July Update

Executive Director Report

The programs operating through Adelante showcase sustainability at its best. I’m very excited to report that two of our initial programs are completely self-sufficient and are now run by Nicaraguans teaching Nicaraguans. Every NGO knows that when implementing new programs it is of the utmost importance to always think about sustainability. I’m happy to say that this has been one of the most important things that I have focused on during my time in Leon. It’s so exciting to see former students teaching new students. Three of my former students who completed all their appropriate courses are now teaching children from 1st to 6th grade. It’s amazing to see them teaching and seeing things they picked up from my own classes. Also, Adelante is becoming very well known in the community as schools are now approaching me looking for teachers. Next month two of my students will hopefully gain employment at a pre-school teaching English. Additionally, the after school program has become completely financially self-sufficient.

Program Updates

Word by Word: Three students from my advanced English class have organized themselves and created their own curriculum to start teaching their own class for kids from 1st –6th grade.

English Classes: English classes are progressing very successfully. There is one class in the morning and one in the evening. Plans to add a Saturday course in a neighboring city are in the works.

College Bound: Sponsored students are finishing their first quarter and will be turning in grades in the next few weeks.

After School Program (Carita Feliz): The after school program, locally known as “Carita Feliz” (Happy Face), presently has 19 students enrolled. The tutors have brainstormed various ways they could make the program sustainable. They now sell chips and popsicles during the program to all people using the facility. 100% of the proceeds go towards school supplies and the kids’ monthly fun activities. The exciting part is that this program is now financially stable enough to run whether Mateo is present or not.

July tutor spotlight - Yesenia Isabel Cisneros Martinez

Hello my name is Yesenia Isabel Cisneros Martinez, I am 20 years old and a single mother of a beautiful 2 year old. I live with my mother Maria Dolores Martinez in the city of Leon. I work as a volunteer tutor in the Carita Feliz project and I love it because we work with children and we help them with their homework. I am a high school graduate, and am taking a computer operation course. I have faith in God that I will accomplish my goal of attending the University next year and getting a degree in Social Work. In our country there exists a lot of physical and psychological abuse towards women and children, and I would love to help these people by being a social worker. My goal is to become a professional alongside the most beautiful things I have, my mother and my daughter.

Update #14

Update #14
In this issue:
1. Directors update
2. School update
3. Other programs update
4. Current needs

Directors update:

It was a very nice 2 month holiday season for me visiting friends and family back in Seattle, but it's time to get back to the grindstone and get some work done. Unfortunately, the day I arrived back in Nicaragua I fell ill and had to go to the clinic for medical attention. But thanks to a well placed shot of penicillin I'm back to full health. Students new and old have been stopping by daily asking when classes will begin, so I am also very eager to get started on the new school season. I have been looking forward to getting back here for a while, and feel like I am hitting the ground running. I've already had many meetings with prospective students and discussed possible collaborations with universities and high schools around the area. These partnerships will provide us volunteers for the after school program. Our new director of the after school program and College Bound program has already begun work researching, recruiting and developing the programs. I'm excited for her to really make these projects her own.

School update:

As I mentioned above, students have been dropping by daily to check on the class schedule. We plan to begin classes February 2nd, which is a little later than I had originally planned, but in order to prepare the other programs for the beginning of the school year, which also falls on February 2nd , I chose to push back the date. The evening class will start with beginning level 5, while the morning class will be starting level 3.

Other programs update:

- College Bound program: (supports single mothers who desire to attend college to pursue or finish their degree). We have our first applicant who is attending the U.C.C. She starts school again in February and has already been awarded a scholarship for the school year by a very generous donor in the Seattle area. Thank you Christina White! We have another young mother of two looking to be scholarshiped right now that needs $23 dollars per month so she can pursue her law degree. There are other applicants floating around that we have yet to solidify but will keep you all informed as the applicant pool grows.

- After School program: (Supports local education for elementary and middle school children by giving them extra support in completing projects and homework in all subjects. Tutors are recruited from local universities with community service requirements for its students). Classes in León begin February 2nd so myself and Francis (the director of the after school program) are currently recruiting volunteers as well as planning presentations at local elementary and middle schools. Francis also plans to make the teaching space more "kid-friendly".

- Vecinos: (provides 3 rural elementary schools with year long school supplies at the beginning of the school year). On February 26thMyra and Polly are scheduled to arrive here in Nicaragua to help coordinate the purchasing and delivering of materials to these 3 schools. At present, I have been seeking out vendors of different school supplies and remain in contact with the schools' directors. We should be more prepared when Myra and Polly arrive to get a lot of work done!

