Dear Friends of the Foundation, The Perkin Educational Opportunities Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded with the goal of community enrichment through education, starting in the northeast corner of El Salvador.

For the foundation’s first initiative, it has collaborated with the local community to start the Amún Shéa Center for Integrated Development. Currently housing grades Pre-kinder through third, the Amún Shéa Center will expand through 12th grade and will eventually include an Adult Professional and Continuing Education Center, along with technical classrooms, art and science buildings.

With fewer than 15 students per classroom and school hours from 7:45 am until 3 pm, the school is making great strides since it opened in February 2008. Given that community enrichment using education as the springboard is the primary focus of the Amún Shéa School, students and teachers have been able to work together to promote healthier lifestyles, gender equality and create a better understanding of the importance of alternative methods of education.

The Amún Shéa’s founders proposed the idea of a new school in the area in order to set an example for the community, to help shape the lives of children from a young age, to create responsible citizens who see the worth of their own community, its numerous resources, and its valuable history. This community has overcome myriad challenges in an area of the country that was ravaged by war for many years.

The goal of the foundation is to take a holistic approach the problems in the region. The problems in the area are cyclical and the foundation recognizes that for the students and families to prosper, the community must flourish. The school is already positively affecting the students, staff members, and family members of the students.

Whether through school supply donations or donations contributing to operational and building costs, the foundation would truly appreciate your support. The school is heavily subsidized by the foundation and is maintained through volunteer donations by the families of the students. However, many families simply cannot afford to make the monthly contribution and the foundation maintains the policy that no child be turned away due to economic concerns.

Committed local citizens and leaders forging ahead with new techniques, combined with vast local knowledge, the Amún Shéa Center will be able to benefit a community primed and ready for progress in order to raise a new generation of young, independent thinkers in El Salvador. Thank you for your support, Donald Warnick President Perkin Educational Opportunities Foundation

P E R K I N E D U C A T I O N A L

O P P O R T U N I T I E S F O U N D A T I O N

C O M M U N I T Y E N R I C H M E N T T H R O U G H

E D U C A T I O N

BUILDING PROGRAM STAGE TWO

Amún Shéa Center for Integrated Development Perquin, Morazan, El Salvador

October 2008

Amún Shéa Center for Integrated Development is located on the outskirts of the village La Tejera, in the municipality of Perquín, Morazán in the mountainous northeast corner of El Salvador. La Tejera consists of about 40 homes and businesses spread along the paved road at the junction to the Honduran border, a route much traveled by day-trippers to the popular tourist centers in Llano del Muerto. La Tejera is generally considered to be the “poor side of town” by those living in the town center of Perquín.

The land for the Amún Shéa Center is located on twenty-two acres in La Tejera, Perquín. The founders of the PEOF are committed to both helping the students and the community. The Amún Shéa Center will target Perquín and the surrounding municipalities for vocational training, health and wellness seminars, after-school programs, social services, and over all community-building initiatives. The founders agreed that when designing a new infrastructure addition to a community, it is important to take into account the future growth of that village and the development of the community’s plaza, recreational spaces, housing and commercial areas. The concept and design of the Amún Shéa Center take into account the needs of the community. The municipal government is unable to provide many public services necessary to the more rural parts of the community. For example, there is no wastewater management provided by the government and community members are forced to construct independent in-house systems. The Amún Shéa design team takes these considerations into account, and has designed an easily replicable constructed wetlands system, that would be a viable option for wastewater in the community. The importance of the Amún Shéa’s interaction with the community is a top priority for the foundation and vital to the success of the school and the future of the Amún Shéa Center.

Land: The foundation was lucky to receive a land donation of 22 acres from a local Salvadoran businessman, and current board member. It is a challenging piece of land, with several large shelves of lava rock and large clay content. However, the design team and the local architect are working around these challenges to minimize ecological or environmental damage. Building clean, green educational facilities is a top priority of the foundation and the Amún Shéa Center.

The construction of the infrastructure will take place on the lava rock shelves, leaving ample areas as natural reserve and campus garden parks. Wastewater management, requiring a non-traditional solution, will be based on the nine-year experience of the Hotel Perkin Lenca in a constructed wetlands system. The surface water management and erosion control will be handled with a combination of dead and living barriers, also based on the experience of the Perkin Lenca. These experiences have been documented and are available as supplementary material.

Design: A major concern is the architectural design of the campus infrastructure. The design team of the Perkin Educational Opportunities Foundation represents a wide range of knowledge and experience. The process of conceptual design has been challenging, given the diversity of the team, but also has been greatly enriched by the input of theory and practice by all involved. The considerations taken into account for the architectural design are as follows:

1. A design that reflects the educational vision of Amún Shéa, in that it inspires freshness, newness and opens horizons. At the same time, it cannot be so unfamiliar that it becomes uncomfortable to the students and local community.

