ANOTHER ADVENTURE TO LOS RICOS

Last Tuesday we gathered up some computer equipment from an organization called, “Computadores Pro Jovens” (computers for the young) which were to replace a computer in the 5th/6th grade classroom and to replace miscellaneous other equipment for the 1st/2nd and 3rd/4th grade classrooms.

Wednesday we began our journey to teach English at Los Ricos de Abajo with the usual gathering of all the volunteer teachers and visitors at Dianne and Tom’s home to co-ordinate transportation. There were six SUV’s that caravanned to Los Ricos. When we got to the Rio Laja, we fully expected to be able to finally cross the river in the SUV’s without any problems. Welcome to our first challenge of the day. Do we cross the river or not? The water was high. Some of the SUV’s had higher clearance than others. All but two of the SUV’s ventured across. Those two vehicles parked at the Monastario and the volunteers walked.

When we arrived at the school there was a lot to get accomplished in a short period of time. Bob quickly assisted in moving teaching supplies to all of the classrooms. He also worked to install Rosetta Stone on the Federal computer in the 5th/6th grade classroom so the students could use the Smart Board. He also set up the new computer that we brought with us along with making sure the other computers were working in the 1st/2nd and 3rd/4th grade classrooms.

Each week, half way through Sam’s class time and after the planned lesson planned of the week is finished, she gathers the students from their mini groups and they all come together to learn English as a group using Rosetta Stone. This week, for the first time, we used the Smart Board. With the Smart Board, a student can touch the Board to record their answer instead of having to use a mouse. It’s more fun for the students and easier for the operator (i.e.Bob).

Dianne and some of the other volunteers were invited into the classroom to see how well the Smart Board was working. Everyone was quite pleased. All of a sudden the Smart Board went blank. Bob thought maybe the program timed out and it needed to be re-booted. Well, the problem was more serious. The power actually went out. Bob, Javier (the school’s normal 5th/6th grade teacher), and several other volunteers went out to the area where the electricity enters the school at the pole. Javier told Bob that the fuses had blown a few days earlier. They didn’t have any new fuses so the teacher and a student removed the contents of the dead fuse and replaced it with bare copper wire then re-installed the rigged fuse. This method allows current to flow but removes all protection normally provided by a fuse. Even having fuses is not good. They are old fashioned, subject to burning out and need replacement frequently. Circuit breakers are much better and safer. They also cost more. Bob will be replacing the burned out fuses this week and is actively working on a project to replace the fuse box with a circuit breaker box.

After this week’s regular English class, some of the volunteer teachers agreed to stay an extra hour and tutor the former Los Ricos students that are now in the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades with their English. This is a pilot program to see if we can help and encourage these students. The students were also given the opportunity to checkout a book from the library. Next week, the students are to bring their English school workbooks to use with the tutors.

It was a long and intense day. Once again, we crossed the river going home. We were all anxious about crossing safely and thankfully everyone crossed without incident. Believe us, if it were our vehicles we would have walked. It is truly amazing what the volunteers will do to help the children of Los Ricos.

We will continue to help the children of Los Ricos. In order for them to be fed properly and an education augmented by the benefits of computers, we need to fix the electrical issues. We are working on this project and will report our progress later in the week.