Current Needs:

1. Adelante would like to be able to offer more school scholarships to single mothers but need pledges for monthly donations. To send someone to a private university it costs on average $40, depending on the degree program. Thus, we are looking for more people to pledge that amount of money monthly. Exact pledge amounts will vary based on the specific student that you are supporting. In the picture you can see an example of someone presently waiting to be sponsored by our program. In the picture is the mother Patricia Elizabeth Sanchez and her two daughters Ashely (9 years old) and Amanda (6 years old). For Patricia to pursue her law degree she is requesting $23 dollars a month for 11 months, which comes out to $253 dollars a year. If you are interested in sponsoring this student for a month, 6 months or even a year please contact us to set up payment details.
2. Volunteer in the tutoring program. We are currently accepting applications from young and old to volunteer as tutors with the after school program. We do require that you have conversational Spanish skills. Home stays can be set up for an additional charge with the host family. Please contact Mateo Garibaldi for more information (mateo.g@adelantenow.org)

Thanks to everyone who made the last fundraiser as it was a great success!

Mateo Garibaldi
Executive Director/Adelante founder
Mateo.g@adelantenow.org

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Update #12

Update #12

In this issue:

• Director's update
• Class update
• Adelantes' current needs
• Fundraiser note

Director's update:

These past couple of weeks have been full of many ups and downs for me. I was hit by a couple sicknesses one after another, which really made classes hard and left me very low energy. But I'm happy to report that now I am back to full health and ready to hit the grindstone. Last week, Adelantes' first volunteer arrived ready to get his hands dirty. He is living with a local Nicaraguan family and is enjoying what the culture and country has to offer. He has been observing class for this past week, and a few times has run his own activities. Next week I plan to integrate him more into the lessons as well as allow him to teach a full class by himself. He will also observe and then lead some activities with the pre-school kids that attend school across the street from Adelante. He is more than up for the challenge and I am very happy to have him. In just under two weeks he'll continue his journey on to Costa Rica and Panama.

Last week I was asked to participate on a panel for a non-profit leadership organization that brings California high-school students to Nicaragua. It was fun to meet other people working in the area on the panel as well as talk to the students. I have become very re-energized as a result of talking to the director of the program (especially after he commented on how impressed he was with Adelante). He provided me with a lot of very good contacts which I plan on using very soon.

These past weeks' "rainy season" has also taken on a new meaning. It has been very wet, and has been raining non-stop in the afternoon and evening. As the roofs here are tin, it sometimes makes it a little tough to hear during the class, but we get around that by doing fun language activities that don't require precise listening. All in all I am doing well, and looking forward to my visit back home in November.

Class Update: The most exciting news is that I have begun to actively train one Nicaraguan student of mine to aid in teaching another one of my classes. She is aspiring to eventually teach at Adelantes' school. Another student whom I plan to present this idea to already is comfortable in advanced English and would be a perfect candidate for a teachers aid. The evening class has just finished their mid-course exams relating to the topic of how to disagree formally and informally. The morning beginners class will take their mid course review on Monday.

Adelante Needs: Adelante has begun construction on the physical structure of the classroom and so we will be gathering computer equipment to stock the classroom. We have received many inquiries about donating computer equipment but nothing has come through yet. As such, if anyone has some good contacts to get computers or computer equipment donated please let us know. Our ideal situation would be to have 12 laptop computers, so as to make storage and security easier. As a second option we will stock the classroom with flat panel screens to conserve energy. Again, any and all donations are more than welcome.

*NOTE* Fundraiser in November – Details to come

Update #12

Update # 12

In this issue:

1. Director's update
2. School update
3. School needs

Director's Update:

Hola desde Nicaragua! Things are moving along quite nicely here. I spent a week long "vacation" during which time I planned for and created new curriculum for the upcoming class. So it wasn't so much of a vacation as much as it was time to prepare for the next course. I did a few radio appearances to get out the word about the organization, which were quite interesting experiences. It was especially interesting doing live radio and answering questions about the classes on air. Lets just say multi-tasking is not my strongest suit. Ha ha. However, I did learn a lot and we did get plenty of interest as a result of the radio spots.

This last week I was also visited by a friend of mine from Seattle. It was nice to spend some time with her showing her the city and its surrounding areas. We ventured to Central America's youngest volcano and went volcano boarding, and of course visited some local beaches.

School Update:

The evening class just finished their second week of classes and the morning class just finished their first week. It has been a little more complicated teaching two completely different courses at the same time, but just as rewarding as I now am able to reach more students with my work. I am very happy to announce that not a single student dropped the course because they didn't like it, or think it was not rewarding in some way. One student moved out of Leon, and another recently started their own business and thus does not have time for classes. The 10 other students decided to continue on to the next course which tells me that I am doing something right. Presently I have 13 students in my evening class, and 5 students in the morning class. The evening class is learning about the past tense as well as how to express disagreement. The morning class is learning about the present progressive and how to express likes and dislikes.

