We are in desperate need of new motorcycles. We used to have two, which were still not enough for our four distance educators. But they were old bikes and continually breaking down. One of them died, and the other one is barely working. Not only does this mean a regular outlay of money for parts and labor, it also means that at least one group of students cannot receive their weekly class, which they walk 1-3 hours to attend. We always try to make up the classes, but it means that these same students have to lose another day and walk another 1 – 3 hours (one way), which they usually do.
Urgent Update!!!
At the moment, our remaining bike is in the shop for expensive repairs and our educators must hitchhike or take a series of local busses. Needless to say, it’s an awful situation… and our students are the losers.
That’s why we started Moto for Education. Our goal is to raise enough money to buy three brand-new motorcycles, and have a small reserve for fuel and repairs.
Thank you for your generosity and support!
Goal for 1 motorcycle: $3,421US (L.65,000)
Raised to date:
$465
Note: You don’t need a PayPal account to donate through PayPal; major credit cards are accepted. American citizens who donate $25 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt from El Maestro en Casa, Inc., a 501(c)(3) USA registered charity.
Here’s an example of what we regularly encounter. A few weeks ago, when we still had two working motorcycles, three of our educators, Bertha (pictured here), Armando and Natividad, rode to San Lorenzo. It was necessary for all three to go because the student group in that village consists of three grades: 7th, 8th and 9th. It’s a treacherous 1½-hour ride to San Lorenzo over slick and mushy clay roads, now that we’re five months into the rainy season. Fortunately they arrived in time to hold classes. However, on the way back to the center, the “better” motorcycle refused to start (who can blame it?). Armando and Bertha took off together on the other (now defunct) bike—the one they had sworn never to ride double on, and after many stops to retighten and realign the frame, finally reached La Esperanza 4 hours later. Poor Nati, who always draws the short straw, stayed behind, hoping to get a ride for both himself and the bike. After several hours he left the bike and hopped aboard a truck jammed with stand-up passengers. By that time it was raining, of course, and the truck became stuck several times, requiring all passengers to get out and push. Nati finally reached La Esperanza sometime after 9:00 pm. The next day we had to pay another truck L.800 ($40) to bring the bike back. On Friday, Armando went back to San Lorenzo to give a make-up class, since he’d missed a few classes when one of the bikes didn’t want to leave La Esperanza. He made it to the class, but once again had to leave the bike in the village and hitch a ride back to town. This cost us another L.800. Sometime soon our remaining bike simply can’t be fixed. We’re trying not to think about it.
Typical roads for 5 months of the year
