Empowering Children and Communities to Reach their
Full Potential
501C3 Not For Profit Organization
100% Volunteer-run. 100% of your Donations go to Campaigns.*
(*minus applicable processing fees for online donations using credit card, PayPal, GlobalGiving, and GoFundMe etc)
Building a High School in El Rodeito, Honduras
Building a High School in El Rodeito, Honduras
“Hi, I am the first person born in El Rodeito to attend college. In 2013, I founded Mayor Potencial, a volunteer run non-profit organization, to raise money to increase educational opportunities for the children of El Rodeito and the surrounding areas. This will help the villages thrive and become self-sustaining. In all the things we do, we are guided by the village councils and the residents.” (Nancy Bell)
In the rural Honduran village where Nancy was born, the nearest high school is a three-hour walk away along hilly, rock-covered dirt roads. With no transportation other than donkeys, teenagers in the village of El Rodeito typically drop out of school after sixth grade and work on their families' farms. By the age of 16, most of the girls in the village are already married and having kids.
In 2013, Mrs. Bell founded Mayor Potencial, or "Greatest Potential". Her nonprofit organization raises money to improve the educational system for children, starting with the community of El Rodeito, and has partnered with many organizations in Ithaca and the surrounding areas. Mayor Potencial worked with
Cornell University to offer service trips and started a student chapter at the university, as well as collaborating to teach a social entrepreneurship class in rural villages, and working together on several research projects. In addition, Mayor Potencial has been partnering with other organizations to provide school supplies and launch a pen-pal program. The school supplies were donated by Gospel Alliance Church in Belle Vernon, PA. The pen-pal program was successfully launched with the help of Covenant Love Community School in Dryden, NY. Mayor Potencial also partnered with Dr. Matthew Dentes to bring toothbrushes and toothpaste to the village. In the meantime, Mayor Potencial raised funds to install the electricity at the elementary school Ramon Rosa in El Rodeito as well as provide school supplies for the teachers and plant 30 fruit trees.
In the Spring of 2015 Mayor Potencial worked with two architecture students at Cornell University to design the new school grounds. Liam Martin and Timothy Ryan working under the supervision of their professors in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning started this arduous and complicated task. They traveled to Honduras for over 2 years in order to finalize the plans. After their first trip they collected, measured, and took several photos. They held a town meeting to get input from the community. Then they got back to work at Cornell University. The next semester Liam and Timothy traveled back to El Rodeito for another week to share their initial design. They received great feedback from the community and incorporated it into the plans. The next semester they once again traveled back to meet with the Mayor of the city, engineers, and school board. The minor changes and plans were officially approved!
The design that Liam and Tim together was sleek, modern and incorporated many wonderful things such as a library, computer lab, teaching farm, playground, classrooms and more! In the original plans one classroom would be built at a time in a stand-alone building. Each classroom costs roughly $15,000 to build. Based on the original design we needed to raise almost $150,000.
In the fall of 2016, a crowdfunding campaign was launched with Cornell University to raise money for a high school. That campaign raised $8,500. This was used to remove rocks and level the ground to prepare the site for the new high school. However, securing $150,000 for the school construction was proving to be more difficult than anticipated for the small team of volunteers. We shared our concerns with the community.
In the summer of 2018, the community came together and voted on a much simpler design that would allow the children to start school the soonest. This design is following the guidelines of the government and is much more affordable. It consists of one building divided by 3 classrooms, 4 new bathrooms, and an upgraded cafeteria and kitchen area. The total costs for the simpler design, consisting of 3 large classrooms and 4 new bathrooms, is estimated at $27,130. And the estimated expense for the cafeteria and kitchen space is $20,000.
