2009 Newsletter

Aprender Nicaragua Foundation
Newsletter 2009
Creating Educational Opportunities in Rural Nicaragua We are pleased to present our first Aprender Newsletter. This is a new way
for us to communicate with all the people who have been helping Aprender
throughout these last five years. We will share the latest information about
Aprender’s on‐going educational programs, new projects, volunteers and
their projects, students’ educational progress, donations, and the most
recent developments with the library: Biblioteca Los Tres Ernestos.
If you know of friends who might be interested in
learning more about Aprender and the Indigenous
Community of Salinas de Nahualapa, please don’t
hesitate to forward this along and/or refer them to
our website.
Thanks!
Gabriela Prado and James Womack
Directors – Aprender, Nicaragua
www.aprendernicaragua.org 1 Good News
from Las Salinas de Nahualapa, Nicaragua!
Student Progress: Excellent academic results were achieved in
the 2009 school year, which just ended in
early December. Ninety (90 !) percent of the
students Aprender sponsored were promoted
and will advance on to the next grade level
starting in February 2010. They finished the
year with good grades thanks to their dedica‐
tion, their parent’s commitment, and with the
emotional, financial, and academic support
Aprender was able to provide.
The Library: Aprender’s library, Biblioteca Los 3 Ernestos,
extended its operating schedule in 2009 and is
now open Mondays through Friday from 8 AM
to 4:30 PM. The Library is free for everyone
and continues to offer a nice space for read‐
ing, studying and researching. With books and
art supplies, educational games, and tutoring
programs, curious minds are always welcome.
Library attendance has averaged 30 visitors
(mostly kids) per day, throughout 2009.
The Librarian: Aracelly Acevedo Cruz is Aprender’s new li‐
brarian. Aracelly is from Salinas. After gradu‐
ating with top honors from high school, she
went on to earn her teaching degree in child‐
hood education. We welcomed her with en‐
thusiasm in March of 2009. Since then the li‐
brary and its young clientele have benefitted
greatly from her positive attitude, responsible
nature, commitment to providing a welcoming
atmosphere conducive to learning, as well as
from her impressive patience and considerable
teaching skills.
2 More Good News
Tutoring Programs: The various Tutoring Classes and English
Classes have also been a success this year:
thanks in part to maintaining small group sizes
for the tutoring sessions, which allows for
more direct attention for each individual stu‐
dent and thus better results. Working in con‐
junction with the local school and its teach‐
ers, Aprender learns which kids are having the
most problems in certain subjects and offers
these children tutoring (reading, writing,
math) with the goal of helping these students
to better understand these subjects before
they fall too far behind.
Book Count: They library’s book collection has reached the
One Thousand Book milestone ! Since the Li‐
brary opened in March of 2007 (with 150
books) we have been receiving books from
friends and visitors constantly. This collective
effort over time has been amazing. Today we
are happy to say that we need to build new
shelves!
The Larger Community: With an attitude of solidarity, the Library
worked in conjunction with different institu‐
tions of the community this year. This in‐
cluded hosting visits from the schools of the
neighboring three towns: La Virgen Morena,
Limon, and Limon 2; using the library to coor‐
dinate and carry out programs with nurses and
volunteer groups working with the Health Cen‐
ter; as well as providing welcoming desks, pa‐
per, pens, books, etc, to police officers com‐
ing from the new (first ever) police station of
Las Salinas.
3 PROJECTS 2009: Throughout
2009 we had many volunteers who shared
their time, skills, and experiences with our community. Below, we are proud to tell you
a little more about this year’s volunteer projects. Macramé Workshop In February we received the visit of the Argentin‐
ean artisans Fernando and Melina. They offered a
Macramé Workshop and taught the kids and teen‐
agers how to make different kind of bracelets
with this ancient technique. 40 kids and teenagers
participated of this 2‐day workshop.
English Classes The need for English classes has become impor‐
tant in the last few years. High school students
wanted additional tutoring and practice for their
English Class. Also, the nearby beach town of Gua‐
sacate is receiving more travelers and tourists and
the ability to communicate with English‐speaking
foreigners is a valuable skill and improves the pos‐
sibilities of finding a job.
