This is a first time project. The children in all schools wear uniforms….white shirts, navy blue slacks or navy blue pleated skirts. They cannot attend school unless they have a uniform. Many children’s parents cannot afford to buy a uniform. The cost for the shirts and skirts/pants is $10 to $16 (larger kids/higher cost). This year, H2H-T supplied uniforms for the children whose families cannot afford them – at two poor rural schools – Las Palmas and Lancetilla. A total of 80 uniforms were provided. H2H-T also provided six small size skirts to IHNFA.
This is an exceptionally rewarding project – the teachers make the request and let us know which children really need uniforms. Donations for this project came from our state-side community members, our H2H-T volunteers and even our hotel owner.
2011 we plan to add backpacks to the uniform project. We find that if we collect $25 per child, we can equip them with shirt, skirt/pants and a backpack. A good project for the youth volunteers for next year will be to fill the backpacks with pencils, notebook, etc.