March Newsletter

Update
February was an interesting and busy month. We met with the parent administrations at both schools and with the Ministry of Education. We are hoping to form a committee of parents at both schools who will work more closely with us and assist us in our work. We feel that community involvement in the project is integral in long term sustainability and hope to assist the community in learning how to plan, complete, and sustain necessary projects. We also hope that working closely with the community will help us identify the issues and projects that the community values and will be motivated to participate in and sustain. One of our big tasks in the coming months will be forming this committee of community members and starting to identify and work on projects with them.

Penpals
We completed out first round of penpal letters with the pre-school at Anne Frank. The children answered a variety of questions such as their favorite foods, activities, etc. These were sent off to the states to respond to letters from a class in Virginia. We look forward to receiving more letters from the class in Virginia.
If you know of a class that would be interested in fundraising for Proyecto Laguna and having a pen pal relationship with a class in Nicaragua, send an e-mail to jen@proyectolaguna.com.

Casino Night Success
On February 10th we had a Casino Night benefit at Euro Café. It was a great night and we raised over $850. Over 30 people attended and we had a nice evening of chatting, gaming, and telling people about the work we are doing. Thank you to Euro Café, the local businesses who donated to our silent auction, and to everyone who attended, your support is appreciated.

Medical Exams
In the third week of February, two volunteers, Robin Kirschbaum and Staci Morgan, assisted the school nurse in performing physical exams on the majority of the children in both schools. We plan on completing exams on the children who were absent in the coming weeks. Children were weighed, measured, and checked for a variety of illnesses. Children with medical issues were provided with vouchers to go to the medical clinic in Granada. Many children were found to have parasites, lice, and suffer from malnutrition. We now are going to provide treatment for the lice and parasites and work on implementing vitamin treatments. Thank you to Robin and Staci for their hard work and thank you to everyone who donated money to assist us in paying for the necessary medications and medical care.

Donations
Thank you to all of you who made donations in February, your donation is appreciated and has made a difference in the lives of the children in Diria.

A special thanks to the people of Turf Valley Country Club and to the friends of Robin Kirschbaum. Each group sent down a suitcase stuffed with much needed medical supplies. Your donations are appreciated and will be put to good use.

How you can help
To make a donation now connect to our website www.proyectolaguna.com
If you are interested in doing a fundraiser at your place of business, church, or other organization send an e-mail to jen@proyectolaguna.com. We will assist you with information and materials to use for fundraising.

For questions or comments feel free to contact us at contact@proyectolaguna.com

This newsletter will be sent out monthly and keep you informed of our news and the projects we are currently working on.

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