La Esperanza Granada

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...

A smile says more than a thousand words - I literally experienced that every day during my time working with La Esperanza Granada. Even though teaching was tough sometimes and it was hard keeping the kids under control, I always came home with a happy face on. Once the kids realize that you like working with them, they will give you so much in return. It feels really good to know that you can actually change something in those little people's lives and you can see them appreciate it. Every day my students would say 'Hola' and 'Adiós' to me with a hug and a big smile on their faces. This picture really stays in my memory. Chrissi - Germany

My experience working with the kids at José de la Cruz Mena has been rewarding but also sometimes a struggle. First, I had to get to know the children, see what they already knew and what not. Some of the second graders couldn't read a short sentence in a book because they didn't know the difference between the capital and the lower case letters. So I practically had to start by teaching them the alphabet and go on from there. Eva from Germany teaching her students at José de la Cruz Mena Building a relationship and getting to know the kids better helped a lot to know how to keep them interested and motivated. Playing games, doing puzzles or coloring was fun for the kids and for me too. By doing this, they were improving their practical skills without even knowing. And they improved a lot! Some children need to be encouraged more than others but once you see the smile on their faces when they realize that they can do it, it's a great feeling. Never stop encouraging...

The past week was dedicated to vacation classes instead of normal classes. Due to a break, La Esperanza Granada took advantage of the opportunity to lead reading classes, mathematics lessons and, above all, stimulate the kids and give them a will to learn. All the volunteers and ayudantes together created groups which would be in charge of a bunch of kids for the whole week. It is at the school Pablo Antonio Cuadra that the classes took place every morning from 8am to 12am.  The principal aim of this week was a better tutoring for each kid as the number of volunteers and ayudantes was bigger. After having mathematics in the morning, the kids worked on a story throughout the entire week. First of all, they had to imagine it and create the characters. After that, they had to write the story all together in their respective groups. On Friday morning, each group presented its story in front of the whole school. Some groups named one kid to represent them and ...

How time flies - doing updates on our website and see that we haven't written a blog since July last year.  So many things to remember, update our volunteer listings websites, keep up postings on Facebook, write a monthly newsletter, keep in touch with donors, keep in touch with sponsors etc. etc. etc.  However rest assured, we may have fallen behind on the blogging, but we haven't fallen behind on our main goal - helping improve the future for the children through education. Here in Nicaragua life does run at a different pace.  We have so many volunteers who come, and so many who go, sometimes it is difficult to maintain the continuity of all we are trying to do. But the continuity of working with the children is not lost.  It is right up there at the top of our page every day.  I have a note on my screensaver that I see each morning when I turn on the computer: When a child learns to recognize the significance of letters and numbers, a gateway to the whol...

Just returned home from delivering a birthday cake to Laguna Apoyo.   Outside my job description I know, but these things come up from time to time. A student group from Derby High, UK, has been painting the school at Pablo Antonio Cuadra.   At the end of a week of hot hard work, they were spending today cooling off at the Laguna.   Today was Ella’s 17 th birthday and as a surprise for her, her friends arranged a birthday cake which I offered to pick up and deliver for them.   A vividly colored work of art with ‘Felicidades Ella’ in bright pink.   (The local bakery may have thought it a little strange to be inscribing the cake with what literally translates as ‘congratulations she’.) I had three bonuses from the trip.   That of helping a young lady, far from home, feel special on her birthday. (in later years she is going to forget the homesickness, and just love telling people she spent her 17 th swimming in a volcanic crater lake in Nicaragua). I ...