Carol Ann Serna's Work in Honduras
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Author: Jesus Serna
Released 25 February 2008
Angie & Her Parents
Photograph by Carol Serna
Carol Ann Serna, Dhahran class of 1999, is currently working to improve living conditions on several fronts during her yearlong stay in Honduras. Carol is the daughter of Saudi Aramco employee Jesus R. Serna and Graciela V. Serna.
Carol earned her Master’s in environmental engineering last year at Cornell University. She is currently working with the university's AquaClara program to design and improve water treatment in Honduras. You can read more about Carol’s work in this article by the Cornell Chronicle ("Engineering alums working on water plants in Honduras are AguaClara's 'eyes' on the ground").
During part of her stay in Honduras, Carol lived with a family who has a seven year old daughter, Angie, who is deaf. Along with her work for AquaClara, Carol has also been actively working to get a hearing aid for Angie and to send her to a school with programs for special needs children. Carol has used her own money and raised money among her friends to help pay for Angie’s various school expenses.
Angie & her mother
Photograph by Carol Serna
Below is portion of an email from Carol with an update for Angie’s supporters:
First I wanted to thank all of you who have already donated money for Angie! Right now there is $500 waiting to be transferred for her first year in school! The school is called Frederico Froebell and is a school from kinder through to colegio (high school). It is a normal school for hearing oriented students but has a division that is dedicated to special needs children, not just those with hearing impairments but also Down syndrome and autism, just to name a few. At this school, Angie receives an hour of language therapy each day.
She loves her new school and is thrilled about everything, including the uniform. She is improving with the hearing aid; mostly she uses sounds with her gestures, but the fact that she is using both is improvement! She can also say “papa,” whereas before she could only say “mama.” Her teachers have already said that she is very bright and finished first in all their lessons in computer (she loves the computer and asked Santa for one for Christmas). When I asked Angie how she liked her new school, she gave me a big thumbs up and a smile. Her mom says that she doesn't like school in the mornings, but she gets up at 4:30 to catch the bus into Tegucigalpa to make it into school by 7; I don't think I’d like anything at 4:30 in the morning either.
A new school building is under construction and they will be moving to the new site after Easter. I am so excited that so many of you have shown such an interest in Angie. The school costs 3,450 L a month, or around $180. With 10 months of classes, matriculation ($200), uniform ($150) and school books ($200), everything comes out to about $2,350. A donation from the students working on AguaClara at Cornell covered matriculation and I have covered the uniform and the school books. We have Angie’s school expenses covered until the end of May, but it would be great to have her covered for the year.
Thanks again to those of you who have already donated. To those who haven’t, please consider giving a little bit.
Thankfully,
Carol
If you are interested in helping Angie, you can make a donation online by visiting Partners for a Greater Voice and clicking on a “Make A Donation” link. Then send an email to greatervoice@comcast.net to let them know that the donation is for Angie Gonzalez.
Angie at School
Photograph by Carol Serna
You can also mail a check to:
Partners for a Greater Voice
PO Box 734
Ipswich, MA 01938 USA