Project assistance completion report -- project no. 519-0344, Instituto Ricaldone reconstruction project

(SSI) for a project (8/87-8/88) to reconstruct the Ricaldone Technical Institute in El Salvador, damaged by an earthquake in 1986. Despite delays caused by the rainy season and the discovery of polluted soils at the project site, three modular classroom buildings were completed. In addition, SSI saved $121,900 on the construction and was allowed to use the funds to help finance construction of an additional multiple purpose building, thus making effective classroom and office space double what it was prior to the earthquake. The Ricaldone Institute now has the most modern training modules of any vocational school in the country and is capable of providing technical training to 1,200 students per year. The project's ultimate value, however, lies in the Institute's ability to alleviate human misery by providing skills training and the chance for a steady job to those otherwise trapped in a cycle of poverty.