At Instituto Augusto C. Sandino secondary school in La Carreta, head teacher and Language Arts instructor Luvy Uriarte Lainez has been encouraging attendance and bolstering the students’ capacity for attentive learning by making and serving them a refresco (a healthy fruit smoothie) with a bakery roll each morning before classes start. This is served in the school’s new kitchen/cafeteria room. These photos were taken before the teachers and students started wearing masks or bandanas (panuelos). Head teacher Luvy and community members are currently sewing cloth masks for the teachers. Money for the material was sent from Somos Ohana Nicaragua in March.
Although the virus has not struck the municipality of Villanueva seriously, and rural cases of infection are much lower than in the cities, many parents are fearful of infection and keep their children at home. However, quarantine is still voluntary, and since most kids don’t have the option of on-line learning as they have no computers in their homes, a certain number are still attending classes at school.