Altagracia’s School – Giving Back

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Altagracia’s School and Home
He's a ham!
He’s a ham!

We enjoyed our time in Luperon, and tried to repay some of the hospitality we enjoyed by doing some good while we were there.

With the crew of another boat (Tanda Malaika – who you may remember from our Crooked Island story), we found a teacher – Altagracia – running a small school from her home. We thought for sure she would know of some needs in the community, so we went to ask her. It turned out that she needed some help herself.

We organized an over-ambitious project to repair her spalled and uneven floor and remodel her roof, which did not keep rain out at all. The house was made of four smaller buildings together, and really just next to each other, rather than integrated together. The kids were getting rained on!

Ruben and his helper
Ruben and his helper

We drew up a plan and consulted a local contractor. Belinda on Tanda Malaika set up a GoFundMe to defray costs. We spread the word on social media and, within a week, we had the bill covered. I’d like to express massive thanks to those of you who donated! You made a huge difference. We did a lot of the work ourselves -and with the crew of Tanda Malaika we had plenty of hands for the work, but felt it was important to hire a local contractor and labor for the work as well.

Since we were dealing with structures that were over two hundred years old, it was hard to decide where to terminate our efforts. This home had been in Altagracia’s family for six generations, added onto through the decades. Needless to say, several other improvements were added as we went. The final result is not perfect, but it’s a huge improvement.

Altagracia – beautiful soul – was more than grateful, and the smiles of the children were really all the thanks we needed.

Altagracia and Marci
Altagracia and Marci
Those smiles!
Those smiles!
Shy girl
Shy girl
Ruben and his helper
Ruben and his helper
Perro
Perro
New Floor New Roof
New Floor New Roof
Aiden and Mycah
Aiden and Mycah
Marci getting some help from Misu
Marci getting some help from Misu
Happy guy
Happy guy
For so many reasons, it felt good to pick up this saw!
For so many reasons, it felt good to pick up this saw!
Alan on the Roof
Alan on the Roof
Thank you Ruben!
Thank you Ruben!
The whole gang!
The whole gang!
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