The English Classes started this year with the visit
of Claire O’Donnell who visited from the USA in
June. A group of 16 students from high school
gathered twice a week to study English at the li‐
brary. Nicole Mynhier from St Thomas, visited
soon after, and took charge of the classes along
with Roberto Quintana Duarte: a young Nicara‐
guan who is now running the classes.
Toothbrush Madness Kelly Johnson and Susi Hoggard visited in June, from
the USA.
They brought a donation of 240 tooth brushes and
tooth paste from Dr. Erick Burgers and his daughter.
The tooth brushes were given to all the students and
teachers of the primary school of Salinas. The nurse
Martha Romero Salinas from the local Health Center
gave a talk about the importance of dental hygiene.
Theater Workshop For various months in 2008 theater classes were
taught by the Spaniard theater teachers Teresa and
Emiliano. Continuing with that theme, this year
Marcelo Orsetti arrived from Argentina in July. Seven‐
teen students participated in his workshop where
Marcelo used the technique called Teatro Foro which
helps the kids to express problems in a safe environ‐
ment and also facilitates the search for possible solu‐
tions.
4 PROJECTS 2009: The fact that many of our visitors don’t speak much
Spanish is not an obstacle for communication. Drawing Classes at the School and Library The artist and surfer Colin Hoisington from San
Francisco, USA, lived in our town for a few
months. While surfing and practicing his Spanish
skills, he also shared his time with the commu‐
nity. Colin taught a Drawing Class at the local high
school in the month of July. The teacher Luzmilda
and her 42 students where part of this class. He
also taught the same workshop at the Library and
donated lots of art supplies.
Story telling Workshop Rhonda Davis, Language Therapist from New York,
visited us in July. She spent time learning Spanish
and interacting with the teachers and students
from the Kindergarten and the Library, before
starting her own workshop. In her workshop she
used a technique used for language stimulation in
which the students learned to tell stories without
words. Sixteen students enjoyed this workshop.
The students made small artisanal books with
their own stories. Rhonda also brought a donation
of games and school supplies.
Games and Sport Workshop Tinya Anna Nourbakhsh, an Instructor on Work‐
force, Economic Development, and Community
Programs from Cuesta College came to our town
in August to surf and also to spend some time with
the kids of our community. She spent an entire
day playing with and teaching outdoor recreation,
trust and team building, self awareness, life skills,
and sports activities with 34 kids and teenagers. A Day for learning and playing In November Tim Casey, Marc Gall, Bryan
Berghaver, Jen Zaidel and Laura Mehring came to
Salinas from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. They
brought big suitcases full of games, toys, books
and school supplies ... which they had gathered
and purchased with help from a teacher and ele‐
mentary students back in Milwaukee.
They dedicated a full day to spend with a group of
65 kids at the library. They divided them in 5
groups and had a great time playing and learning.
Yoga Classes Since the Integral Yoga Institute of Nueva York
donated 11 yoga mats at the beginning of 2009,
the Yoga Classes have been packed in Las Salinas.
Two groups of students practice Hatha Yoga once a
week at the library under the guidance of the Yoga
teacher Gabriela Prado.
Pen Pal Project Kelly Johnson is a second grade teacher at the Discov‐
ery Montessori School in Florida, USA. She has visited
us many times, always bringing many supplies for the
library. During a visit in 2009 she proposed the pen pal
project between the students at her school and stu‐
dents here in Salinas. Forty Four students from the US
and Nicaragua are participating. Kids of roughly the
same age, but from completely different worlds, are
connecting, learning about each other and sharing
their experiences through letters. The project is on‐
going and it has been very successful so far: bringing a
lot of joy to all the kids. The teachers Kelly Johnson,
Ingrid Mc Cawle, Julie Williams, Kirby Belcher from
the USA and Andrea Castillo from Nicaragua are re‐
sponsible of making this project a reality.
5 STUDENT SPONSORS 2010:
Aprender is looking for sponsors for 2010. We have a list of 50 students who will greatly benefit from having a Sponsor. All of these students come from very poor families; some with parents with physical or psychologi‐
cal problems. All of these students have a real desire to learn. Some are quite smart and have al‐
ready shown an incredible level of motivation for learning. Each of them will benefit from knowing
that a Sponsor is committed to helping them with their educational needs throughout the upcoming
school year.
