La Esperanza Granada

Name: Nigel Smith Nationality: New Zealander living in Australia Age: 58                               - How did you find out about La Esperanza? As if by fate, I heard about La Esperanza at 5:30 in the morning in bed, listening to the radio show 'Australia Down Under'. Pauline, our director had phoned up from Nicaragua to talk about the organisation. - How long are you volunteering with La Esperanza?  I am volunteering for a month. This is my 3rd visit. - What is your current volunteer role with La Esperanza?  Teaching  3rd graders in the Summer School. - What has been your best experience working as a volunteer at La Esperanza so far? When the whole class is paying attention. - What has been your worst experience working as a volunteer at La Esperanza so far? None to speak of.  - What do you like most about Nicaragua? Without a doubt, the apparent h...

Our latest volunteer interview! Name: Nick Bayly-Jones Nationality: Australian Age: 25                                                                     - How did you find out about La Esperanza? Internet research                               - How long are you volunteering with La Esperanza?  2 months - What is your current volunteer role with La Esperanza?  I am an English teacher. - What has been your best experience working as a volunteer at La Esperanza so far?  My best experience with La Esperanza has been seein...

Our latest volunteer interview! Name: Lea Jung Nationality: German Age: 25 - How did you find out about La Esperanza?   I was searching for volunteer organizations online and came across La Esperanza on volunteersouthamerica.net. After doing some research I found only positive recommendations so I decided to apply. - How long are you staying here? I am staying for 2 months in total. -  What is your current volunteer role with La Esperanza? Most of the time, I am tutoring first grade students of the school “Nueva Esperanza”, one of the poorest schools in this area. - What has been your best experience working as a volunteer at La Esperanza so far? One day I was tutoring a boy who had a very hard time calculating math problems. He could hardly concentrate and did not appear very motivated to me. However, when he saw me the next day he immediately ran to me and hugged me and asked if I can tutor him again this day. After working with children in Eur...

An interesting blog from one of our volunteers. She talks about her first week volunteering with La Esperanza Granada and the beautiful Laguna de Apoyo! Floating in a Volcanic Crater: Laguna de Apoyo POSTED ON  OCTOBER 5, 2014   BY  MARIANA 2 It was difficult, as I lay floating in the crystal blue water, to imagine such a violent event had created such a peaceful place. I came to  Laguna de Apoyo  after my first week of work with  La Esperanza Granada , and I was exhausted. But I learned long ago that the best remedy to my fatigue is a dip in a clean body of water. And so here I was. Twenty three thousand years ago a volcanic eruption here left a crater six kilometers across.  Over time the crater filled with water from rain and natural subterranean aqueducts. Today the walls of the crater are covered in dense greenery, and the water is astonishingly clear and thermally vented. At two hundred meters deep, the bottom of the lagoon...

Recently, La Esperanza has had the fortune to welcome John Hart and his friends to Granada. John discovered La Esperanza through his mother, a recent volunteer in the La Esperanza office. Arriving with John were several of his friends with a common goal, to renovate a local family home.     It took John and his friends a month of planning, fundraising, and organizing before they headed to Granada. The group was unsure of what to expect until they arrived, “once we showed up to our placement we were blown away by the conditions of the family's home”. The house is home to five children and their parents. All of the kids are currently attending school, ages between 6-15, and grades between 2nd - 6th grade.     Before the improvements done by John and his group, the house was held together by branches with a cardboard interior and with a structure that seemed ready to fall over at any moment. It took a week of hard work, starting early every morning an...

Volunteer   Interview ©        First Name Mary ©        Nationality Canadian ©        Age 27 ©        How did you find out about La Esperanza?   Via the Internet – searching under NGO’s in Nicargua ©        What attracted you to working with La Esperanza? They seemed like a well-organized, up-to-date, information is readily available with regards to information on the school structures and teacher opportunities, there was a lot of information with regards to investment into the community and transparency about the cause and assistance within the community. ©        What do you think your best skills are for being a volunteer? Realistic Expectations and openness to learn ‘more than teach’ ©        What is your current volunteer role with...