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For two years we have been in the permit process to build seven classrooms, creating a third cycle and high school for the Liceo Juan Calvino school. However, as we navigate the sluggish process, we have been forming ideas on how to create impact.

Since my first visit in 2023, I have now come back to El Salvador over ten times and have formed relationships with other communities not just in San Salvador. My partners, ALFALIT, work in various sectors and communities across the country and have always brought me along to meet them and learn about their work. These communities include Villas de San Pedro and Hojas de Sal in the Department of La Paz, Rosario de Mora and Soyapango in San Salvador, and San Esteban Catarina in the department of San Vicente. Throughout the years I have especially connected with the community members who are youth.

This summer those relationships turned into the inception of our first program.

Our first ever completed program.

The Diplomado de Comunicación y Medios Digitales was an eight week digital media certification course designed and delivered by Bella Templeton, our NC State intern and Social Innovation Fellow. Thirty community members from five communities across El Salvador signed up. The youngest was 14. The oldest was 45.

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Every Friday evening they showed up virtually, did their homework, and came back the following week. The numbers speak for themselves.

30 students enrolled across 5 communities. 93 percent homework completion rate. 34 percent of students went above and beyond what was asked. 25 received their certification. 20 attended the graduation ceremony in person in San Salvador.

The skills they walked away with were real and practical, photography, video editing, graphic design, content creation, resume building, and interviewing.

Leandro shared:

“For me, both CapCut and Canva are two easy-to-use platforms that help us edit our videos and photos, which is why I will continue using these apps for my work, whether for assignments or future projects. The classes and practice sessions have helped me get to know these apps better and have developed in me an interest in photo and video editing.”

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And Gisel shared:

“Throughout this diploma program I have learned quite a few very practical things that I know will serve me well in the future. I feel that thanks to everything we have experienced in class, I now have many more tools to organize my ideas in a more creative way and to tackle any challenge that comes my way. In the future I fully intend to apply each of these new skills both in a work setting and to keep growing day by day.”

This is what education does. It does not just teach skills. It changes how people see themselves.

Here is what Bella had to say about the experience:

“This community is full of love despite facing such historical and current heart break. Yet no matter what, they get up, they work hard, and push forward every day with no complaints. I think we can all learn a lot from them. We can learn even more from each other. This course combined digital design skills they can carry into academic and professional settings with interpersonal skills they will carry everywhere else. I can proudly state that the goal was accomplished.”

This program did not cost Perseverancia anything. It was funded entirely through NC State’s Social and Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship department. A huge thank you to them for believing in this initiative.

What this built for the future.

Bella did not just run a course. She left behind a fully organized drive of course materials, homework submissions, and approved student work, all built to be reused, not archived. Most importantly, there is now a group of talented students in El Salvador who can collaborate directly with Perseverancia, applying the skills they learned while building their own resumes in the process.

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On the permits.

We have made real progress. The Ministry of Health permit has been approved, which is a significant milestone. We are now awaiting final approval from the Ministry of Education to open the new grade levels.

On the construction side, we just completed our land study, which allows our architect to finalize the full budget for all seven classrooms. This gives us a much clearer picture of the total project cost and a more concrete timeline for when construction can begin. Once the Ministry of Education permit comes through and the budget is finalized, we will have everything we need to break ground.

The seventh grade classroom is already built and ready. Students will be able to enroll once the final permit is in hand. We are closer than we have ever been.

What comes next.

The Diplomado showed us something important. We do not have to wait for classrooms to be built to create impact in these communities. There are people who are ready to learn, ready to grow, and ready to lead right now. We are going to keep building programs that meet them where they are.

If you want to be part of what comes next, the Mágico 11 Club is the best way to stay close. Eleven dollars a month goes directly toward the classrooms and the programs we are building in El Salvador.

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Thank you for being part of this.

Jack Rothacker Executive Director and Founder, Perseverancia perseveranciasv.org

I’m writing this from El Salvador, just getting through a rainy week after the country was put on orange alert for Hurricane Cristina. All is well, but it was a reminder of the resilience this place runs on.

I recently left my full time job to focus on Perseverancia full time. This work means everything to me, and I don't take a single moment of it lightly. I hope everyone reading this gets a chance to visit El Salvador with Perseverancia one day.

