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2022 project is split into two events; the first one is complete!

This year the school year is Nicaragua started slightly earlier than usual, in early February. For this reason, we decided to split our project into two separate events. The first was to deliver the school supplies, which our incredible Nicaraguan volunteers once again had to do without help, as COVID travel restrictions are still in place in Nicaragua. The next part will include veterinary support, and I hope to travel and bring volunteers with me to help with that one in September.
Below, see the photos and video from the February project.

The way our project usually works is that the US volunteers arrive a couple days before school visits begin and join Nicaraguan volunteers in packing up school supplies. The supplies are purchased beforehand by our Nicaragua Volunteer Coordinator Maverick, who gets a list of needed supplies from the school district about a month before we get there. The money for the school supplies comes from generous private donors, our annual GoFundMe campaign, our annual fundraising events, and our Rotary Club supporters.

Here is Maverick, his wife Marta, and Marta’s mom Aracelly packing boxes a couple years ago. Once we get to the country, all the volunteers gather at Maverick’s house and pack up supplies for the first school trip the following day. We pack the supplies into boxes for each classroom, based on the number of students and the grades they are in. Most classrooms have two grades in them.

This happens at the hottest time of the year, and Maverick’s house, like most Nicaraguan homes, has no AC, so it makes for a long, hot evening, and that’s when there are 10 of us. For the last three years, Maverick and his family have done this by themselves. You can see Marta in the previous photo holding her head as she figures out where to start!
The first day of school visits, February 10, Maverick and Crispin went to Los Mangles. It is a school we have worked with for about 8 years, longer than any other. It is only 10 miles from pavement, but it takes 45 minutes to drive it, and a bumpy 45 minutes it is.

The next school the volunteers went was a tiny school called Aguas Frias. To get to it requires a long drive that takes you past this volcanic crater…

And then requires a 20 minute hike up this trail, carrying boxes of supplies…

And then arrives at this little school, by far the most remote of those we serve.

I myself have never been here. Maverick and Crispin, working with the Telica school district of which these school are a part, identified this school as a good fit three years ago, two months before political violence broke out that made traveling from the US unwise. The situation has stabilized since then, and now that COVID is waning, I hope to visit it with US volunteers for the time this September.
If you would like to be a volunteer, please reach out! The video below is a common and delightful event when we visit schools. Here, the school puts on a short, formal presentation of thanks to us, and to you, the people who donate the money that makes this all possible. It’s in Spanish, but even if you don’t speak Spanish, this is heartwarming, and it is a good peek at what your experience in Nicaragua will be like if you come.

The next school the team visited was San Indelfonso, which was new to us this year.

Here, kids at San Indelfonso hold up the notebooks the team brought. They also received other basic supplies, including pencils, pens, erasers, pencil pouches, rulers, and more.

Quite often when we first take on a school, we find a school yard with swing sets with no swings. San Indelfonso was no exception.

Our team of blacksmiths came with the other volunteers to this school. Now look at the swing sets! These swings are made by hand by the metalworkers, and the frames got a nice new coat of paint.

The last school the volunteers visited was La Morita, which has been with us for about 5 years.

Kindergarten students pack their new supplies into their backpacks before being released for the day. Our visits often mean an early release day for students, as it is something of a celebration and special occasion!

The schools and the families they serve send along their deep gratitude for this support. A lot of rural families in Nicaragua get along on the equivalent of a couple US dollars per day. That makes buying school supplies, especially for multiple kids, difficult. This really does make a difference. The first time the team went to Aguas Frias, a girl came to school who was only able to come because our support made school supplies possible for her.
Our team of veterinarians is led by an amazing and amiable fellow named Duilio, and he sent us a message that he is excited to once again get out and visit the farms. By support the farm animals, we support the economic health of the families we serve, which is often the single biggest factor in the family decisions about whether children should work or attend school.

Once again, I am humbled by the incredible effort of the people in Nicaragua who are able to use these funds to bring aid and support to their rural counterparts. It’s a massive job for a small team, and my heart is thankful. My heart is thankful to all who support this effort. It is a ray of beauty and positivity in a sometimes difficult world, and you make that partnership and friendship happen.

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2021 project successful!

Kindergarten students at the tiny school in Agua Fria, a remote community near the Telica volcano, hold up notebooks provided by Vecinos of Leon. Looking out the door is Maverick, the coordinator of the project.

Our incredible administrators in Nicaragua have done it again! In spite of the many challenges faced by the communities, including Covid, roads damaged by two hurricanes, and preparations for upcoming elections, and without any help from guest volunteers from the US, they have provided school supplies to five schools and veterinary support to hundreds of animals, all in three busy days!

This was made possible because of some generous donations from supporters who knew that fundraising was especially difficult this year, since in-person events were not possible due to the pandemic. Thank you everyone who contributed to the GoFundMe, and thank you to our generous sponsors.

The majority of the work was done by Maverick Velasquez, and his wonderful family who spent hours and hours packing boxes for each classroom. Crispin Jose Diaz Canales once again, as he has for many years, coordinated with the school district to identify needs and plan the annual project. Due to Covid, we did not supply dental care this year, but we plan to resume that service again next year. Our dedicated team of veterinarians, however, saw hundreds of animals, and treated them for parasites and gave them vitamin shots.

From all us, Polly, Mateo, Gina, Robert, and Stephan in the US and Maverick and Crispin in Nicaragua, thank you for making this possible. Please look through these wonderful pictures sent by Maverick over the last three days!

The road to Agua Fria, as it passes a nice view of the nearby Telica Volcano.
AGUA FRIA – This is the most remote community that we serve. It is very near the Telica Volcano, an active, smoky volcano for which the school district is named. This community has been with us for three years. Maverick said the road to this community was especially bad this year, due to back-to-back Category 4 hurricanes that struck Nicaragua last summer. It also requires some travel by foot, as you can see. This was the hottest part of the year in a nation that is never exactly cool.
TELICA SCHOOL DISTRICT- This year, after many years of working with the Telica School District, we helped expand their office space. The Telica School District includes 53 small rural schools in the farming and mining communities outside the city of Leon. For years, we have held meetings with school district workers at the tiny headquarters, which was squeezed into one very small house. They applied to us for a small grant to repurpose and expand an unused building on the property (top). With a grant of $550, they were able to add a concrete floor and siding to a small expansion of the little building.
LOS MANGLES- Of the schools served on this trip, Los Mangles has been with us the longest. It, too, is a very remote school, but it is reachable entirely by road. The road is such that it takes 45 minutes to travel 8 miles, however! At the top of this gallery, you can see a bit of the preparation process. The night before each trip, lists of the students per classroom (usually there are two grades per classroom) are posted on a whiteboard, and the supplies are counted out and packed into boxes for the next day. Air conditioning is very rare in Nicaragua, and it is the hottest season of the year, making the box-packing project a sweltering task. Ordinarily there are as many as 8-9 volunteers working on the project, which takes a couple hours, but with travel restrictions, there were only three people working on it, including Maverick, his wife Marta, and his mother-in-law!
LA MORENA and LA LEONA – These two schools are nearer to the city than the other two, and are more associated with industry than farming, which is why we do not bring veterinary services to these communities. But we were able to bring school supplies and supplies for the teachers. I was glad to hear that at the schools we serve, attendance has not dropped off in spite of the many hardships faced in the last two years there.