UPDATE: This fundraiser was a success! The Free High School purchased a bus in late January, and it will make a huge difference in the students' lives. Thank you so much to everyone who supported this great cause!

Random Acts’ supporters have helped us change lives all over the world and now we have an opportunity to once again make an impact in a big way.

The Free High School of San Juan del Sur needs a bus when classes begin again next February – without one students are forced to make a two day journey by unreliable public transportation. This bus will make an immediate and tangible difference in their lives.

The project is going to cost around $25,000 to $30,000. $10,000 of that has already been pledged by the American Jewish World Service, an international organization, and $10,000 has been pledged by Random Acts. We’re reaching out to our supporters and asking you to help raise the last $5,000 to make this project possible.

One fantastic feature of this project is that it will be self-sustaining. Because the bus will only be needed to transport students one day a week, the school will be able to rent out the bus on other days. This income will help support the project; paying for gas and bus maintenance.

About the school:

The Free High School, a grassroots non-profit organization, provides access to adolescents and adults who are excluded from regular high schools: women with children, anyone over eighteen, people who work all week, and those who live far from daily high schools.

The Vice-Minister of Education in Nicaragua calls the school a model for the nation.

The programs include classrooms in 10 villages, reaching out to 150 rural students, many of them subsistence farmers. It includes the Saturday School, and the Technical High School. In addition to the required subjects, the school teaches computer skills, critical thinking, gender equality, women's and human rights, public health, sex ed and family planning, respect for women, environmental responsibility, and self-esteem.

Because Nicaragua rivals Haiti as the poorest country in the western hemisphere, programs reducing hopelessness and opening the door to economic opportunity are especially vital. The Free High School teaches the value of community outreach, and helps produce the valuable workers, active citizens, and socially-minded leaders that Nicaragua desperately needs. 

The Bus:

In the photos you can see two examples of buses the Free High School is considering purchasing. The total amount that they are trying to raise - $30,000 - will not only buy the bus but pay for taxes, regestration, and create a seed fund for maintenance.