The Forgotten Children of the Land of Lakes and Volcanoes

 In December we received the wonderful news that Jordy had graduated from his university course.  He has worked so hard, studying at his English on a daily basis.  When I first met him he lacked confidence to try but now he is fluent and using colloquial phrases.  It is a joy to converse with him on the phone and to receive his well constructed messages. He has passed his teaching practices and in February 2022 will receive his final certification meaning he can take up a teaching post. he plans to work in the local community. In January 2022 we paid the next year's fees for Linda, who is also studying hard and getting good results.  Her studies are at the local university in Ometepe.

 In October funds were sent to El Corozal;  this is a small school in a very remote location between the Maderas volcano.  The school had asked for some cleaning facilities and help with their water supply.  We were able to support the local community in building a water tank and a sink for their cleaning tasks. This achieved another stage on our improvement of the sanitary facilities in the schools. A thank you from the staff and pupils makes it all worthwhile and we know these facilities will make their day to day activities a little easier! Santa Teresa was the last of the schools to have improvements made to their latrines, in November.  We hope to start working around the handwashing facilities soon, but so many other priorities keep arising!

 This year planning began well ahead.  Elections were to take place in November 2021, and just in case there were any political activities, preventing the collection of uniforms from Managua, or indeed causing big price rises, we began planning in September. As usual Marvin, Jordy and Sylvia worked in their house, storing, then sorting the uniform, checking that everything had arrived and matching to their list of children and sizes.  Jordy and Sylvia made environmentally friendly packages, tying each set with string, following the example I had set on my last trip. The uniforms were finally distributed in January 2022, at the start of the school year.  Most schools attempted a video call so that I could be present virtually.  There were many smiles, waves and thank yous from the children and their parents.