The gracious Mrs. Regina Johnson requested that in addition to the several classrooms, the library, and the computer room, a large covered play area for the children should be built to keep them out of the merciless equatorial sun. It should be up and functional in time to keep the students out of the winter monsoons, as well.

Want more photos? Click.

The parents of Karla Lorena Cabrera Cortez, one of the students sponsored by our becados program, sent a letter of gratitude to The Least Among Us. It translates as follows:

December 19, 2006

Dear Padre Patricio and the other benefactors of this very important foundation:

Receive special greetings from the Cabrera Cortez family, wishing that in this Christmas the child Jesus and the Virgin Mary pour out abundant blessings on your spiritual works and your labors that benefit those in most need in our dear town of Santo Domingo de Guzmán.

Dear Father, by means of this letter we want to express our most sincere thanks for the most important aid that you have brought and continue to bring to our daughter Karla Lorena in the form of her scholarship that she is able to study for her technical High School degree. We are very grateful to God and to all of you who have made it possible for the youth of our town to prepare themselves academically as future professionals, especially our daughter Karla Lorena.

We are well aware that we are not able to pay back the donors for the sacrifice that they have made so that those in most need can receive such great aid but God Almighty and the Virgin Mary will repay you one hundred times one hundred. We will continue to pray for you the founders and for all the donors who contribute to the foundation and its success.

May God bless you all and may you have a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Juan A. Cabrera
Teodora Cortez de Cabrera
Karla Lorena Cabrera Cortez

Karla is in her second year of bachillerato at the Instituto Nacional Jaime Abdul Gutierrez in Sonsonate.

Father Keane encountered Madeline during his July 2006 trip to El Salvador when her mother came to thank Father for TLAU’s supporting Lydia, Madeline’s older sister, through the becados program. She was extremely small for her age, 13 pounds at one year, because she had a hole in her heart–a ventricular septal defect that could only be treated with surgery. However, because of her family’s poverty, surgery was an impossibility. So Father Keane began talking to parishioners in North Carolina, particularly at St. Mark parish in Wilmington and St. Patrick parish in Fayetteville, and before long he had almost $19,000 from nearly 45 different individuals and even a few children holding a yard sale.

Madeline had her surgery on Friday, December 8th.

Father Keane has been keeping notes on her situation since he met her. To read them, click HERE.

Here are more PHOTOS of Madeline.

http://picasaweb.google.com/theleastamongus/MadelineBeatrizSanchez02 – An album of Madeline Beatriz Sánchez who, thanks to the generosity of several special TLAU donors, was able to get open heart surgery on December 8th to fix 3 congenital defects.

http://picasaweb.google.com/theleastamongus/SantaFamilia – An album of the 4 classrooms, library, computing center and chapel we built at Santa Familia parish in San Vicente, El Salvador.

http://picasaweb.google.com/theleastamongus/SanJosLaLabor РAn album of the three classrooms and bathrooms we built at San Jos̩ La Labor in San Vicente, El Salvador.

http://picasaweb.google.com/theleastamongus/TLAUSpecialProjects – An album showing TLAU special projects such as the purchase of wheelchairs for San Patricio school in San Salvador, El Salvador and delivery of medical supplies to a clinic in San Pedro Puxtla.

http://picasaweb.google.com/theleastamongus/December2006TripToElSalvador – An album with pictures from Fr. Keane’s Nov. 17 – Dec. 22, 2006 trip to El Salvador.

During his December visit to El Salvador, Father Keane presided at the inauguration of one of TLAU’s completed Fall 2006 projects: the Centro Escolar San Jose La Labor in San Sebastian in the department of San Vicente. In addition to buying part of the land needed for the project, TLAU paid for three classrooms, bathrooms with flush toilets and sinks, and a small water tower to ensure a steady water supply.

