The Grange School
Program
Beginning in 1997, the Grange School in Santiago and the Chol – Chol Foundation were united to coordinate activities in benefit of the rural poor. The idea was to give the pupils from the Grange School in Santiago an opportunity to see and understand the poverty amongst Mapuche small plot farmers, and in return to help build basic constructions for the same families. The first group of pupils was coordinated to arrive in January 1998.
1998:
At the beginning of January over sixty children between the ages of
fourteen and twenty arrived from the Grange, led by a past pupil, Felipe
Silva.
Together the pupils built five community centers and five basic homes. They also participated in recreational activities with the children of the communities, as well as giving educational sessions about family health.
The Foundation provided coordination and organizational support as well as giving the sixty pupils lodging during their sixteen days of activities.
1999
During 1999, the Grange school kids repeated the work but were
somewhat more ambitious in their aims, drawing on their previous years
experience to improve the program. Led by Mike Leatherbee, they obtained
used clothes (over five hundred kilograms), books and computers from
families in Santiago which they brought as an added support for the
Mapuche communities.
The constructions included two libraries for schools, fully equipped with books, eight basic homes, and two community centers. A total of sixty-two pupils came from the school this year and two volunteers from England and a local Chilean volunteer joined them.
2000
In January 2000, 82 pupils and past pupils from the Grange School turned
up at the Foundation for their now established community building program.
This program gives out houses to the poorest people in the communities
where the Foundation works. This year the pupils, under the guidance of
Mackarena Baraona and Peter Leatherbee, built a total of eighteen houses.
The Foundation’s social service staff visited the home of those who were
interested in receiving a new house. They selected the people with the
greatest needs, using criteria such as the number of people living in each
house, are they the homeowners, number of persons per room, income per
family etc.
Furthermore, the grange pupils repaired the infrastructure of the school at Manio Ducañan that provided all the accommodation during their visit.
They also brought with them 120 toys and other gifts, and celebrated Christmas with the children in the communities where they were building houses.
We would like to say a special thanks to the Hogar de Cristo, who helped provide the houses, Peter and Mackarena for their tireless efforts, and Manio Ducañan school for providing accommodation to all the volunteers.
The Chol-Chol Foundation For Human Development
[email protected]
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