Construction of Pre-Primary School August 3 - December 6, 1995 El Chorro Village, Guatemala Funded by: Infrastructure Development Institute (Japan) Implemented by: ICA Guatemala, ICA Japan and local people
An insufficient educational system is one of the factors that prevent social and economical development in Guatemala. The illiteracy rate reaches 75% in areas where many native people live, and many children drop out of school after three or four years. ICA has renovated a pre-school building in one of those areas, El Chorro. El Chorro is a remote village located 52 km away from Guatemala City. The pre-school building in the village had leaks in the roof, and land slid down against the building when it rained. We fixed these problems and painted the walls, built a fence around the playground, and constructed a toilet. Further, certified teachers are going to be sent from the government next year. The number of children are expected to double in the near future.
	1. The beautiful scenery of El Chorro village. Here we can see the sparsely placed houses in this mountainous area. With blue sky and clouds the isolated village is abundant in nature.
The Pre-school Before the Project
	2. The pre-primary school before the landscaping and renovation began. The children were not able to play outdoors due to the rough terrain. There were overgrown bushes and a steep slope in front of the school.
	3. Rain water accumulated in the soil behind the school was seeping through the wall into the classroom. The environment was filthy inside as well as outside the classroom.
	4. Since no proper entrance existed, the children had to climb up and down this steep slope. Not knowing how dangerous it could be, children often played on this slope.
	5. The bricks to be used for a new wall and stairway arrive. Workers and community members help unloading them and carry them to the construction site.
	6. Young children watch as a Japanese volunteer helps prepare reinforced steel for the columns in the wall of their school.
Preparation for Construction of the Rear Wall
	7. Before the work started, accumulated rain water in the soil created a muddy ditch behind the school.
	8. Clearing the area behind the school to make room for a fence to surround the school. Despite hot weather, local volunteers from the village did a lot of the work.
Building the Wall
	9. Villagers and Mr. Miyao, a Japanese advisor, mix cement with sand in order to make concrete.
	10. Here, the village artisan Mr. Manolo and Mr. Miyao lay the cement cement foundation for the rear wall.
	11. Workers pour cement into the temporary wood frame to reinforce the walls.
	12. Here village workers dig up large roots which were damaging the building's foundation. Because they could not get a chain saw, they chopped and dug up the roots with agricultural tools. Village women give refreshments to the workers.
	13. Here wooden frames are being built for the front concrete wall. Since this front wall faces the road, it was constructed with a slight inward slant.
	14. Placing the last few bricks of the front wall. The wall was built high enough to prevent children from falling off.
Fence Installation
	15. Fence posts were placed into the cement-filled bricks before the cement hardend.
	16. It was decided to build the fence relatively high in order to ensure that children would not fall off into the road out front.
	17. The completed wall and fence at the rear of the school.
Installation of a Front Stairway and a Gate to the Toilet.
	18. Bricks were also used to construct a front stairway. The height of one brick is about 20 centimeters long--low enough for young children to climb.
	19. The original plan was to install toilets at the pre-school. However, because of the limited ground space and the hard soil it was decided that the community center toilets would be used instead. Doors were installed on the toilets for privacy.
	20. The playground was cleaned up and slides were installed. The fencing helps make the playground safe for young children.
Window Installation
	21. Before the project the preschool did not have windows, just holes.
	22. This type of window was selected for climactic and sanitary reasons.
Painting of the Pre-school Building
	23. A front view of the school painted yellow and green. After the windows were installed their frames were also painted green. Using left-over paint, the water tub was painted green and the window frames white.
	24. Since the of the cement blocks were rough, many small holes had to be filled and the surface smoothed. Primer was applied first so that the paint would stick easily.
	25. Village women painted the front wall yellow.
	26. A view of the nearly-complete paint job. The villagers chose the colors and the Japanese expert advised that the color change be at the height of children's eyes.
School Equipment
	27. Here children help paint bookshelves and benches. The care of the equipment and teaching materials had been neglected for a long period.
	28. The blackboards were also resurfaced to make them usable again.
	29. Hooks were installed so that the children would have a place to hang their belongings and make better use of the classroom.

 

 

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