In short, our school has grown yet again. We now have 199 students, 11 teachers and 3 support staff (not all are full time to my knowledge). Bina and the Mahatsara Parent's Association have built another school building as well as a smaller building (both located on the hill above the first school building). I have attached some of the photos that Bina sent to give you an idea of what things look like.
To be perfectly honest, these buildings were an entire surprise to us and we were unaware of the school's growth until after the fact. As you are well aware, budgeting and finances have been an incredible struggle for us and our relations with Bina. Our reaction to these new developments was (as you can imagine) mixed. While the growth and developments are amazing and we have no doubt that Bina is spending the money with the upmost of intentions, we are well aware and concerned about Mahatsara growing to the point where we are unable to remain the sole financial supporter. As there are currently no other financial backers that I am aware of, we are in the position of trying not to get in over our heads.
The school is now in a state of financial difficulty, as it appears that almost our entire first money transfer has been spent. While we (Rose Madagascar) have a significant amount of money in the bank, we have decided to stick to our agreed budget ($7000/yr sent in two allotments - next one to be sent in February). Although we would love to meet the school's needs, the consensus (thus far) is that the only way we will ever attain accountability is if we stick to the budget. So long and short of it is....yay school looks great...but boo, still have a long way to go re: planning and communications.
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