Hi there,
I’m an educator in rural Asia.
With my savings, I bought an old house to convert into a small community center for art, music, and tech practice. My school district has been cutting funding for the arts and sciences among everything else, so I want to provide a place for my students and community to hone their skills and stay competitive in a world of AI. In the country I live in, computer literacy is low, especially in rural areas, with many grade school students not touching a computer until they reach higher education or even the workforce. It has been getting better, but I still see a gap.
A bit about the idea for the space, each room has a theme with provided supplies.
- Painting and drawing
- Sewing and fashion
- Music and composing
- Computer programming, game design, and AI literacy
- Startup and co-op space
As for sustaining the place, there’s a small outside building (Garage? Farmhouse? It used to have farm equipment) on the grounds that’d make a great cafe space.
Now for the issues, I tried to DIY it by myself, but one thing led to another, I got injured falling off a wall, and the roof began to leak in multiple places during typhoon season, and made a mess inside. I tried to turn to the professionals, but I was given wildly out of budget quotes for my educator salary just for one fix on the roof (about 15,000USD), among other unpleasantries. Then I tried crowdfunding with incentives four times, once in-person and three times online, but failed even with social ads.
I thought about scrapping the solo space and maybe collaborating with a tech startup and a small gallery that hosts interdisciplinary exhibits and workshops, but it has gallery pricing, so to speak.
I really don’t want to give up on it.
My students are interested and complain about there not being any arts or computer classes. So I teach what I can between their general education lessons, such as mini art lessons in the last few minutes of class, editing a webpage with HTML/CSS, spotting a code mistake, and where AI made a mistake, by bringing my own equipment. I love seeing them light up.
The idea has interested the school board but I’m basically on my own for funding. I tried to get a city subsidy for the building itself, but I was told I have to fix the leaks and damage they caused to the floors before they pay the rest of the repairs. There’s also stipulations of partial control of the center for 10 years.
I moved on and tried getting handy volunteers but that has failed too.
It has become a “rock and a hard place” sort of situation.
So, if you can, I’d love your help, not just because I’m going broke trying to do it all, but because it’s a cause to bring a bit of good in the world and it’d be a great help to my community. Also, if you’re ever in Asia, feel free to visit once it’s all fixed up. I’d be glad to host you. The cities are popular tourist destinations.
Many thanks.
Min. goal: 15,000- 30,000USD