I have a contact that lives in another city just outside if Leon who is presently trying to organize a Saturday class for me there. They are organizing the student recruitment, the teaching space as well as transportation. I'm very happy to see that there is enough interest for them to organize this class themselves.

In August and September I'll have visits from a potential school volunteer as well as from my mom, sister and brother.

School Needs:

Adelante still needs dictionaries! Please don't hesitate to send them directly down here. Contact me if you would like the direct mailing address. We could also use white board markers.

The next big push for Adelante will be computers and computer related equipment and electronics. Please keep us in mind!

Mateo.g@adelantenow.org

Next update: August 21^st, 2008

Update #11

Update # 11

In this issue:

1. Director's update

2. School update

3. School needs

Directors update:

Hello friends and family of Adelante! I'll start off by saying WHOA, it's been hot here. I actually burned the other day… yeah...I know! Ha ha. Last week I took a trip to Granada where I spoke to students from a University of Washington exploration seminar. Later that week 5 of the students who were in the class took a trip down to Leon, and visited with me for a few days which was really fun. More and more I'm making both personal and professional contacts which has been very nice and refreshing. Bit by bit random people are wanting to help out with my organization. On a consistent basis I am reminded of how hospitable and warm Nicaraguans are.

School update:

Adelante is marching right along. This week classes ended, and I am now gearing up for the next course which will start after a week break. As of today I have 13 students enrolled in the evening class, and 3 enrolled in the morning class. I'm optimistic that my evening class will reach capacity at 16, and my morning class will reach 10 students. I'm anxious to see how teaching two different classes each day works out for me as far as scheduling and energy. I have made a conscious effort to always include fun and dynamic activities in my classes so getting bored is really not an issue. It is not abnormal to hear jokes and laughter coming from the class, which I think is one of the things that attract students to the classes and keeps them coming back.

As soon as we get the two classrooms up and running I have no doubt that we will be inundated with requests fpr more classes. I have people asking me almost daily if I offer classes for younger kids, as well as Saturday or Sunday courses. At present, I am not offering either of those things, but hopefully when we acquire the larger space and more teachers we will be able to offer those classes to the community.

I have been talking with students about volunteers coming and wanting to stay with Nicaraguan families and many have offered their homes and hospitality. Hint hint. If you would like to come teach let me know and we can work out a host family situation. It is a great cultural exchange opportunity.

School needs:

Adelante still needs dictionaries, and now more than ever we will be soliciting financial donations. We are planning for our second fiscal year and as such are looking to cover the years costs as well as plan on some expansion of programs and staff. Please contact me directly for more information.

Mateo.g@adelantenow.org

Next update: August 7^th, 2008

update #10

update #10

July 10, 2008

In this issue:

• Directors update
• School update
• Adelante needs

Hello all! Last week marked my 3 months of living in Nicaragua. This happy occasion was soured a little by the fact that my visa expired. In order to renew my visa, the kind immigration officers at the local foreign immigration office in Managua told me to head to the border of Honduras, leave Nicaragua, walk across the border, enter Honduras, and then return that same day so they would stamp my visa and give me another 90 days. Well after making that long trip to the border, I was disappointed to find out that not only did they require me to stay in Honduras for 3 days before returning to Nicaragua, they didn't even have the stamp I needed at that office. Instead, they kindly informed me that I needed to cross the entire country from North to South and do the same thing except on the Costa Rican border. "Breath", I told myself as all I wanted to do was look up and yell in frustration.

I tried everything I knew that had worked for me in the past so I could cut a corner or two. Generally speaking I don't like, nor do I advocate trying something that could be "mutually beneficial" for both the officers and me. However, I was reluctant to just give up and make the 5 hour bus trip back to Leon. Unfortunately neither my reluctance nor my repeated efforts to "help" them to help me made any difference. Instead I packed up my things, hopped back on the bus and headed back to Leon. I wasn't able to head to Costa Rica til the next Thursday because of my class schedule. This meant I was 3 days over my 90 day visa. So on Thursday night at 9pm, I took a rickety old yellow school bus from Leon destined for Peñas Blancas, the border town to Costa Rica. At about 11pm, the conductor woke us all up at a gas station in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua to let us know he needed to put air in the tires and we could all use the bathroom. "Good idea" I thought, "there probably won't be anywhere to use a bathroom for a long time" I said to myself. So with the 15 other passengers I entered the Stop-N-Go to use the bathroom and buy snacks for the long bus ride. I took my time, as most there were quite a few people in the women's bathroom line, and I was sure we wouldn't leave without them. Slowly I mossied out of the surprisingly clean Stop-N-Go only to discover that the bus in fact was not there anymore. I was immediately flushed with panic before my self-preserving calming kicked in. "Don't worry, everything will work out" I said to myself, trying to be calm. After the first 30 minutes went by I started to pace back and forth getting more and more nervous. Had they left with our bags? Why didn't anyone else look nervous? Was I the only one even remotely concerned that we were stuck in god-knows-where, at almost midnight?

