Heavy rains and tropical storms cause damage to educational centers across the country.

We are currently in the rainy season, and with the rain come many issues that affect schools across the country, including AST.

Here at AST, we've seen some damage, but we have not faced any major issues or dangers.

Middle School

In the past few weeks, students have noticed that some classroom spaces and school materials have gotten wet: These include students’ worksheets, notebooks and desks. This has been an annoying issue as a few students have had to redo work or dry off their desks in the mornings. Also, some middle school lockers got wet due to the water accumulated during heavy storms.

High School

There has also been flooding in common areas in high school; the plaza seems to be the place most affected by rain. The roof covers only part of the plaza area and does not keep everything dry. Classrooms have also taken on some water. Classrooms on the bottom floor have to deal with rain water getting in through the windows, and on the top floor, rain sometimes blows onto the stairs. Wet stairs could be a hazard for students walking.

Other School Areas

Some other school areas that could use improvement through rain preparation are the bus lots, the back parking lot, and the elementary school building. Both the back parking lot and the bus lots could have more places for students to seek shelter during rainy weather. The back parking lot only has roofing near the ramp. This is inconvenient and unsafe because of the amount of people that need to crowd in these small areas to avoid getting wet while waiting to get picked up. In elementary school, if hallways or the covered court get wet, they could become dangerous areas for small children. Some of those floors are already slippery; adding water to the mix only makes it worse.

Possible Solutions

Although it could be a costly project, it would be excellent if the roofs over the plazas could be larger to better cover people while walking to a building (mainly near the high school entrance and the willow path). For wet classrooms, a solution could be as easy as ensuring teachers close the windows when there is no class in session or before leaving a classroom. For wet lockers, drains might prevent flooding in the middle school. Perhaps the most immediate and cost-effective solution for now would be simply reminding students to bring umbrellas to school in the daily announcements or providing on-duty teachers with umbrellas for students in parking lots. As for the elementary school, a solution for wet floors is as easy as checking the hallways before students have the chance to slip and fall.

Across Honduras

With this report about issues here at AST, it is important to recognize just how privileged we are to go to school here. Even with these issues, we have been safe during storms, and no major problems or dangerous instances have occurred. Our campus is beautiful and well-equipped.

The same cannot be reported for other educational centers in Honduras, where tropical storms, flooding, and other issues have caused recent damage. This comes after some communities are still rebuilding after Hurricanes Eta and Iota left even worse damage in 2020.