Children at the La Carreta elementary school enjoying the fruit of the season, oranges. This school has just started participating in our program of sending money monthly for the teachers to purchase local fruits for mid-morning nutritional supplementation for the elementary schools in the municipality.
The children of El Platanal School in the Villanueva Municipality are enjoying their first taste of cantaloupe as a mid-morning snack. Somos Ohana Nicaragua continues to provide money for the teachers to purchase local fruits to augment what the kids can get at home. Also, the government of Nicaragua provides funds for school lunch of beans and rice for the elementary level students.
Sixteen incoming 7th graders to the secondary school at Rincon de Garcia received their new bikes recently. They and a parent signed an agreement to attend school and keep up their grades. Each new bike owner also wrote a big card thanking the bike donor.
Bikes are provided to kids who would otherwise have a long walking commute to the two regional, rural secondary schools we built and continue to sponsor. The program is a big hit and helping to keep kids from dropping out of school.
Showing what the enthusiasm of the students and teachers can do at Instituto Jose Dolores Estrada in Rincón de Garcia, here are some photos of the exterior of the original wing, after re-painting and during installation of electricity this summer.
On June 15, 2021, we sent the first payment for re-habilitating 3 classrooms of a secondary school in Rincon de Garcia. That school was built in 2008-09 with “sweat equity” from the parents, teachers, and some of the older students from Rincon de Garcia, plus 6 volunteer men from Hawaii and one from Seattle. They did a great job, but at that time that village had no electricity , and the Nicaraguan climate works havoc with any painted surfaces. So everyone is excited to have and electrical outlets and to see how good the classrooms will look with their “face lift” for the new era of learning!
Our huge annual yard sale to benefit our programs of scholarships, grants and health services in rural northwest Nicaragua, is Saturday, April 24, in Kula Kai, at 51 Mano Drive, Kula, 8:00 am to 1:00 pm. All proceeds from the sale of the Ikebana vases, books, art, antiques and collectibles; household goods, clothing including children’s, toys, plants, physical therapy supplies, speakers, plants, tools and more will benefit the group’s programs in Nicaragua. For more information call 205-4067.
Instituto Jose Dolores Estrada’s new classroom is finished. The head teacher, Alvaro Francisco Mondragon (L), and the architect/contractor, Edwin Morales (R), are ready to cut the ribbon for the teachers and students. Ingeniero Morales donated the lights for the first-ever night time illumination at this school in Rincon de Garcia, Municipalidad de Villanueva, Chinandega, Nicaragua.
New folding dividing doors will now make a double classroom at Instituto Jose Dolores Estrada be useful for either 2 smaller classes or, opened up, a larger assembly of students and teachers. With the new night lighting, the community can also gather at the school now for evening meetings.
The new aula, or classroom, being added to Instituto Jose Dolores Estrada is close to completion. Work has been done during the secondary students’ long school break, in Nicaragua the period from mid-December through January. Teachers and students can start using it sometime in February as the new school year begins. Like in Kona Hawaii of old, Nicaragua’s school year is on a “coffee schedule,” with students out of school during the coffee harvest time.