Before I get into updates: we’re trying to reach 50 Mágico 11 Club members before we leave for El Salvador on July 22. We’re currently at 2. Leaving my job to do this full time means Perseverancia needs to build real, sustainable funding, and the Mágico 11 Club is the foundation of that. It’s $11 a month, and getting to 50 members would give us our first real base of predictable monthly revenue, which changes everything about how we plan and build this work. Join the club here: givebutter.com/magico-11-club-vxgsyr. More on this at the end.

What we’re seeing on the ground

We sat down with Yesenia Nicole, the mom of Mia Nicole, a first grader at Liceo Juan Calvino. Her testimony about what this school means to her family was one of those moments where you stop thinking about permits and fundraising and just feel the weight of what we’re building together. Full interview coming soon to our YouTube channel.

Something I keep coming back to from this community: when you invest in these families, they don’t think about multiplying that investment for themselves. They think about giving back, to their neighbors, their family, their community. That’s the spirit this school runs on, and it’s the spirit Perseverancia tries to reflect.

One Brick

We just cleared the biggest hurdle of the last 18 months

Our irrigation permit has been approved. This was the main obstacle we’ve been working through for over a year, and clearing it is a major milestone. I met with the hydraulic engineer this week and they’re now completing a soil study, which is the next permit to cross off the list

Once that’s done, we’ll submit the full official budget, designs, and required forms to apply for the five-year construction permit. We’re aiming to have everything submitted by the end of June. From there it’s roughly a two-month review process, and after that it comes down to fundraising and building.

The overall permit process runs on two parallel tracks. The first is with the OPAMSS, the municipal city planning authority, which oversees the construction permit for the physical classrooms. The second is with the Ministry of Education, Health and fire department, which authorizes the school to officially open those classrooms and offer the grade levels we’re applying for. We have submitted our permit to the ministry of health and should hear back soon on next steps. Both tracks have to come together before students can walk through the door. We’re making real progress on both fronts and are hopeful we’re getting close.

Yes, this is a big project. But that’s exactly the point. When these classrooms open, the impact will compound for years and years to come, for students, for families, for this community. And as we’ve grown closer with other communities across El Salvador, we’re starting to roll out smaller projects too. The relationships are there, the opportunities are there, and we’re just getting started. I can’t wait to share more as things unfold.

June Donor Spotlight: meet Vickie

We’re starting something new, a bimonthly donor spotlight to introduce you to the people who make this work possible.

Vickie has been traveling to El Salvador since 2006, seven trips in total. From her first visit she was struck by something that anyone who’s spent time here recognizes: the people here have a deep, unshakeable desire to improve their lives and their community.

In her words:

“From the very beginning, I was taken by the people’s strong desire to improve their living conditions and provide a better life for their children. Improving these communities will improve the country, which in turn will improve the world as a whole.”

Vickie visited Juan Calvino when it was already operating in one of the most vulnerable areas of El Salvador, and she saw what we see: a school providing safety, quality education, and real hope. She’s been invested in this community’s dream of a K-12 school ever since. We’re grateful she’s been part of this from nearly the beginning.

The Diplomado

This summer, Perseverancia launched the Diplomado de Comunicación y Medios Digitales in Soyapango, a digital media training program for community members. Our intern Bella is teaching an eight-week digital marketing course virtually every Friday with the local team.

The goal is to build a locally led storytelling capacity so this community can share its own story, in its own voice. We're really excited about what this can amount to. Digital media is a skill that opens doors professionally, and the participants are treating this like exactly that, a real certification, a real opportunity. The level of seriousness and commitment in the room has been something else.

One Ask: Join the Mágico 11 Club

We’re in the home stretch on permits, and the next phase is pure fundraising. Before we leave for El Salvador on July 18, we’d love to reach 50 Mágico 11 Club members.

The Mágico 11 Club is our recurring giving community, $11 a month, named after Jorge “Mágico” González, El Salvador’s greatest footballer and a symbol of what this country is capable of. Reaching 50 before we land in San Salvador would be a huge milestone for this organization.

That’s $550 a month in predictable funding that lets us plan, build, and sustain this work without chasing one-time donations. If you’ve been looking for a simple, ongoing way to be part of this, this is it.

Join the Mágico 11 Club here: givebutter.com/magico-11-club-vxgsyr

Donate here!

Con perseverancia,

Jack Rothacker
Executive Director & Founder, Perseverancia

perseveranciasv.org · @npo_perseverancia