Fátima's New Elementary School

Hiring a Teacher
	Fátima opened the school with just one teacher in January, and paid her salary out of their own funds.  They had applied to the government for teacher funding and GREAT NEWS, the government will pay for 2 teachers beginning in August.   What a relief!
Kids in Colorado Help Fill the School With Books
	During the summer of 2008, kids at the Lafayette Public Library in Colorado took on the challenge to "Spread the Reading Bug" and share books with the children in Fátima.   After just 2 months, the summer readers in Lafayette had raised $4,000 that will be used to buy books for the school and for the planned community library. The kids in Lafayette got so caught up in helping kids in Fátima that they wanted a way to stay connected.  The kids in both communities are making quilts that will hang in Lafayette and at the new school - a bit of Guatemalan fabric, a bit of Coloradan fabric, leaf prints from a rain forest and from the high desert, and lots of hands helping put them all together.
Securing the Grounds
	Fátima was worried about the security of the new building, and wanted to avoid broken windows and graffiti.  The men built a wall around the school - and the church next door - to protect the glass, and keep the play areas clean and safe. We helped pay for supplies, and they used some of the money to repair the old church at the same time.