“Hi, I am the first person born in El Rodeito to attend college. In 2013, I founded Mayor Potencial, a volunteer run non-profit organization, to raise money to increase educational opportunities for the children of El Rodeito and the surrounding areas. This will help the villages thrive and become self-sustaining. In all the things we do, we are guided by the village councils and the residents.” (Nancy Bell)
In the rural Honduran village where Nancy was born, the nearest high school is a three-hour walk away along hilly, rock-covered dirt roads. With no transportation other than donkeys, teenagers in the village of El Rodeito typically drop out of school after sixth grade and work on their families' farms. By the age of 16, most of the girls in the village are already married and having kids.
In 2013, Mrs. Bell founded Mayor Potencial, or "Greatest Potential". Her nonprofit organization raises money to improve the educational system for children, starting with the community of El Rodeito, and has partnered with many organizations in Ithaca and the surrounding areas. Mayor Potencial worked with
Cornell University to offer service trips and started a student chapter at the university, as well as collaborating to teach a social entrepreneurship class in rural villages, and working together on several research projects. In addition, Mayor Potencial has been partnering with other organizations to provide school supplies and launch a pen-pal program. The school supplies were donated by Gospel Alliance Church in Belle Vernon, PA. The pen-pal program was successfully launched with the help of Covenant Love Community School in Dryden, NY. Mayor Potencial also partnered with Dr. Matthew Dentes to bring toothbrushes and toothpaste to the village. In the meantime, Mayor Potencial raised funds to install the electricity at the elementary school Ramon Rosa in El Rodeito as well as provide school supplies for the teachers and plant 30 fruit trees.
In the Spring of 2015 Mayor Potencial worked with two architecture students at Cornell University to design the new school grounds. Liam Martin and Timothy Ryan working under the supervision of their professors in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning started this arduous and complicated task. They traveled to Honduras for over 2 years in order to finalize the plans. After their first trip they collected, measured, and took several photos. They held a town meeting to get input from the community. Then they got back to work at Cornell University. The next semester Liam and Timothy traveled back to El Rodeito for another week to share their initial design. They received great feedback from the community and incorporated it into the plans. The next semester they once again traveled back to meet with the Mayor of the city, engineers, and school board. The minor changes and plans were officially approved!
The design that Liam and Tim together was sleek, modern and incorporated many wonderful things such as a library, computer lab, teaching farm, playground, classrooms and more! In the original plans one classroom would be built at a time in a stand-alone building. Each classroom costs roughly $15,000 to build. Based on the original design we needed to raise almost $150,000.
In the fall of 2016, a crowdfunding campaign was launched with Cornell University to raise money for a high school. That campaign raised $8,500. This was used to remove rocks and level the ground to prepare the site for the new high school. However, securing $150,000 for the school construction was proving to be more difficult than anticipated for the small team of volunteers. We shared our concerns with the community.
In the summer of 2018, the community came together and voted on a much simpler design that would allow the children to start school the soonest. This design is following the guidelines of the government and is much more affordable. It consists of one building divided by 3 classrooms, 4 new bathrooms, and an upgraded cafeteria and kitchen area. The total costs for the simpler design, consisting of 3 large classrooms and 4 new bathrooms, is estimated at $27,130. And the estimated expense for the cafeteria and kitchen space is $20,000.
Cafeteria and Kitchen Area:
Cafeteria and Kitchen Area:
The proposed space is the old school that was built by hand by Nancy’s grandfather, Daniel Flores, and other elders in the community. After some discussion with the community it became clear that this building is still very usable and a beautiful reminder of the love and dedication of our grandfathers. Back in those days, the government did not want to provide a school for such a small community. The elders in the community came together and decided that without the government they would build the school and with that give their children a better future. They didn’t know how to read or write but they realized the value that education has. The estimated costs to add a new large cafeteria and redo the roof on the old school is estimated at $20,000. We
will launch this campaign after the High School is completed. The ROOF and WALLS are UP, and one teacher has been hired by the Honduran government! In addition to the high school project, Mayor Potencial has been able to complete the following projects to help El Rodeito and the surrounding communities:
To date, Mayor Potencial has raised $16,786 of the total $27,130 needed for the total project! The remaining money will go towards flooring, electricity and bathrooms.
