Tulum Living School Project

I have a new idea that I am really excited about. In all of my talking with people, going back and forth on forums and answering people's emails I have come to notice something. Well, 2 things really.

1) There are so many people that LOVE Tulum. Some people that live here, that have lived here, visited here once or come every year- they just love it. They love the people, they love the culture, they love the beaches, they love the beautiful sea.

and 2) That there is a strong need for improvements in Tulum's schools and simply not enough money going to them.

Just like in the US and everywhere else, the public schools of Tulum never have enough money to get all of the things that they need. Schools are trying hard just to get through the school year with the supplies that they need. There is never enough money to put towards the bigger things that the school needs.

This has come full force to me recently because of my own children. In my sons school there are a few things that are really needed to be a fun and safe place for kids that under 6 years old. Broken, metal play ground equipment, NO shade so NO running outside etc. The same is true at my daughters school. There are almost no totally functioning bathrooms, all need repairs etc. I started to think that there must be a similar case at every school. Sure enough, the moment I started to talk to my friends about the schools their kids were in --- it was clear. TulumLiving.com needs to set up some sort of a donation thing.

I used to work on a lot of fundraising projects with my mom in Portland, OR with Doernbecher Children's Hospital and the Women for Children group. I remember my mom telling me that usually the hardest part of getting anything done is all of the people you have to go though to do it. All it takes is organization and a way to communicate. Well, I am a stage manager in the theater so anality is right up my alley. And as for communication... god bless the Internet.

So here is what I propose... I am going to go to each public school here in Tulum and talk to the head of their parent/teacher association and ask them what their big want it for their school. The one that is too big to ever get done but too small for the gov't to take care of.

I am going to list them all on 1 post with the name of the school/ the name of the director/ the number to the director/ and the want for the school. As people donate I will keep a running log on www.TulumLiving.com under the tab Help Tulum's Schools tab. As the amount is reached we will execute the need and do a post on Tulum Living. When a payment is made - we will mark it off and go to the next school.

I am so excited I can hardly type fast enough. I am expecting that most of these projects will be in the 20000-40000 peso area. That is about $1,470 to $3,000. I am excited. Okay. so.. I will start the page now. I will need a week or so to get the info from the schools and a separate bank account set up for this project!!! Yeah. I am so excited. Please free to contact me if you have any question.

Check in at Help Tulum's Schools to watch our progress and for more information about how to help out.