La Esperanza Granada

Great excitement at the school in San Igancio yesterday.   The summer school Christmas Party was on, and a tremendous success.   La Esperanza Granada is holding summer school in three locations this year, and we transported the children from Elba Zamora school, and the High School children from La Epifania school to join in Nueva Esperanza school for a grand fiesta. Kicked off with soccer and games, followed by dance presentations – this time the volunteers did the traditional dancing as a special treat for the students – they loved it and screamed their appreciation.   A big raffle was held for students with the best attendance and Donald was an excellent compeer.   This was followed by piñatas – one for each age group – separated into different classrooms – the noise level was unbelievable – fun at full volume.   Celebrations ended with a meal with chicken and vegetables, rice and beans, cold drinks, and a bonus bag of candies for each child to take hom...

Here are some great photos of Gabriella’s baptism and the party that followed.   Belky’s, our ayudante and proud mother, invited us all to her house next to La Epifania school following the service in The Cathedral, here in Granada.  Former volunteers, Andrew from Canada and Catrina from France, along with ayudante Donald, and our office administrator Karen were the four godparents.  Here is the photo link: http://picasaweb.google.com/laesperanzagranada/Belkysbabe# Summer schools are running well in San Igancio, and Elba Zamora, as well as our high school group during the afternoons in La Epifania.  We are planning a big get together of all three groups for a Christmas party – more about that next week.  Will make sure to take the video camera!

Given that only 30% of the schoolchildren in Nicaragua finish primary school, giving them an incentive to stay on in education is a hugely important part of the work of La Esperanza Granada. Currently, our generous sponsors pay the costs for 90 local children to attend secondary school. Volunteer journalist CIARAN TIERNEY met one of them during her visit to Granada. A belief that there is no chance for them to continue with their education results in alarmingly young drop-out levels from Nicaraguan schools, which is why our sponsorship programmes are so important to the children in the rural communities around Granada. For just $230 dollars a year, a sponsor can cover the cost of a rural youngster to attend secondary school and this donation can make all the difference in determining a child’s decision about whether or not to continue education after primary school. Every December, our generous sponsors look after the financial needs of the children for the following year and ea...