El Rincón, State of Sucre, Venezuela. July 10, 2017
Team: Ana Vargas, Hector Chang, Diana Ruíz, Ana Rodríguez, Mariana Cardozo, Leysbel Osorio, Leticia Gaona, Catherine de Wolf, Daniela Hernández and Raquel Portillo.
On Monday, July 10, 2017, the TEP team visited the a rural school in Río del Pilar - located in the peninsula Paria in Venezuela - to paint the walls of the classrooms along with the students who attend it. The cozy rural school has a history to tell us, it is not the same school it was 6 months ago. In February, our team had the opportunity to visit it. At that time, the structure was divided by a single wall, which allowed for two classrooms: one room for preschool students, and the other room for the whole primary students (1st to 6th grade). The teachers tell us that it was very difficult to maintain order and focus. One of the teachers emphasized that the difference between a first grader and a sixth grader was too large for the classroom to function effectively.
After that visit in February, the TEP team presented a proposal to knock down the central wall and replace it with two new walls. This way, there would be a room for preschool, another for students from 1st to 3rd grade, and one for students in grades 4-6. The transformation was carried out by Guillermo, who is a local mason and father of one of the children who attends the school, with the support of the San José Foundation.
On this occasion, the TEP team returned to the school to paint the walls of the room. The design of the murals was inspired by drawings made by the children themselves during the February visit. During the day, the team taught children to use stencils to paint. In addition, we had the support of other members of the community. From very early on, the mothers of children were cooking a delicious soup for volunteers and our young artists. Our team left with great excitement and great energy to continue the interventions in the region of Paria.
