The Forgotten Children of the Land of Lakes and Volcanoes

In August a request was received to support the children's participation in their national festival celebrations, part of which are taking place in the school. Because of the current crisis parents cannot contribute, as they may have done in the past. The fund has given $100 to cover the cost of the gymnastics and band instructor, and to provide some refreshments.  We are pleased to have been able to support the children in these activities. Children from the school gained third place in the first part of the competition.  National parades and gymnastics September 2018  The instruments that need updating, hopefully before next year. The football team that had done so well during the year and whom we have supported both with uniform and expenses to attend matches. They received a diploma of recognition. 15th September celebration of independence of Central America. Las Pilas Pedro Joaquin Chamorro scho...

Grateful thanks is given to the individuals and attendees at our events, who have so kindly donated to this worthy cause to help the children of Ometepe. Current income. £3570.36 Projected  balance after expenditure £2654.23

REPORT ON THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGICAL MEANS IN THE NER RAFAELA HERRERA.    We thank God for finding on our way Carolyn, the protagonist of our dreams and to all the people who have made it possible to overcome our education challenges  in our Rafaela Herrera Rural Education Centre. Our educational centre is the headquarters of Interaction Learning Meetings where Knowledge, Experiences, and Educational Strategies are exchanged. Training is given to 52 teachers from 3 different educational centres each month so we can better transmit our knowledge to our students through the use of the DATAPROJECTOR, SOUND EQUIPMENT, AND COMPUTER We also provide meetings for parents with counselling topics. Research is done on the different content for which we don’t have up to date books, in the different subjects taught. We perform the different educational events commemorating the different festivals such as: Mother's day, child's day, father's day, teacher's da...

It is really good to receive updates from Rafael Herrera School; the fooball teams have been participating in the local league wearing the uniforms we bought. They have now been successful in getting through to the National competition which requires them to go to Managua for four days.  $50 was provided for support to enable them to go to the mainland for the local league, and they are now seeking support to take them to Managua for four days. $100 was provided from current funds. Donations to help this will be much appreciated as these could be life changing opportunities for these children and give a sense of pride to a remote community. The children performed well in Managua but were knocked out of the contest.  There is always next year!! We are pleased to have supported them in this activity. On 29th May, the children celebrated , Mothers' Day in Nicaragua using the speakers that were provided by your donations.  Despite the current unrest ...

The general situation In September, the road blocks have been removed and some economic activity is returning to a more normal state.  However the period has left a state of lawlessness meaning that governments are still advising against travel.  Professional who have not supported the government are losing their work because of their deemed lack of loyalty. So as yet I can make no plans to return although I am able to send funds to the school. the crisis is deepening with increased food shortages and lack of petrol. BBC latest news Nicaragua is already one of the poorest countries in the Western world with huge undernourishment and low incomes. Economic circumstances of Nicaragua The situation in the country and particularity in Ometepe Island has become desperate. Reports suggest that $200,000,000 has been lost to the economy. Tourism has hit rock bottom so noone has work and many people are going to Costa Rica or USA in search of asylum or work. This results...

The village magazine kindly placed an article about my work in their May 2018 issue, see link below. Village Tweet p.52 Support is being given by the Unitarian Chapel Billingshurst who are allowing us to use their building for fundraising. Chapel newsletter August news Our new pamphlet  is now ready with the story of the project and information about Peace and Hope's help for our project.

Having returned home, the new leaflet has been produced and is being distributed with letters of thanks. 2018 Achievement and Plans A simple post on face book has generated a lot of interest and feedback and preschool toys are being collected ready to take to Peace and Hope event in Herefordshire for their next shipment of containers.  Further uniforms are also coming in. Many thanks to Jill for knitting baby clothes which will be sent out to Dr Sandra Villagra who works for SIFT. Little comments like this keep me going! Just thought I'd say what an amazing thing your do. As a mum of two little ones a cause like this touches my heart and the work you are doing is so important I would be very happy to be involved in whatever way I can. I’ve just read your article in the Billingshurst local mag, and was inspired to write to you.  I really admire the work you are doing.  Your concentration on an individual community like this appeals to me because ...