The Pressure is On!

The last post was a video about the fact that we are having to move out of our current space this month and hope to buy a nearby building currently used as a carpentry shop. Well, there have been some developments since this. 

The landlord has agreed to a deal. We pay 300,000 pesos as a deposit and he allows us to move in this month. He will continue to rent the outdoor area to a bus company, but we can move into the indoor area. If we pay the purchase price of the building within six months, the 300,000 will be deducted from the total, equaling 5.5 million pesos. If we pay within the year, half of the 300,000 will be deducted, equaling 5.65 million pesos. If we do not pay within the year, he can raise the price, we will have to pay another 300,000 for the following year if he decides to rent it to us again, and he can also sell the building to someone else if he chooses to. He said there were two other buyers interested but did not enter into much conversation with them since we had been talking to him about it for a year, so he figured he should continue with that route. 

Sooo.. it's fundraising time!!! 

The other thing is.. this year the two small Haitian schools in Los Dominguez both stopped functioning. They had talked about collaborating and Project Esperanza was going to rent a space for them to do this, but they just could not get their act together, someone important kept being in Haiti and holding things up, and things did not materialize. Throughout this school year, we have been approached by parents wanting to send their children to the school in Padre Granero, but not feeling as though they can pay the transportation money. Three students have aid through Project Esperanza for their motorcycle trip there and back each day. This is a dangerous option, but the only practical option price wise, unless the kids could be trusted to walk long distances to get to public transportation, which they can't. They would undoubtedly miss many days of school if they were expected to do this. 

So after several visits from certain families, we struck a deal. They are talking to the parents of 12 additional students and asking them each to commit to paying 100 pesos a week per child. They found this to be doable, but no higher. This, along with the motorcycle money we will no longer have to spend, will leave us needing 300 pesos a week to allow these 12 more students to go to school. The parents and kids so greatly want this as they have been turned away from the public school in Los Dominguez, are of school age, and are not in school. 300 pesos with a 44 peso to dollar exchange rate is $6.82.

I feel strange to request this when we have so much need in reference to funds for the new building, but after talking to parents so much, I don't see how I cannot request this. Please consider helping. Thank you!