Class of '94 Supports PiLA for 15th Reunion Service Project
Dear Classmates:
As our 15th Reunion gets ever closer, it’s time to talk about our Community Service Project and how you can be involved. This year, we’re going to be supporting the Arial Home Project, founded by Parent Class member Tom Pirelli ’69, and Princeton in Latin America (PiLA), run by me, Claire Brown ’94. PiLA is the organizer of this project and Arial Home is the conduit by which we will be aiding an underserved community in Ensenada, Mexico. This is a great opportunity to help out and to be involved, either as a donor or as a member of the Princeton group that will travel to Ensenada in March to build several homes and work on other service projects in the area. This group will consist of ‘94ers, ‘69ers, and some current Princeton undergrads.
Arial Homes is a non-profit which offers volunteers the opportunity to join in the Pirellis’ work of building sustainable and low-cost homes for people in impoverished areas of Baja, Mexico and soon, Ghana. Arial Homes are built for people currently living in one-room corrugated tin shacks or other homes self-constructed from scrap material. An Arial Home is constructed of highly insulated steel panels that fit together like Lego's. The home is pre-fabricated in a nearby Arial Home factory so that no on-site sawing or cutting is required. A team of 12 volunteers can typically assemble an Arial Home in one day. These homes provide the family with a living/kitchen room, a bedroom, a bathroom with toilet and shower, and a large, multipurpose sink in the kitchen area; the homes are solar-powered. For most families it is the first time they have running water or an indoor bathroom. For some, it is the first time they have electricity or slept in a bed. For others, it is the first time they have a home that has more than one room.
Each home costs about $10,000, which covers all the parts. The goal for ‘94’s service project is to raise at least $20,000 to build two homes. The build trip will take place during Princeton’s Spring Break, which is March 14-22, although classmates are welcome to come for a shorter time period if necessary due to work and family constraints. We hope that some people from our class will have the time and resources to join a group of undergraduates, ‘69ers and a few from ’68 as well on this trip. ’69 has generously offered to cover most of the costs for the undergrads, so all the money that we raise will go directly to the homes.
As the houses can be built quickly, the remainder of the trip will be spent working on other service projects in the community, such as helping out in the medical clinic, the school, perhaps teaching some vegetable gardening techniques, and addressing other needs in Ensenada.
This will be a great opportunity for ’94 to partner with our Parent Class, ’69, and with current undergraduates on a very worthwhile and Princeton-founded public service initiative. Reports from past home builds are glowing and speak of the great time people have as they join together in this very hands-on service project. PiLA aims to turn the Arial project in Ensenada into a Summer of Service program for current undergraduates, so you would play a vital role in helping PiLA to establish this new initiative. We also hope that this first Service Project will turn into a long-term project that ’94 maintains throughout the years and our many upcoming major reunions.
If you would like to support our Class Service Project, you may donate online, through PiLA’s PayPal account or via Google Checkout: http://www.princeton.edu/~pila/support/index.htm (Please write "For Class of '94 Service Project" in the comments section when making a donation online.)
Or you may send a check to:
Princeton in Latin America
194 Nassau St, ste. 210
Princeton, NJ 08542
(Please write "For Class of '94 Service Project" on the check)
Please contact me with any questions you have: pila@princeton.edu or (609) 258-9200. I look forward to working with you on this terrific initiative!
Sincerely,
Claire Brown ‘94
Executive Director