I had requested a meeting with the teachers. Six of them arrived. I asked them about their year and they told me that the biggest problem is the lack of any lunch program. Many of the children come to school without breakfast. Sometimes they just fall asleep in class because they have no energy. They were excited to hear that Fr. KeKe said that Mary's Meals (of Scottish International Relief) will begin supplying food in the fall. They told me that some preschoolers bring a snack with them to school, but not all of them. They asked if we could help them provide a small snack to preschoolers and 1st and 2nd grade students who haven't had breakfast. Apparently the teachers know which students these are and could do that inconspicuously.
They also talked about how Chikungunya fever had swept through the area, beginning in April. We certainly talked to a lot of people who had had it!
I asked if they have faculty meetings and they replied that they have them at the end of every month. They have no parent-teacher meetings though. They told me that the school feeding is important for the teachers too, because they sometimes don't have enough to eat either!
The other issues they raised are that the children have never seen any historical sites. They would like to be able to take the 6th graders on a field trip.
Sigh! Their requests are reasonable. I hope we may be able to do something about at least some of them!
