Things have finally slowed to a normal pace here. School started two days ago, we are down to our permanent group of 18, and everyone is settled into a workable living routine. This was a welcome change of pace on my behalf as juggling the constant visitors and deviations from the norm was very confusing while trying to get a handle on my job and what to do.
I have spent much of the past two weeks organizing. Namely I feel I might pursue a job as a locksmith or the more lucrative option: professional lock picker. I realize we are short on resources down here in Honduras, but can someone please explain why people feel the need to save old keys. If you would have stepped into my office or apartment in the past two weeks, odds were that I was sorting keys or figuring out which ones still worked. I am almost done with this task and I do feel a little sense of accomplishment.
But that is hardly what my role is as administrator. It just had to be done.
The more pressing and stressing challenge I have faced recently is that of becado (scholarship) families who have fallen upon hard times. Our agreement with the school and our goal as an organization is to provide 25% of the students at our schools with financial assistance. This mainly comes in the form of direct scholarships, but varies on how much a scholarship a particular student may receive. It all boils down to getting a half or a whole. Some of these families legitimately need the whole, others can provide enough to cover half of the costs and therefore have a responsibility that is half that of a full-scholarship family.
Last week alone I had 3 different families come to me telling me that they could not afford to send their child to school this year unless they received the other half of their scholarship. Three families, all wanting the same thing, all for different reasons, and all with different financial realities. For some it is a matter of using their money more wisely in order to have enough to pay for their child. For others it means weighing whether to send both children to school or put food on the table. My role in all this is to explain to them that we have no more scholarships to give and brainstorm other ways to send their kids to school. I have to explain financially why we cannot do this while expressing my desire for them to continue with their child's education. Worst of all, one of these students in danger of not being able to continue at our school is one of my former students' brothers, and also one of the smartest 2nd graders I know.
His family owes 5 months of late monthly tuition payments from last year which must be paid before he can start this coming school year. The payments are roughly L650 per month (or $35), but his single, working mother only makes L3,000 a month ($159). As you might imagine, putting food on the table and sending her kid to school this year would be impossible in one single payment. But it gets more complicated. She would also have to pay the one-time-a-year matriculation payment of L550 ($30) and begin her new monthly tuition payments ($17).
So just to get started this year, his family would need roughly $200 at which point she can carry on the rest of the payments herself. So why I am telling you this? Because this kid matters.
It is really hard to understand the opportunity BECA gives to its students when you have never seen the school in action or the conditions some of our students live in. Our system does not work for every kid in Honduras or even Cofradía, but it does work for some. This 2nd grader is one of the ones that would otherwise be lost in an overcrowded public school mess. This 2nd grader is going to grow up, go to college and do something great for his country. You might say it is too early to tell, but this is a kid who has an older brother who is equally as committed to look up to.
BECA's model does not allow for people to make earmarked donations for particular students, so I am asking you for a bit of trust and one less $15 meal out, 12-pack of beer, pint of Haagen Daaz ice cream, or trip to the movies. I want to help this kid but I can't do it alone. If you can, paypal me as much or as little as you can. I will pay for the cost of his back payments and rest will go to BECA.
josh.balser@gmail.com
www.becaschools.org
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