Monthly Archives: January 2020

Around the perimeter of the property of Instituto Augusto C. Sandino in La Carreta, Somos Ohana Nicaragua is funding the building of a strong, 8-foot fence to surround the school’s land.  This is needed to protect planted crops from animals entering and to protect the future livestock the school plans to have in the animal husbandry program.  It will also protect the infrastructure of the school at night and on weekends.

Our main master builder from Villanueva has hired local workers who are digging a trench and laying quarried stone to foil burrowing animals.

Materials are unloaded for the fence at Instituto A.C. Sandino at La Carreta.

For many years our non-profit has been helping Villanueva area college students who are pursuing their degrees in education and health fields with partial scholarships that pay for fees, books and transportation to classes. (Tuition at the national universities is free.) The following students on Somos Ohana Nicaragua scholarships are at the Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN) Somotillo branch campus, which is in the Departamento de Chinandega, fairly near the Municipality of Villanueva:

Arlen Mercado is writing her monografia to be able to enter RN program in 2020. She has been one of our scholarship students for 3 years in the pre-nursing program.

Kareling Estrada is finishing her fifth year in Social Work.

Nayeli Diaz is in 3rd year of studies for Social Work

Lener Montalban is in his 2nd year to become a teacher of Social Studies

Maria Elena Torrez is in her first year of the nursing program

Because some specialized programs are not available at the branch of the UNAN in the nearby city of Somotillo, the following scholarship recipients have had to go farther afield.

Elizabeth Montes graduated and completed her practicum as a Speech Pathologist and will take comprehensive exams for her license soon in the Costa Rican Universidad Santa Paula where Somos Ohana Nicaragua has paid her foreign-student tuition. She returned in summer 2019 to Villanueva to help our visiting team from Maui work with the special-needs youth, and will return to seek work in her home Department of Chinandega upon receiving her license.

Miguel Angel Castillo is studying at the Universidad Popular de Nicaragua (UPONIC)), a private university in the regional capital of Chinandega, in his 1st year of Engineering in Systems of Computation. He had already been teaching at La Carreta with an entry-level tech certificate, but upon graduation he will be able to teach the teachers of the Ministry of Education as well as the students.

Somos Ohana Nicaragua has supported over half a dozen other scholarship students in the past who have already graduated. Most are working in their home region, a strong goal of our program.