Aprender has been working with these kids for more than four years straight. Now we are looking to
match one sponsor with one student in order to better assure the future education of these commit‐
ted students.
If you are interested in supporting a child’s education please let us know.
Sponsoring a child for 2010 cost US $ 250 for the entire school year (Feb – Dec). This money goes
toward providing the student with all the necessary school supplies (backpack, notebooks, pens,
etc.) as needed throughout the year. The donation also goes toward shoes, sneakers, school uni‐
form, gym uniform, rain boots, and an umbrella. A small percentage of donation goes toward paying
a local teacher/tutor for tutoring classes – which serve as part of a pedagogical and emotional sup‐
port system that helps the student to succeed at school.
At the end of the year the Sponsor receives a detailed report about the educational progress of the
sponsored student and the money spent on this student. If there is money remaining, the sponsor
decides what to use that money for: either donating it to any of Aprender’s projects, or for a pre‐
sent for their sponsored student, or to be used toward helping to sponsor the student for another
year.
Sponsorships and Parental Commitment Ultimately, parents decide whether or not their children attend school. In poor rural areas some
parents see more value in their children working than in attending school. This is because of the
expense of sending a child to school: an expense which is amplified by the fact that a child in
school doesn’t have much time to work to help earn food for the family.
The parents of a Sponsored Student know that there is real committed support for their child
throughout the year. This knowledge helps make it easier for a parent to decide to send his child to
school. Once the parent makes that decision we ask the parent to make a formal commitment to
doing the best they can to support their child’s education throughout the year.
Sometimes it takes the commitment of many people to help make education possible.
Through our Student Sponsorship program we help to match up a committed student with commit‐
ted parents to a committed Sponsor.
6 STUDENT SPONSORS 2010:
Students looking for sponsors Here are some examples of students who will benefit from having a sponsor in 2010.
For additional student profiles please send us an email!
Junior Jose Gonzales Duarte has been working daily while also attending
Junior Jose school since he was a little kid. He was abandoned by his mother and lives with
his grandmother. He is now 15 years old now. He likes playing soccer and base‐
ball. Last year he graduated from sixth grade, and his grandmother assumed
that that would be the end of school for Junior and that he would be able to
dedicate all his time to working. But Junior really wanted to continue studying,
to go to high school. He asked us to talk to his grandmother and help convince
her to allow him to keep studying. After a long conversation with his grand‐
mother, she decided to let Junior start high school under the conditions that
Junior kept working half of the day and that he wouldn’t spend any money on
studying. All this year Junior has been doing both, going to high school in the
mornings and selling vegetables between towns in the afternoons. He is not the
best student, but part of that is because he doesn’t have enough time to study.
He makes a lot of effort to keep going. A sponsor will be a great moral and eco‐
nomical support for Junior, who dreams with going to University one day...
Wilber Antonio Victor Santos is 15 years old and he just finished his pri‐
Wilber mary school (sixth grade). He likes playing baseball, practicing yoga, tae kwon
do, and break‐dancing. He also likes studying. He comes from a family that was
hurt in the tsunami that hit this coast of Nicaragua in 1992, where he lost many
brothers and his grandparents. His mom has been physically and psychologically
traumatized by this natural disaster. His dad is a fisherman. When he is not in
school Wilber goes to the ocean with his dad to fish or helps his mom by cooking
and cleaning in the house.
His parents believe Wilber is old enough to start working already, but Wilber
wants to keep studying. He would like to go to High School, but his parents can‐
not afford it.
A sponsor will help convince Wilber’s parents that studying may not be such a
bad thing after all for the future of the whole family.
Yuran Antonio Amador Moraga is a 8 years
old and he is a very smart boy. He just finished sec‐
ond grade with excellent grades. His mom and dad
are very happy with Yuran, but neither has a job
and they barely have money to buy daily food.
Aprender has been sponsoring Yuran during Kinder‐
garten, Preschool and First grade. He has shown a
great talent for studying throughout this last school
year. A sponsor will greatly help Yuan’s parents to
continue to send him to school.
Yuran 7 Students looking for sponsors
Roxana Isabel Moraga Amador is 12 years old and just finished
her primary education. She lives with her three sisters, her dad who
is unemployed, and her mom who earns some money doing laundry
for other people. Roxana likes to play with her sisters, and she also
would like to learn how to play tennis. Reyna and Hugo, her parents,
make a big effort to send their three girls to school. Roxana would
like to go to high school, but she knows the cost that this will present
for her parents.