How could they force down ice-cream, hot dogs and nachos. I knew that I was really worried when the 1 hour mark passed and I couldn't even think about eating anything. I know that when I don't want to eat – there is a serious problem. At 12:30 in the morning the bus driver came screeching around the corner in the bus and pulled up to the curb where we had all been camped out freezing. We hopped on quickly and we took off. To my surprise no one asked a single question. Where had he been? What had he been doing? Was he inflating the tires manually by blowing air into the massive tires? I guess one will never know. All I know is that I got no sleep that night as we pulled into Peñas Blancas at 3:30am. Good thing we were insanely early to the border too because the border gates opened up at 6am. I slumped back into the school bus seats trying to get comfortable, to no avail.

At 6am I crossed through the gates to go pay my fine for overstaying my visa and start the second leg of my never ending odyssey. After waiting for the office where I had to pay my fine opened at 7am, they told me I needed a copy of my passport and expired visa. "Just great" I thought. Where was I going to get a photocopy at this hour in the middle of this jungelous place they call a border crossing? They informed me I just had to walk about half a mile up the road to a store to do that, if they weren't open I'd have to walk 3 miles back outside of the boarder to get the copies. Yup, you guessed it, they weren't open yet, so I had to walk to the 3 miles back outside of the boarder to get the photocopies and then return. After I returned he gave me the necessary paperwork so that I could go join the other massive amounts of people trying to officially leave Nicaragua so they could officially enter Costa Rica.

I navigated the lines and paperwork and people walking into Costa Rica where I encountered a very nice immigration officer who politely asked me "What the hell is wrong with you, why didn't you go to the border of Honduras?", after I calmly explained to the officer that his fellow officers at that border had informed me that there was, "no way in hell I could do it at that border", he frowned and said, "well you can go into Costa Rica but you can't come back today. You must stay at least one day in Costa Rica." I quickly stopped him mid sentence and simply said, "no" shaking my head. "I'm sorry there is no way I'm staying in Costa Rica and I was told I could enter and leave on the same day", I said. Then he tried to tell me that I had to at least wait till the afternoon, to which I also said no. Then he said, I should at least stay for a couple of hours. I agreed. I walked the couple miles to the Costa Rican side of the border where it took me about 2 hours to get through the entering Costa Rica line, and then the leaving Costa Rica line and then walk back to the same officer who then just shook his head and told me to go wait for another couple of hours.

At this point I was so fed up and frustrated with the entire system I didn't have the energy to explain to him what I'd already been through nor did I really want to talk to him. So I told him, "fine, I'll be right here till you decide I can come in". I took about 10 steps back, stood there with my arms crossed looking at the officer, and decided I would wait the 2 hours out there. Who was he to tell me I couldn't come back into Nicaragua. Not one person knew exactly what the legal process was as they all gave me different versions. About 5 minutes into the staring competition he decided to try and enter into an arguing competition, one which at this point in my sleepless journey he was not going to win. Within 2 minutes we were laughing, shaking hands and vowing that we would never see each other again. At 4pm on the 4^th of July I returned back to Leon from my 19 hour saga to renew my visa. Why couldn't the foreign immigration office in Managua do this for me? Good question. Why do they even have a foreign immigration office if they can't even renew a visa? Yet, another good question.

For the 4^th of July I met up with a group of Peace Corps volunteers living and working around the Leon area. It was very nice to relax and recount my story… in English. It felt like it had been months since I had spoken English, and it was nice to commiserate with some other fellow Americans who were also living and working in Nicaragua.

In the grand scheme of things though, if you compare what I went through to what foreigners have to go through in the United States, I feel very lucky to have only been asked to do this.

School update: Classes continue to go well. We have just finished week number 4 of the 6 week course. A couple weeks ago I put a sign outside of my house advertising the English school, and have been visited almost daily by people interested in taking the class. At present I have 8 people on the waiting list to take classes when the next course begins on August 4^th.

Adelante needs: As continues to be the case, we desperately need Spanish-English dictionaries for students to use during the course. At present I have 7 that are lent out between the 12 students. In August there will hopefully be another 12 students in the morning time. As you can imagine 7 dictionaries between 24 students is less than ideal, as such, any donations of dictionaries new or used would be greatly appreciated.

Mateo Garibaldi

Del Texaco Guido 2 cuadras al sur, ½ abajo

Leon, Nicaragua

Central America.

Next Update July 24th