchen
have been a problem at both
facilities. Window screens were installed at both Alburgues on all
opening windows (approximately
100) and all broken windows were repaired. Twelve non-functional
overhead ceiling fans were replaced
in LaRibera and five non-functional window-type air conditioners
were replaced with rooftop units in
Santiago.
Kitchen areas at each Alburgue were improved by providing an exhaust
hood over the cooking
areas to vent excess heat and odors directly outside, making the
areas much more user friendly and
bearable during the hotter months. Each kitchen was also provided
with a completely refurbished,
used, commercial-grade refrigerator. The sole existing refrigerator
at LaRibera was repaired and
returned to service. We also purchased a variety of new and used
(but serviceable) pots and pans,
tableware, glassware, cooking utensils, blenders, etc. and provided
these items to both kitchens to
facilitate food preparation. Several tables and chairs were also
purchased and located in the cafeteria to
allow more students to eat together and have desks and chairs
available on which to study after dinner.
In 2010, each Alburgue had about 50 youngsters boarding at the
facility. It should be noted
that the limiting factor in the number of children that could be
boarded was the number of beds
available. Children that wanted in could often not be accommodated.
Student numbers have increased
at each facility in 2011, in part because of this Grant. Many of the
improvements that resulted from
the Rotarian efforts should be long-term fixes and last for a number
of years. Club Rotario de Cabo Este
hopes to build on the improvements made with the Grant in coming
years. |
