Antonia Hieronymus, the mother of two Wayland High students, is on a mission. During the eight days between January 29th and February 6th, she wants to raise $10,000. Her goal? To build a schoolhouse in the rural Peruvian village of Atuen.

“They want to have progress and education but they don’t have the means,” Hieronymus said of the Atuen villagers. According to Hieronymus, the old school building in Atuen is decrepit and has been closed since a piece of the roof “nearly killed someone.”

However, hidden in the mountainous wilderness of north-eastern Peru, the village has almost no contact with their government and no chance of receiving government aid. So, as part of a trip to be led by Wayland Middle School teacher Daniel Fernandez this June, Hieronymus wants to help fund and build a new schoolhouse.

To raise the $10,000 needed for this project, Hieronymus has begun a coin drive entitled, “Loose Change.”

“I decided on the idea of a coin drive because we wanted to get kids involved,” she said. “And then we realized that it would be even cooler to make it town-wide.” Collection jars for the project have been placed in numerous businesses and religious centers around Wayland, as well as at each Wayland school.

Hieronymus is optimistic about her project. “We need $10,000, and there are 13,000 Wayland residents,” she said. “I think that’s what, 65 cents per person?” Though she stressed that it would take high participation from Wayland residents, Hieronymus maintained that her goal was eminently reachable. “Right here, right now, there’s enough money lying around in Wayland, forgotten…to build a school. We’re not giving them [our loose coins] the power that they actually have when we put them together.”

The money raised will pay for building materials and for an engineer to supervise the construction, most of which the villagers will do themselves. Though the planned trip to help build the school is scheduled for June, the fundraiser ends on this coming Sunday, February 6th. Students interested in donating to the cause can find Hieronymus in the Commons during lunch on Thursday and Friday of this week.