2. A serious and firm “institutional feeling” which inspires security and confidence in the educational program and in the Foundation.

3. A design which takes full advantage of natural lighting and ventilation, while protecting from the extreme wind and rain conditions at given periods of the year.

4. A design which lends itself to the natural incorporation of wind and solar equipment for energy production and classroom experimentation.

5. Rain and surface water catchment and retention incorporated into the design. 6. The use of readily available building materials, with a focus on local renewable sources. 7. Multiple small-scale support systems (water catchment, purification, storage, waste-water management,

energy, recycling, etc) that are easily duplicated on individual home and community levels.

Layout: The final concern is the infrastructural layout of the campus, with the following considerations:

1. A building layout with little negative environmental impact, that fits into the terrain without the need for major earthmoving landscaping.

2. A layout which naturally separates activities and age groups for privacy, protection and concentration. 3. It considers a two-plaza transition incorporating community and Center and an “entrance complex” where

the “public” and “private” meld together. 4. The program needs include:

a. Grade school with two classrooms per grade from pre-kindergarten through twelfth, subdivided into five mini-complexes: kindergarten, first through third, fourth through sixth, seventh through ninth and tenth through twelfth.

b. School of the Arts with the departments of music, dance, painting, sculpture, photography and video.

c. Technical and vocational training d. Special programs for a young mothers and adults for continuing education e. Botanical studies f. Sports facilities g. Community Development training h. University (future expansion) i. Reserved areas for future expansion j. Networks: roads, paths, parks, energy, water and communication k. Land and surface water management systems

Each mini-complex including its own or shared support structure such as cafeterias, laboratories, libraries, offices, teacher’s lounges and storage facilities.

The building program for Amún Shéa Center for Integrated Development is a long-term and ambitious endeavor, with a total investment for infrastructure costing approximately four million dollars. The program is planned out in four stages, each stage forming part of the following one, and as such are components in the overall master plan. This allows the educational programs to begin and establish themselves on a smaller and paced scale, establishing and refining pedagogical methods while the planning and fundraising for the overall program.

Stage 1: Stage 1 consisted of remodeling an existing municipal building, fixing the roof, painting, building partitions, installing sanitary facilities and waste water systems. The total budget for Stage 1 was $14,000 and made possible by generous donations by friends and personal contacts who believed in the vision of the Foundation for the Amún Shéa Center. Primary support in this beginning stage came from members of the Ohio based organization Eye Care, and in particular their leader Bill Brinker.

Stage 4 Stage 1 Maternal* Care Center Stage 3 Stage 2 *not part of project

Stage 2: Stage 2 consists of the construction of three buildings that will make up a part of the Entrance Complex. The Entrance Complex is designed for community and student use. For the short term, the buildings will serve as classrooms, but as Stage 3 progresses, these buildings will be an Adult Education and Continuing Studies building, a library with a Documentation Center, a Nutrition Center, and a multi-purpose meeting room. The construction costs for Stage 2 is $107,000.

The Nutrition Center: Health and wellness is an important component in the comprehensive plan for the Amún Shéa Center for Integrated Development. The Nutrition Center is a key element in the overall design for the Amún Shéa Center campus and a primary focus for Stage 2. . The Nutrition Center will allow the PEOF to continue to develop innovative strategies for the dietary needs of both the students and the community. With funding for the Nutritional Center, the PEOF will be able to provide healthy choices to the students, without having to depend on the food subsidy from a local business establishment. The Nutrition Center will not only serve as a part of the wider plan for the Amún Shéa campus, but will function as a community center for the municipality. The community will be able to benefit from the health promotion and the center will help to alleviate many of the health issues in a region of the world where health and wellness education is not widely available.

Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 3 Stage 2 This entrance complex is the transition from the public to the Amún Shéa Center. With reference material, training and meeting space for local development organizations and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), this is where the Community and the Amún Shéa Center meld together.

Stage 2 Budget: Several organizations have pledged money to cover the cost of the overall budget of $107,000 required for Stage 2. Electric Aid of Ireland has pledged $13,700 for the construction of the roof for the Nutrition Center. A Salvadoran road construction firm has pledged an in-kind commitment of the gravel needed for this stage, valued at $3,000. A building supply distributor in San Miguel has pledged an in-kind contribution of ceramic tiles, valued at $2,000. The foundation and its partners continue to seek in-kind donations for the Amún Shéa Center. The foundation needs to raise $80,000 in order to complete Stage 2. The school year in El Salvador runs from January until the middle of November. The classroom space in Amún Shéa Center must expand with the projected growth of one grade per year. The other determinant factor in the country is the rainy season which generally runs from May through October. With these factors in mind, construction on Stage 2 is projected to begin on November 3 and to finish within 2 months, allowing time for furniture and equipment installation before classes begin.

