The project was applied for public funds from the SEGEGOB, and was formulated by the PTA with the accompaniment of Cautín
For weeks, the Parent Teacher Association of the G-180 María Riquelme Mena school, El Manzanar de Lumaco, prepared the application for the funds for the Strengthening of Public Interest Organizations of the SEGEGOB (Ministry General Secretariat of Government). Their objective was to acquire an electric generator and LED lights for the establishment that is in a rural area of the commune. The effort bore fruit and last August, the PTA was awarded the resources to acquire the equipment.
“The help of the generator is of utmost importance since in the territory there are power cuts for several days and having this generator allows us not to interrupt classes and most importantly, to maintain the children’s food by not losing its cold chain,” explained Marta Ríos, president of the PTA of the El Manzanar school.
During the application process, the parents had the support of Cautín, which collaborated with training and accompaniment for the formulation of projects aimed at strengthening the development of capacities that allow the application for public and private funds.
Camila Niño, deputy social manager of Cautín, explained that this accompaniment is the result of collaborative work that began in 2022 with the Education + Connectivity Project, and that has allowed the company to identify what the real needs of educational communities in rural contexts are.
“On this path we have learned that PTAs are an essential pillar to promote real transformations in educational communities. Strengthening their management is not only about administrative support, but also a concrete tool to contribute to territories where resources are scarce and gaps are deep. In Cautín we are proud of the disciplined and persistent work of the PTA of Manzanar school, who have shown that community organization generates real transformations,” Camila Niño said, adding that “From Cautín, we deeply value the Municipality of Lumaco, which from the first day understood the importance of this process and joined with total willingness to promote it together with us.”
For its part, the PTA described Cautín’s accompaniment as fundamental, both for the award of the project and to obtain knowledge that will allow them to apply for new funds. “Cautín support has been the key piece in all this, without their help it would not have been possible to earn this amount to acquire the equipment. Since the application they have been with us advising us and until today, when we are in the accountability stage, they continue to support us,” the PTA president said.
The accompaniment process is part of the agreement signed by the educational community, Cautín and the Municipality of Lumaco, an agreement where it was also committed to carry out an emergency plan for the establishment with its corresponding training for the members of the school, an initiative implemented by the municipality, while Cautín, together with the accompaniment for the application of funds, He promised to strengthen environmental awareness among the school community, holding a talk on climate change.
