What is the biggest need at the school?
Paper Houses was not prepared for the answer. Four different school teachers, each in their own classroom, answered the same question: "What is the biggest need at the school?"
"The biggest need is for the children to eat. They come to school too hungry to concentrate."
"Sometimes a child will faint during class because the child is hungry."
"Some are overweight, but they still have a very poor diet. They need real nutrition."
The best way to help these children receive a good education is to feed the children a meal. We began by delivering 40-sandwices each school-day. As donations increased, we increased the number of meals. When we reached 300-meals per day, we built our first school cafeterias. We furnished and equipped the building and soon doubled the number of meals. Today, about 1,000 children eat at this cafeteria.
Giving Hope Worldwide reimbursed Paper Houses Across the Border for the construction of two other school cafeterias and continues to pay for meals at those schools.
All of the meals are prepared by trained Mexican volunteers. We purchase the ingredients for the meals from the state government of Coahuila, Mexico at a cost of 10 cents per meal. The government also provides training and certification to the volunteer cooks. At the end of the school year, the state refunds 20 percent of the money paid for the meals to each school. These schools use that money for repairs, school supplies, and other things that benefit the school. Paper Houses receives a letter from each school that explains how this money was used.
This means that for every thousand dollars we spend to provide the children with a meal, we also are providing $200 directly to the school!
Paper Houses also repairs toilets, plumbing, roofs, foundations and other things at various schools. We've provided refrigerators, freezers and other equipment to cafeterias not built by Paper Houses. We've provided text books, various school supplies and computer equipment to schools.
We know that education is a key to lifting one out of poverty and we are helping to turn that key.