Report to SRF Trustees on visit to the Santa Rosa School, 6th October 2016

This morning we made what was supposed to be a very short visit to the Colegio Autnomo
Santa Rosa, just as a courtesy call. In fact it turned out to be one of our best, most
enlightening and warmest visits. They had prepared a quote for improvements in the library
which are clearly needed we will show the photos at the next meeting. They would like
another 6 tables (at a price of $70 each) and 5 metallic bookshelf stands (at a price of $82
each). So this represents yet another application for funding over and above our core
commitment.
Our meeting was with Mara Elizabeth (headteacher), Luz Marina (librarian) and Claudia
Prez (assistant librarian). We informed them of our probable continuation of the core
commitment and explained how we make the decisions regarding the disbursement of our
funding at a meeting of the trustees in November. Then another teacher (Melissa) took us
through their use of curriculum-related DVDs on the TV that we bought for the school two
years ago when Pat and Rick were with us. Then at 12 noon when classes ended, all the
teachers came into the library and we were treated to an emotional speech from Victoria (who
has been at the school since 1988) thanking us for the strength and continuity of the link
between us. For our part, we explained how we try to make decisions about the funding,
about the widening of our remit by the inclusion of other educational initiatives, and about
how the link is a two-way thing rather than just being a transfer of funds in one direction. It
was very much a meeting of minds all on the same wavelength, unlike some previous
meetings in which we've had to try to fathom out what was meant.
As with the other applications over and above our core commitment, we recommend that if
funds are available we support these needs for the library.
June and Martin