Project assistance completion report : school of refurbishment project, project no. 515-0194.01 -- April 27, 1987-January 31, 1994

The project met or exceeded all of its goals. A total of 817 subprojects (vs. a target of 800) were approved and provided financial support for the physical improvement of an equal number of rural schools. All of these subprojects were completed, although two were only completed after the PACD due to the Government of Costa Rica's (GOCR) failure to contribute the promised construction materials on time. Over 55,000 primary school children in the most needy rural Costa Rican communities have benefitted from the physical improvement of their schools. In-kind contributions from the recipient communities were at least equal to the project's donation, and, in some 75% of the cases, surpassed it. The main lesson learned is that the overall success of the subprojects depended mainly on the level of organization and management in the participating communities, which were at all times in charge of developing and managing the subprojects. Other lessons are as follows. (1) The poorer, smaller, and more remote the beneficiary community is, the greater the impact, since the community did not have access to other sources of support. (2) The close partnership between the Mission's office in charge of the project and the Peace Corps, and especially the work done by the volunteers involved in the project, were key elements in ensuring its integrity and success.