Current construction needs

1. Mario's salary/finish 1st floor- AUGUST SALARY FUNDED
Mario is the head construction worker at The Center and has been working at the Center construction site for 2 years.  He's a rare find in construction: honest, hard-working, good at his job and reliable.  Our ministry at The Center has begun to extend to the surrounding community, beginning with Mario and his family.  He and his wife live a few houses away from the Center with their two daughters, Rebeca and Ruth.  His youngest daughter, Ruth, is enrolled in first grade at The Center.  Mario and his family were Jehovah's Witness, but are now attending The Center church.
 

FUNDED: In order to employ Mario monthly we need aprox $560 monthly.  In addition to Mario's salary, we need continued support for materials to be able to continue the work on the first floor.  To tile the floor of the remaining 3 classrooms, we need $615.  Plastering the remaining 2 classrooms will cost $250.  Electricity for the remaining 4 classrooms will cost $250.


2. Doors & windows for first floor classrooms- FUNDED
We have purchased the doors for the remaining 4 classrooms on the first floor, but haven't been able to raise the $55 per door needed to hire a carpenter, purchase the locks and door handles, and install them.  We have installed the window frames for each of the bottom 4 classrooms, but haven't yet raised the aprox. $90 needed per classroom to purchase the glass panes and pay for installation.  Total we need approximately $145 per classroom to ready it for winter.

The sun goes down around 6pm, right around the time we finish The Center classes for the day.  Winter is closing in, and May signals the beginning of the cold season.  Temperatures can drop into the low 40s, and with no central heating, doors and windows go a long way in helping to trap body heat in the classroom.  June and July are the coldest months in Cochabamba, and we hope to have windows and doors for each classroom by then.

3. permanent bathrooms- $200 needed
We are currently using impromptu bathrooms for the kids, consisting of two holes in the ground, each around 5ft deep and 3 ft wide.  The makeshift outhouses work for now, but once the holes fill up, we'll need a more permanent solution.

We've raised $4,800 towards our end goal of $5,000.  We estimate that with around $3,750 we can finish the bare bones of the bathrooms and have a functioning place for children and staff to use.  The remaining $1,250 would be used to finish off the bathroom walls with plaster, install hand washing stations and other non-essential aspects of the bathrooms.

If you're interested in responding to one of these needs, go to wwws.iteams.org/us/giving-form and designate your gift to Centro de Amistad-construction.