The benevolence of TLAU donors came as quite a blessing–in fact, few in El Salvador or in the States understand the magnitude of the gift of the new classrooms. According to Father Keane, the children who are now grinning happily at their desks in the new buildings were once stuffed into a cramped basement near the church. This in itself isn’t so bad, but once one learns that the walls surrounding the children were left structurally unsound due to seismic activity, the new classrooms become veritable lifesavers. Horror stories circulate through the Salvadoran media about poor infrastructure collapsing upon unsuspecting people during even the most minor tremors. Father Keane read one story about 25 kindergarten children crushed to death by tons of concrete raining down on them in a similar situation. San Vicente is very earthquake-prone, so donors can give themselves a few pats on the back for pushing many Salvadoran children out of the path of a speeding train, so to speak. And of course, thanks to Walter for getting the project done quickly and under budget.

Speaking of budgets, I plan to post the final financial records of this project soon. (Can anyone help me with the English equivalent of the Spanish word “contabilidad?” I don’t think “budget” works). For pictures of the construction and inauguration, click the picture above.

Before one of my previous visits to El Salvador, students at Virgen de La Paz in Tamanique and Centro Escolar San Patricio (see finished projects page) were asked to draw what they thought their new school buildings would look like. I was presented with the drawings upon my arrival at the schools and was somewhat fascinated by their very methodical and thoroughly detailed renderings. It seems fair to infer just from these drawings alone that many children helped by TLAU are very intelligent, focused, and talented, which is the main reason we provide high-school scholarships (see below). What a shame that many never have the opportunity to use their talents and minds to the fullest of their potential.

To see more, click on the drawing…

A donation to The Least Among Us requires a certain amount of trust, especially since funds are sent to a third world country where corruption is a normal part of life. Thus the employment of Walter Ulloa came as a blessing to TLAU in light of its desires to expand its helping hand to other areas and schools. TLAU had previously been restricted to working with the parochial school in Santo Domingo de Guzman where Walter was principal, and much was accomplished, including the construction of several classrooms, a water tower, and even a computer room. However, with Walter free to work part-time on top of his teaching duties, TLAU was free to consider the solicitations of other needy schools such as “Virgen de la Paz” Catholic School in Tamanique where two classrooms were quickly built.

Walter serves as a project overseer for TLAU. He receives solicitations from schools which he relays to me, Leonard, Father Keane, and other TLAU officials over the phone or via email, or he allows me to personally assess the necessity of each solicitant when I travel to El Salvador. When a decision is made, Walter plans the project by drawing up a budget and procuring a blueprint of the future structure. During construction, Walter travels to the location at least several times a week to purchase raw materials, pay for specialized labor and transport, and oversee the quality of the work. It is important to remember that all supplies and materials are purchased directly by Walter and remain property of TLAU until the completion of the project. I am constantly amazed at Walter’s responsibility and meticulous record-keeping, filing hard copies of every receipt of every transaction to show to me personally.

As I have the privilege of traveling to El Salvador to see with my own eyes the fruit that the generosity of TLAU donors has borne, I also spend a lot of time with Walter. I quickly came to the realization that he was the limiting factor of the organization: without Walter, TLAU would not exist as we know it. Placing money in the hands of various individuals and schools and trusting them to honestly execute projects would surely be a violation of the trust that donors place in the organization. As a college-educated native of El Salvador, Walter possesses not only skills and intelligence to ensure the efficient use of donor money, but also a cultural awareness that quickly recognizes and subverts attempts to abuse TLAU’s generosity.

An example of his value as an employee may be found in the case of Santa Monica Catholic School in Quetzaltepeque. An engineer paid by the principal of the school drew up a budget for the construction of four classrooms at the estimated price of $67,360.29. Walter quickly noticed that this was an extravagant price and that the school did not need four classrooms, but only two. Upon my visit, he showed me the engineer’s plans and several unnecessary items on the budget, including the installation of eight $32 light fixtures in each classroom when only two would suffice, and money set aside for independent labor that Walter assured me the engineer would pocket while having his own employees do the job for lower wages. In the end, the needs of the school were sufficiently addressed using less than a quarter of that money. Concerning the engineer’s plans he sent to me, Walter remarked, “I hope that this document serves to show to the donors that we are fulfilling our duties well and that we are using correctly the funds they have trusted us with.”