Choquemarca, a small village high in the Andes Mountains that is a five-hour truck ride and one-and-a-half-hour hike/horseback ride from Curahuasi, is home to 45 families. Last year, 40 students attended the village's primary school, which serves grades one through six. Community members were expecting the same or slightly more amount of students this school year.
Mission McNeill upgraded the kitchen and lunchroom, painting both in bright yellow and hanging age-appropriate nutrition-related posters and an acrylic white board (which was accompanied by a stock of refillable markers, ink and erasers) in the lunchroom. Durable plastic stools in green, red and yellow replaced worn wooden chairs at the lunchroom tables, and new bowls, cups and spoons were purchased for each student. For use in maintaining and organizing the cooking and eating areas, Mission McNeill also donated garbage cans, storage bins of various sizes, cutting boards, a wall rack, bars of hand soap and plastic containers, dish soap and dish towels, a dustpan and brooms, and juice jugs. For the schoolhouse, Mission McNeill contributed roofing materials, nails and a hammer for the repair of leaks.
The total project cost was $996.
