Expansion

Project Mission Statement

To expand our school in Cusco, Peru, where education, food and access to a private doctor is given to youngsters who live in extreme poverty, in order to improve their prospects and increase their self-esteem. Our school is already self-financed by providing Spanish lessons to foreign visitors.

A New Location

After more than a year of active searching, we still haven’t found a new location for our school. We search for a location and building that will bring new life and growth to our already successful program. From our current location, Zaguan del Cielo, it is our dream to find a new site that is wonderful, quiet and a safe neighbourhood that will be a perfect school setting, as well as easy to find. Along with English and Spanish classrooms, we would like a common area where our students and staff can interact comfortably amid the Andean sun.

Expansion of this project would roughly double or triple the size of the current facility. The school currently lacks space to accommodate even our basic needs. We will improve our ability to deliver services, and improve their quality and effectiveness. Moreover, by also expanding our facilities to teach Spanish, we will increase our income and therefore our resources to help more and more people in the future.

The Size

If the building perfectly suits our needs, then it is doubtful that we will need to renovate. However, this is unlikely and we are expecting that some expanding will need to be done, so that it houses around 10 large rooms. In doing so, we will have a youth program room, a workshop area, a kitchen, a common area, a library, a teachers’ room and more Spanish classrooms. We will have enough space to give each room its own function, and also increase our capacity to teach both Spanish and English.

The Price

Land in and around Cusco’s city center has consistently increased in value over the past few decades. Currently, we have approximately US$30,000 and are hopeful that we can loan a further US$10,000 if necessary, to make an initial purchase and without taking into consideration any renovations that may be required.

By gathering information from architects, taxateurs, real estate brokers, lawyers, entrepreneurs and of course, our own opinions, we are positive that whichever property we buy, we will be making a responsible financial decision.

Contracts

The new building that we wish to purchase will be financed from Spanish lessons and Host Family profits. The legally binding contract will be in the name of Amigos Spanish School with Jesus Napancca, Founder and Director titled the representative. All legal and financial issues will be discussed with our lawyer, our accountant and our architect, who are also contributing to the project by providing their services free of charge.

Increase the Number of Rooms for Spanish Lessons

Teaching Spanish to tourists is the fuel for Amigos Spanish School, as these courses cover our day-to-day expenses. Yet, with our present lack of space we are losing out on significant business. As our program becomes more and more popular with tourists, we have to turn down interested parties, as we cannot accommodate more than our five classrooms allow. This is endangering our program, so purchasing a larger facility is a must.

English classroom

We will hold our youth program in the best room that the new building offers. Since we are aiming to double or triple the size of our youth program, this room will accommodate up to 10 students at one time, but with a total of 60 students per week.

Saturday Workshop Room

On Saturdays our youngsters meet to help in the school and also to interact amongst themselves. Due to problems with space, we were forced to abandon our Saturday Workshops a few months ago since we did not have a room big enough to allow all the students to congregate at once. A room specifically designed for this purpose would enable us to continue with our Workshops and it would also serve as the common area when the weather is bad. We’d like this room to hold up to 25 people, as it would be used for ongoing support programs for our students after they graduate from Amigos, our Friday Salsa lessons and any other activities or events such as birthdays!

Administrative Space

Presently, Amigos lacks the proper space for our administrative office. However, we hope that we will have two different rooms to use for this purpose. They will be located in one large room with a small wall separating the two, thus creating both a front and back office. The front office will serve as a greeting room for current students, as well as prospective students. It will be located next to the front door, so that visitors are promptly welcomed by our front office manager. Behind the front office, we will have another room to do our private administrative work. This office will need to be well furnished and supplied with the necessary computers, telephones and internet-connections. We would like this room to look especially pleasant, as it will be the first room that our visitors see.

Teachers’ Room

The teachers’ room will offer a private space for our teachers to prepare for class, relax, and converse amongst themselves. It will also house all teaching resources to keep classrooms free from clutter.

Library

By having a library for local students, as well as foreign students, we will be able to offer a quiet place for them to study, read, or simply do their homework. Our collection of books, both in English and Spanish, has been growing steadily over the years, so our students will have the opportunity to borrow and use these books. Our library will also house a book exchange for foreigners and a place to look through our assortment of guidebooks, for those interested in taking other trips throughout Peru and South America. Ideally, we will also have free Internet access for our students, so as to provide a greater wealth of outside resources.

Kitchen

If Amigos is going to triple in size, then the kitchen facility must be adequate. It must be large enough to handle this change in the school’s size, as well as accommodate our weekly cooking classes for tourists. It would be a nice addition to create a cooking island in the kitchen, so as to have a more professional look.

Furnishing and Finishing

Amigos, as the word denotes, is a friendly place, and therefore we aim to convey this sentiment in all aspects of our school. For this reason, it is crucial that all of the rooms have a professional, but warm look. They should all be well painted, furnished and decorated, in order to send the right message to our guests. A comfortable environment is essential to both good teaching and good learning. Natural light, soft colors, paintings and vegetation are a common and integral part of our decoration, so we want to continue these traditions in our move to the new location.

Conclusion

Amigos has successfully finished its childhood phase and started its adolescence. It has simply grown out of its body. An expansion is needed, in order to keep this natural process of growth going. The house that we purchase will provide Amigos with a great facility that will last for at least ten years. We feel that now is the time to make the move.

Amigos spends all of its income on supporting young people in need. However, as you well know, we are unable to save a lot of money when we are also running a school. At this point in 2007, we simply don’t have enough money to fund a new school and therefore, we need your help in the form of donations big and small. The money that you donate will be put towards everything for the school such as, furniture, books and kitchen equipment, to name just a few. Please help our cause and do something meaningful!