El Sembrador and Manuelito Assessment
Introduction
As part of the 2011 trip to Honduras, engineering students and their advisers visited two sites to scope out potential projects to not only create opportunities for future projects, but to also enhance the lives of the people of Honduras. The excursions were led by Terry Hawk in affiliation with the World Gospel Mission. The two sites visited were “Escuela El Sembrador” and “El Manuelito,” both schools are located near Catacamas, Honduras.
Team Members:
Kristen Frooman
Michael Jewitt
Son Ngo
RonniNimps
Amanda Peterson
Andrew Pritt
Miriam Simon
Michael Wolfe
Team Advisors:
Gregory Bixler
Dr. Roger Dzwonczyk
Dr. John Merrill
Overview – Escuela El Sembrador
El Sembrador (or Spanish for the sower) is a school that provides education for under privilege youths from grades 7th to 12th. The school currently has about 180 students and about half live and work at the school. There are both girls and boys at this school, but all of the students who board at the school are boys and come from a very rough background. Their tuition is paid for by individual sponsors. This school is considered to be very prestigious in Honduras.
The school was founded in 1954 by Don and Twana Hawk, a farmer and his wife from Ohio. They sold all of their belongings and sailed on a banana boat to Honduras where they started El Sembrador, in hopes of enriching the lives of less fortunate young men academically and spiritually. The school’s current general director is Christian Melendez.
Tour Overview
On the tour, we were able to see the building where the classrooms were at. They are separated by grade level. We also got to see a room being renovated for a science lab as well as a computer lab. We went over to the vocational school sector as well. The vocational school has a wood shop with numerous equipments ranging from table saws to lathes. These machines were shipped down by the U.S. Air Force for free. There was also an automotive shop along with an auto mechanicbuilding. The auto mechanic building was paid for by the U.S.A.I.D. There was also a dentist office with very extensive equipment, but no dentist. We also got to tour the pig and cattle farm as well as the reservoir and turbine.
Potential Projects
Science Lab
Right now, there is a room in the school that is currently being remodeled to house a science lab. A potential project is to acquire used high school lab equipments in the U.S. and bring them to this lab. Also set up the lab for simple experiments and write a curriculum for the lab classes.
Computer Lab
There is a room at the school that is set aside for computers. However, there are only twelve computers that are available. The goal is to have enough functioning computers to allow for a class in computers. A few things could be done for this. One is to find donors for the computers. They do not have to be top of the line new computers with flat screen monitors. Another is to set up the computers in a network and censor certain websites. And the third thing that could be done is to create a curriculum that teaches software system such as word and excel.
Student Conference Week
Christian Melendez mentioned that he wants to instill self-esteem into the students and let them know that there are unlimited opportunities for them. One way to do this is to have a university come and have info sessions on the different occupations that are out there. This will create a relationship between the University and El Sembrador as well as bring out the potentials of the students.
Bio-Digester
The pig farm at El Sembrador is on a very large scale. As a result, a bio-digester could be very beneficial. The bio-digester does not have to be so large that it powers the school, but at least big enough to help the people who live next to the farm that takes care of the pigs.
Bigger Turbine
There is a reservoir at El Sembrador that feeds into a turbine that generates electricity for the school. However, the school still uses grid power on occasion. It could be wise into looking at a way to increase the power output of the turbine.
Overview – Manuelito
Manuelito is a boarding school for children that have taken off the streets. These kids who are taken off the streets are the ones you see begging for money. However, the money that they beg for rarely ever goes to them, but instead to the drug addicted adult that is forcing them to beg. Some of the kids themselves were addicted to sniffing glue. The founder of this school is an El Sembrador alumnus and has full custody of the children.
Potential Projects
This is a fairly new school and there are a lot of potential projects. One project is the construction of new buildings to expand the school. Another potential project is the creation of more aquaponic systems.
Overall Sustainability
The potential projects for both El Sembrador and Manuelito have to be sustainable. This means that any project created will have the lowest maintenance possible with the greatest benefits. This will cause for a successful project and allow for duplication if needed. Like all projects that ECOS does in Honduras, a very small amount of time will be allotted for implementation. As a result, planning for long-term goals is a must.
References
- Escuela El Sembrador
Catacamas, Olancho, Honduras, C.A.
Cellular: 9970-1067
Phone:9600-0485 - World Gospel Mission
3783 State Road 18 East
P.O. Box 948
Marion, IN 46952-0948
Phone: 765.664.7331
E-mail: