Costa Rica News – The director of a school in Liberia changed the landscape of the school and the mentality of the community, taking it from a state of misery to one of a model educational center.
It was Ginette Aviles who transformed the Julia Acuna School in Somarribas, Salto de Liberia.
She arrived to the school in 2012 when it was nothing. The infrastructure and sanitary services were deplorable and the students did not even think about having a future. The families just wanted them to pass sixth grade to go out and work to contribute to the family.
The school serves 160 students. Those in the fourth grade when she came in were 16 and 17 years old and couldn’t read. She believed rural school children deserve a better opportunity.
She got donations from the Ministry of Public Education, the Japanese government, and friends from Belgium.
The school now has transformed classrooms, pavilions, electricity, a gym, computer room, garden, water purification, fans in the classrooms and new bathrooms. She also gave workshops to mothers to change the ideas of the future. She won the Mauro Fernando Acuna Prize.
