August 3, 2009
School Project Funded
Thanks
to everyone who donated to the school project. I know tough times
exist for many people and families, so your sacrifice is doubly
appreciated. The money should be in my bank account within two
weeks. Then, my counterpart and I will travel to Bishkek to purchase
the goods. When school starts, the students will be able to use
their new TV, DVD player, computer and printer. The director has
promised to give us Internet access, too.
One
mystery remains regarding the funding of the project. When I wrote
last week that the deadline for donations was 31 July, we still needed a
little over $700. On the 29th I went to check the
web site and I couldn't find my project. This meant it had been
fully funded! But, by whom? One individual? Or
did several donations come in over a span of two or three days? It's
not important, but my curiosity is killing me. I'm supposed to get a
printout listing all the donors, so that may solve it because I think I know
who gave up to last week.
I'll
be taking a photo of the new English Resource Center and including it in a
future Mail from Kyrgyzstan. I'm going to see if I can record a
group thank you by the students and include that, too.
When I first arrived at my new school in March
2009 I asked Anara where we’d find the English Department offices. She laughed
and led me to a room on the second floor, rectangular, maybe 8x20, and said,
“Here we are.” It also doubled as her classroom. The ancient blackboard was
three-foot square. I found no teaching/learning tools. Four teachers shared one
totally tattered Russian/English text book, circa 1984. I knew something needed
to be done, equipment and reference books purchased, but it wasn’t going to
happen in that room. With a long table and chairs on each side there was barely
room enough to walk from one end of the room to the other.
I told Anara that the Peace Corps had a program
whereby we could raise money for a computer, printer, TV, DVD player and books,
but we’d need a different room. She would ask the director. Not sure when he
gave us a new room on the first floor, not much bigger than the one we had
previously, but sufficiently large enough for the new equipment and room for
students. I was able to set up the project on what would now be GoFundMe or
Kickstarter. Alas, at that time I hadn’t created a Facebook page, so I had to
rely on my personal Gmail contact list, about 60 people. As I recall, we needed
about $1400 and I was certain that I’d have to cover any shortfall; I had a
figure of $600-800 in mind.
Projects had a certain number of days to be
funded and I can’t remember how many. I do know that our deadline was July 31st.
I visited the website on the 29th and couldn’t find the project.
This meant that it had been fully funded, but how could that be? I had checked
a couple of days prior and we still needed about $700. I rebooted the computer
thinking maybe I’d run into a technical malfunction. Still no project. I had no
idea what was going on.
Turns out someone had donated the large amount
we needed, a gentleman from West Hartford, CT. I had no idea who he was or why he
chose my project, but angels do exist. That started me thinking that maybe
there was a group people, maybe Returned Peace Corps Volunteers or folks who
loved what the PC did and stood for that funded projects that needed cash and
had a deadline looming. I learned the man’s name and my sister was able to get
an email address for him. I sent him a thank you email, but didn’t dig for
further information because why he donated wasn’t important to me. He didn’t
want any thanks. He just did what he likes to do. And my school, the teachers
and students and I were the grateful beneficiaries of his largesse.
The room was renamed the English Language
Resource Center (that’s close if not exact). The printer was meant to be an
income stream that would allow for the purchase of paper and ink for future
copies, and books and DVD’s if we ever earned that much. Business was brisk as
students always needed copies of documents and homework. At 2 soms per copy the
money was adding up quickly. Sadly, while I taught there, we never purchased
another DVD beyond what came with the initial project money, because the income
stream flowed directly into Anara’s pocket. She was now a small business owner
of sorts. While her action disappointed me, it did not surprise me. People must
take advantage of every opportunity to make money in a country of low wages. I
call it Survival Corruption.
I wonder if any of the original equipment still
works, or if it’s even there anymore? I sent Anara an email asking for an
update. The TV doesn’t work, but the computer and printer still do. As for any photos of the equipment, the vanished when my computer crashed in early 2010.
