Designed to assist students, schools and communities in Tola, Nicaragua, The History of PRE PRE's roots stem from the founder's first visit to the Municipality of Tola, Nicaragua in 2007 as a student with the Geography Department of the University of Denver. - In 2008, information was gathered about western Tola and its schools, and a plan to assist 11 schools was made. - By May of 2009 PRE had been incorporated and founded as a non-profit corporation in Alaska. - In the summer of 2009 PRE began assisting its first schools in Tola. - Now PRE has worked with 29 different school sites, constructing 9 new structures (8 schools and 1 clinic building), affecting over 2500 students, as well as community and school sports teams, and helping schools perform monthly trash and recycling collections in their communities. PRE helps coordinate community based repairs, and new construction, of schools by supplying materials and assembling local volunteers. PRE's goal is to help elevate the quality of education in Tola communities, through the coordinated effort of shared ideas and work between teachers, community members, and PRE. The municipality of Tola, Nicaragua Tola is a rural area that is subject to the hardships of poverty and is located in the most southwest region of Nicaragua, on the Pacific coast in the department of Rivas. It has an area of 476 square kilometres and an approximate population of 22,874 people, as of 2008 (MTI, 2009). It is a very rural area, with an agriculturally based culture and Pacific Ocean coastline that allows some fishing and a growing attraction to tourists. Nicaragua as a country is quite monetarily poor, and listed as the second poorest in the western hemisphere, behind Haiti. The country has endured a tumultuous modern history, including the revolution of 1979 that overthrew the Somoza dictatorship and introduced a new republic, heavily influenced by the power holding Sandinista party (CIA, 2012). Many of the citizens of Tola do not receive a complete formal education. This can lead to missed opportunities for employment and private enterprise that an education allows, leaving them less able to take advantage of their region’s opportunities. Nicaragua's economic situation leaves its government at times struggling to cover all the needs of its citizens, particularly of those in remote rural locations such as in the municipality of Tola. Therefore PRE respectfully coordinates work with the local government and ministry of education in Tola, while also working to help cover the needs of those most difficult to reach in outlying areas. The students, schools, and citizens of Tola are not lacking ambition, but resources, and PRE's work involves giving communities the tools for them to change their educational opportunities through community organized work, and the assistance with physical donations of key supplies crucial to elevating the quality of Tola's educational system. |
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