Community Center in Techo Propio
Donation protected
Hello Friends and Family/Family Friends/ Friend’s Families/ Friends of Family Friends and their Families,
I have been teaching English in the heavily poverty-stricken area of Pachacutec in Lima, Peru for about 4 and a half months- as many of you may have heard- and now, with less than a month to go, I have come across an opportunity to make a larger impact on the lives of some of my students and their community. I, with your help, have the opportunity to enable and encourage positive communal interaction and activities within a small yet largely generous desert district and thus provide a more enjoyable and educational environment for them to grow- as well as empower and offer the potential to spread that sense of community and education to surrounding areas:
Among the countless dusty crests of Pachacutec, lies Techo Propio – Primera Etapa, a humble yet relatively well-off community in a highly deprived district of Lima. Techo Propio is comprised of over 500 families, a small playground, and a variety of wondering canines. The community, like its 4 sister communities under the “El Mirador” housing program, have access to fresh water; yet difficulties arise in distributing the resource and assigning rates of the distribution to each family among other administrative tasks. As such, meetings are scheduled weekly to discuss these matters and distribute the water, along with other projects and happenings in the community. However, due to the lack of a sheltered gathering place, these meetings are often held outdoors in the desert climate of Lima and have inconsistent and brief attendance. Without a secure center, the neighborhood struggles to properly administer water, organize and implement new events and local projects, and ultimately continue its social development.
This is where we can help. The money gathered will go directly toward materials for the construction of a community center. I will then be working alongside a local contractor, Mori, as well as other eager community members - including several of my students- to organize and assemble the 144m2 cement floored tongue and groove structure located just 15m from the communal water supply. Additionally, because it will have access to running water, the center will be supplemented by two small community gardens that overtime will provide a harvest to share with local families.
Because it is a local project, the resource distributer who is also a town resident, was able to offer discounted prices for the most durable climate friendly building materials (Machimbrado walls and Fibre Forte roofing). Now that we have a solid estimate and layout, the community is keen to start construction. In addition to the lot, the community has already accumulated a 1000 liter water tank, a 200m hose as well as a number of bags of cement and buckets of paint to speed up and contribute to the process.
Techo Propio is home to three of my students to whom I've become very close from the Centro de Idiomas de Torpoy Sonqo as well as numerous kids from the primary school in which the Tarpoy Sonqo program teaches. The community center will not only create communication and equality around such a valuable resource as water, it will serve as just that; the center of the community. It will be a location to develop, discuss, share, learn and play. We have the opportunity to spread our goodwill to empower a small community to progress and spread their own goodwill throughout Pachacutec’s estimated over 1 million residents.
Thank you all very much for your contributions. One love
I have been teaching English in the heavily poverty-stricken area of Pachacutec in Lima, Peru for about 4 and a half months- as many of you may have heard- and now, with less than a month to go, I have come across an opportunity to make a larger impact on the lives of some of my students and their community. I, with your help, have the opportunity to enable and encourage positive communal interaction and activities within a small yet largely generous desert district and thus provide a more enjoyable and educational environment for them to grow- as well as empower and offer the potential to spread that sense of community and education to surrounding areas:
Among the countless dusty crests of Pachacutec, lies Techo Propio – Primera Etapa, a humble yet relatively well-off community in a highly deprived district of Lima. Techo Propio is comprised of over 500 families, a small playground, and a variety of wondering canines. The community, like its 4 sister communities under the “El Mirador” housing program, have access to fresh water; yet difficulties arise in distributing the resource and assigning rates of the distribution to each family among other administrative tasks. As such, meetings are scheduled weekly to discuss these matters and distribute the water, along with other projects and happenings in the community. However, due to the lack of a sheltered gathering place, these meetings are often held outdoors in the desert climate of Lima and have inconsistent and brief attendance. Without a secure center, the neighborhood struggles to properly administer water, organize and implement new events and local projects, and ultimately continue its social development.
This is where we can help. The money gathered will go directly toward materials for the construction of a community center. I will then be working alongside a local contractor, Mori, as well as other eager community members - including several of my students- to organize and assemble the 144m2 cement floored tongue and groove structure located just 15m from the communal water supply. Additionally, because it will have access to running water, the center will be supplemented by two small community gardens that overtime will provide a harvest to share with local families.
Because it is a local project, the resource distributer who is also a town resident, was able to offer discounted prices for the most durable climate friendly building materials (Machimbrado walls and Fibre Forte roofing). Now that we have a solid estimate and layout, the community is keen to start construction. In addition to the lot, the community has already accumulated a 1000 liter water tank, a 200m hose as well as a number of bags of cement and buckets of paint to speed up and contribute to the process.
Techo Propio is home to three of my students to whom I've become very close from the Centro de Idiomas de Torpoy Sonqo as well as numerous kids from the primary school in which the Tarpoy Sonqo program teaches. The community center will not only create communication and equality around such a valuable resource as water, it will serve as just that; the center of the community. It will be a location to develop, discuss, share, learn and play. We have the opportunity to spread our goodwill to empower a small community to progress and spread their own goodwill throughout Pachacutec’s estimated over 1 million residents.
Thank you all very much for your contributions. One love
Organizer
Rob Simmons
Organizer
