Abaco Rotary's local artisans are working with high school youth in the area to rebuild
and repair structures damaged by hurricanes Floyd and Irene. This is a continuation of
a project called Construction for Education which was initiated by Abaco's Every Child
Counts literacy/special education program. The idea is that high school students who
can learn academic subjects while learning construction skills, for there is mathematics,
science, social studies, and language arts embedded in carpentry, plumbing, etc. If
academic instruction is delivered through life skills, the students are more motivated
to learn, end up with practical life skills which enable them to make home repairs on
their own dwellings, build solid structures which extend/benefit the community, have the
potential of snagging a job. The local artisans, while making a significant community
volunteer contribution, also benefit because they are able to observe the students as they
work and learn. Knowing the students are learning construction skills properly (because
the artisan is teaching them), they can hire the more promising workers into their own
businesses. So, everyone wins. Students benefit from an authentic, dynamic curriculum.
Artisans have a pool of highly motivated, energetic, properly-trained workers. And the
community gets sturdy, well-build structures.

Since hurricane Floyd, Mr. George Riviere, president of Abaco Rotary, has been working
with a number of people across Abaco (notably Drexel Major, Headmaster of Abaco Boy
Scouts) to repair homes and buildings. It is important to note that these adult volunteers
have given enormous amounts of time and effort to other Abaco residents when their own
homes and offices sustained severe hurricane damage...I am humbled by such incredible
personal generosity of spirit and humaneness! If you followed the hurricane coverage in
the Abaconian, you will have seen pictures of these wonderful men making rooftop repairs
on homes in Cooperstown. They had the insight to understand that Abaco's youth NEEDED to
help out in these ways--to distract them from the losses their own family sustained but
also to empower them to KNOW they could proactively help the community. This helped Abaco's
youth in a very real way to avoid the depression Miami youth suffered after Andrew...that
sinking feeling that there is "nothing a kid can do."

Don Strube, of Central Florida Abaco Relief Effort (CFARE), has coordinated massive
relief efforts for Abaco that are intended to offer significant, long-term assistance.
His team is supporting Construction for Education in a host of significant ways, not
the least of which is donating paint, paint-related equipment and a mobile trailer to
transport and house them directly but gathering tools and materials and volunteer
teams to work with Mr. George Reviere (president of Abaco Rotary)and a host of others
to repair roofs, rebuild hurricane-damaged structures, paint, etc.

To make this work, we need tools, equipment, materials, strong backs. If you earmark
this donation to Construction for Education, it would greatly benefit Abaco in the
short and long run. Rebuilding would be significantly accelerated short term AND
Abaco youth would sustain a sense of normalcy and goodwill while at the same time
learn life skills.

But, all of us involved in this effort are in it for the long term. Don Strube has
located an academic curriculum that has been developed by the Univeristy of Central
Florida that can render this effort a long-term educational initiative in Abaco.
Administrators from St. Francis de Sales and Abaco Central High School are reviewing
it now for possible adoption as an option in the normal high school curriculum. I
hope to engage the School of Architecture at Florida International University in the
effort...with faculty advising and consulting and students taking it on as a class
project so Abaco high school students and faculty can be mentored through the process
of implementation (and there might be an avenue for exchange for Miami-Dade area
youth as well as opportunities for advanced studies for Abaco youth who show promise
in the field of architecture). FIU, after all, is only an hour away by air and a
keystroke away by Internet.

So, you see, a contribution of materials to this effort promises to have signficant
and far reaching effect. Should you wish to consider this further, please do not
hesitate to call me at my office at Florida International University 305/348-2777 or
at home in Ft. Lauderdale 954/584-2175, or contact Don Strube, who certainly has a
much stronger grasp on the technical side of the initiative: 407/466-5531. In
any case, donations of materials will certainly be much appreciated by Abaco residents
who are hard-pressed for relief. As an island nation, it is very difficult to get
enough materials in as quickly as they are needed, espeically considering the devastating
effects of these hurricanes.

I want to thank you for caring about the daily dilemma Abaco residents face and appreciate
your offer of assistance.

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