She says she would like to go to university one day to become a law‐
yer to help the rights of the poorest.
Roxana Vanesa Nahima Bolaños Amador is 11 years old and
lives with a little brother and with her mother, who washes
clothes as a way to earn money to survive. Vanesa likes sports
and music. She also dreams of being a dancer. She just finished
her primary education with excellent grades and like many of
the kids coming from poor families in our community, she
knows that going to high school is a luxury. The Sponsors Pro‐
gram wants to change this luxury into a right for all the kids
like Vanesa who would love to keep studying.
Vanesa These are some examples of stories from many of the kids who have the desire to go to school. If you are interested on reading other profiles, please write us an email, [email protected] 8 Donations and Other Projects
If you wish to help Aprender without becoming a Sponsor, you can visit our web page
http://aprendernicaragua.com/help.html and make your donation directly.
Your tax‐deductible (from the USA) contribution is greatly appreciated, and any amount
helps to improve educational opportunities for local kids. Here are some examples of
what donations of various amounts help provide:
with US$ 4 we buy two 200 page notebooks.
with US$ 10 we buy a pair of rain boots.
with US$ 15 we buy a pair of school shoes.
with US$ 40 we buy 5 backpacks for 5 kids to go to school. The School year begins in February, all the donations will be used to buy school supplies for the kids
without sponsors.
Once we have reached the goal of sending the 50 students to school, we hope to implement some
new projects. Here are some of the projects we hope to bring to fruition in 2010:
‐ New shelves for the Library.
‐ Buying or building a closet/storage space with a lock, for storing educational toys.
‐ Buying 2 ceiling fans for the Library.
‐ Building a new latrine for the Library (the current one is old and out of shape).
‐ Fixing the Library fence so the cows and pigs stop visiting us.
‐ Building an Art Room with recycled material.
The Art Room is a dream, but it is also a real need, since right now we only have one building (one
room) with a roof – the Library – in which to hold all the various programs / events / activities.
If we can build an Art Room, the Library will not need to close down during the Art Workshops.
The Art Room will also be used as a new cultural space for the community: a place for Guitar
Classes, Theatre, Dance, Yoga and other workshops.
If you would like to make a specific donation for this project, please let us know!
Donations received
In 2009 we received many generous donations of books, games, school supplies, and money.
Here are the names of people who have helped Aprender in 2009.
THANKS! Julieta Harzog and Mabel Vicent, Aaron Wilkenson and Susan Seaguen, Ami Brice Scott
Tibba`s, Lindsay Deway, Sharom and Uris Leggett, Bobby Lott, Gabriel and Judith Levitt, Biblioteca
Smith Country Colorado, Samantha Stokes, Carlos Cook, Uriel Amador, Brant and Khadine, Ivania and
Heydy López, Erol López, Rosalío López, Robin Perry and Rolling Green Elementary, Sarah Frank Bris‐
tow, Kim Jemma, Rhonda Davis, Collin Holsington, Marian and Dean Campbell, Marcelo, Leo and
Joseling Wagman, Claire (Clarita) O`Donnel, Michelle Chackerian and her husband, Rebeca Quintana,
Pierre and Amy Kory, Kathy y Mark Brown, Raúl Hill and Karen Bouwsema, Robert and Nerea, Marie
and Joel Pitt, Kelly Johnson, Susi Hoggard, Erick Burges, Rhonda Davis, Tinya Anna Nourbakhsh, Mi‐
chelle Chackerian and her husband, Roger Gunnels, Teresa and Emiliano, Friends of Kathy Brown,
Odile and Leslie Kory, Bill Luedtke, Stephanie Dolgoff, Alex Sherwin and Lisa Davis, Francis McCarthy,
Karl Spaeth, John Womack, Jean Ross, Tim Casey, Marc Gall, Bryan Berghaver, Jen Zaidel and Laura
Mehring, David and Jason Reif, Elizabeth and Evan Cowit, Veronica Prado, Lisa and Mike Starry, Carrie
Massey and Gibson Lott, Libreria Nazareth Rivas, Patricia Torales. 9