Why has the cost of bottle schools increased?
From Bottle School Wiki
The cost of bottle schools in Guatemala has increased significantly since our first project in Granados in October 2009. There are two major reasons for this:
- An increase in materials prices. In April 2010 a bag of cement sold for Q62 in Chisec. The same hardware store now sells the same bag of cement for Q76: a 22% increase. All major materials show similar increases in prices. The increase is largely due to the rise in gas prices
- A lower exchange rate. In October 2009, the exchange rate was Q8.23 to the dollar. Now the exchange rate is Q7.5 to the dollar - one dollar bought 10% more Quetzales 18 months ago than it does today. This impacts every single element of expenditure in Guatemala, on labor as well as materials.
The combination of these factors has resulted in bottle schools being at least 30% more expensive to build than they were when we completed our first project. We have made improvements in efficiency to limit the impact of these increases, and continue to do so. However, there is no way to fully absorb such a substantial increase in materials costs.
Nonetheless, bottle schools remain an exceptionally cost-effective way to build educational infrastructure that will last for generations, providing better value for money than other comparably durable construction methods.