Yearly purchase of rice and beans for each household.
Led 8 service trips to El Rodeito.
Purchased and planted 100 fruit trees.
Partnered with Cornell University to help villagers purchase a corn grinder and irrigate 2 farms.
Installed electricity in the elementary school.
Partnered with Boston Children’s Hospital and Cape Cares to sponsor 2 Dental/Medical brigades.
Partnered with Boston Children’s Hospital, Cape Cares, Hospital Maria and Hospital Escuela (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) to provide referral services for those who required follow-up care after the medical brigades.
Partnered with Boston Children’s Hospital, Cape Cares and Dryden Highs School students to provide prenatal vitamins for all pregnant women.
Outfitted each child with several sets of clothing, 2 pairs of shoes and bedding.
Twice partnered with Gospel Alliance Church (Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania) to supply each elementary school student with
school supplies.Had Cornell Architecture student design and prepare renderings for the high school.
Partnered with Cornell University for a crowdfunding campaign for renting
an excavator for villagers to prepare site for the high school construction.Found sponsors for 2 of the families in most need.
Partnered with Cornell University to create 2 social enterprise development classes and formalized service trips which allowed their students to receive funding from Cornell to cover all their trip expenses.
The proposed space is the old school that was built by hand by Nancy’s grandfather, Daniel Flores, and other elders in the community. After some discussion with the community it became clear that this building is still very usable and a beautiful reminder of the love and dedication of our grandfathers. Back in those days, the government did not want to provide a school for such a small community. The elders in the community came together and decided that without the government they would build the school and with that give their children a better future. They didn’t know how to read or write but they realized the value that education has. The estimated costs to add a new large cafeteria and redo the roof on the old school is estimated at $20,000. We
will launch this campaign after the High School is completed. The ROOF and WALLS are UP, and one teacher has been hired by the Honduran government! In addition to the high school project, Mayor Potencial has been able to complete the following projects to help El Rodeito and the surrounding communities:
To date, Mayor Potencial has raised $16,786 of the total $27,130 needed for the total project! The remaining money will go towards flooring, electricity and bathrooms.
Yearly purchase of rice and beans for each household.
Led 8 service trips to El Rodeito.
Purchased and planted 100 fruit trees.
Partnered with Cornell University to help villagers purchase a corn grinder and irrigate 2 farms.
Installed electricity in the elementary school.
Partnered with Boston Children’s Hospital and Cape Cares to sponsor 2 Dental/Medical brigades.
Partnered with Boston Children’s Hospital, Cape Cares, Hospital Maria and Hospital Escuela (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) to provide referral services for those who required follow-up care after the medical brigades.
Partnered with Boston Children’s Hospital, Cape Cares and Dryden Highs School students to provide prenatal vitamins for all pregnant women.
Outfitted each child with several sets of clothing, 2 pairs of shoes and bedding.
Twice partnered with Gospel Alliance Church (Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania) to supply each elementary school student with
school supplies.Had Cornell Architecture student design and prepare renderings for the high school.
Partnered with Cornell University for a crowdfunding campaign for renting
an excavator for villagers to prepare site for the high school construction.Found sponsors for 2 of the families in most need.
Partnered with Cornell University to create 2 social enterprise development classes and formalized service trips which allowed their students to receive funding from Cornell to cover all their trip expenses.
501C3 Not For Profit Organization
100% Volunteer-run. 100% of your Donations go to Campaigns.*
(*minus applicable processing fees for online donations using credit card, PayPal, GlobalGiving, and GoFundMe etc)
501C3 Not For Profit Organization
100% Volunteer-run. 100% of your Donations go to Campaigns.*
(*minus applicable processing fees for online donations using credit card, PayPal, GlobalGiving, and GoFundMe etc)
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