Stage 3: Along with preliminary contacts for potential funders, Stage 3 planning is under way. The detailed building blueprints have been finalized for the Entrance Complex. The building materials are traditional, with concrete columns and 4” block walls, steel roof structure and composite roofing. The total budget, including electrical, communication, water installations and exterior landscaping is $294,081.08. This preliminary information has been presented to PRESANCA, a United Nations organization working within the Central American Integration System, and focused on Food Security and Nutrition. PRESANCA is writing a funding request for their donors, which includes the financing of the construction of the entrance complex. PEOF and PRESANCA will make a joint presentation to the regional municipal organization to reaffirm their backing of the project (preliminary agreement has been reached).

For overall Stage 3 needs, the foundation is working with FUNDAMAC, a foundation working on educational development in Morazán. FUNDAMAC is a subsidiary of Ayuda en Accion (Help in Action), a Spanish organization,

and it receives its support from myriad Spanish states. Preliminary talks have taken place with FUNDAMAC regarding the possibility of their involvement with the Amún Shéa Center. Initial conversations have covered three topics: 1) Support for a program writer to write the overall Amún Shéa program and a grant writer to help write grant proposals 2) The possibility of obtaining funds for the construction of the classrooms and 3) Curriculum and pedagogical reinforcement. The president of the board is the headmaster of the French Academy in San Salvador and supervises the education of teachers at the UCA (Central American University). They have received positive feedback on their initial inquiries to donors in Spain regarding support for the Amún Shéa Center. Rotary International is involved with raising funds for equipment, materials and some operational support. This support is a dual endeavor by the Pearl Portland Club in Portland, Oregon and the Sirama Club in San Miguel, El Salvador. Two other young foundations are lending their support by promoting the Amún Shéa Center, which should in the long term become a mutually beneficial relationship. They are Focal Point Aid, a non-profit from New York and Sol Aid International, a non-profit from Alaska. Design/Build team: US Advisory and Conceptual Design Support The Perkin Educational Opportunities Foundation is fortunate to have Dave Sellers, Tyler Kobick and Garth Brown, not only as board members, but also forming an enthusiastic advisory group for the design of the Amún Shéa Center. The years of professional experience that Dave brings to the group, combined with the new and fresh ideas of Tyler and Garth, contribute greatly to the developing building program of the Center.

Dave Sellers, USA Architect Dave is a renowned Vermont architect and lead designer for the Patch Adams program. Dave has served as a volunteer team leader and organizer on the clinic-building missions throughout the world.

Tyler Kobick, USA Architectural graduate student Tyler has several years experience in the Morazán region. He came to El Salvador with the Patch Adams program, helping to build health clinics, and is currently doing thesis work related to the architectural design of the Amún Shéa Center.

T. Garth Brown, USA Architectural student Garth is an educator and currently an architecture student from Lookout Mountain, Georgia. He served as a volunteer with the Patch Adams program building of clinics in El Salvador and Garth spent 9 months in El Salvador helping form the foundation and the school.

On-Site Team The task of converting concepts and design into reality, as well as considering the local cultural and topographical factors in El Salvador all fall on the shoulders of the On-Site Team.

Ronald Brenneman, El Salvador Representative in El Salvador for the PEOF Ronald is the owner and operator of the Hotel Perkin Lenca in Perquín, Morazán. He came to the region in 1983 as an aid worker during the Salvadoran civil war. Ronald has over 25 years of experience of development experience in the region, both in non-profit organizations and in the private sector. His building experience in the region includes housing, roads and water systems for 12,000 Salvadoran refugees in Honduran camps, emergency housing for earthquake victims in San Salvador, over 300 homes for ex-combatants returning to civilian life after the war, along with clinics, markets and educational facilities and the construction of the Hotel Perkin Lenca. Ronald designed and built the waste water management system at the hotel, which serves as a model for that to be implemented at the Amun Shea center, along with the erosion and surface water controls to be used.

Hector Mauricio Castillo, El Salvador Architect and Building Supervisor Hector graduated in 1987 with a degree in Architecture from the Salvadoran National University. Hector´s experience at design and build includes a mutual help housing program with It Flows International for earthquake victims, housing projects with World International Relief and Housing, housing project for the Salvadoran Minimal Housing Fund, several churches, multi-storied university buildings, private housing complexes, commercial buildings and the educational and housing program with Aldeas Infantiles (Infant Villages).