Proyecto Laguna Completes Construction in Seven Schools

Last week Proyecto Laguna completed construction of water tanks and latrine repairs in 7 schools. Thanks to the grant we received from Pangea, the technical direction from Living Earth Institute, and our hands on work every school in the Diria school district now has a water storage tank. This means that thousands of children now have access to water daily at school. Our initial plan to install tanks in 5 schools was expanded to 6 when costs were lower than expected. We were then able to expand to a 7th school. Last year we installed a water tank in the Monsignor school.
Along with installing tanks we installed hand-washing and mop-washing stations so that the children have a place to wash their hands and a separate place to wash the mop. It is our hope that the things the children learned during the water day celebrations will stay with them and they will wash their hands regularly and take care of the water system.
Along with the water tanks we also repaired latrines in several schools. In the El Arroyo #1 school we have bought the materials for a new latrine (the old one was almost full and the base was broken) and the parents are currently constructing it.
The parents, students, and teachers are very happy with this project and have committed to care for it and maintain it. We, at Proyecto Laguna, feel proud to have been able to help these communities and improve sanitation and health for these students.

Schools Celebrate World Water Day

Diria schools participated in World Water Day Celebrations this week and learned about care of water, the environment, and personal hygiene. As part of our work constructing water storage tanks and improving latrines with Living Earth Institute and Pangea it is important that we educate the children and community on the proper care of the tank, hygiene, and other related themes. As a result we took advantage of World Water Day, March 22nd, and had celebrations in the school.
The 4th, 5th, and 6th grade children participated in a presentation competition and gave presentations on care of the environment, personal hygiene, and care of school property. The younger children performed folkloric dances and participated in a variety of games and competitions. The schools were very organized and excited about this event.
It was a very fun and educational day, a day in which the results of the work we have done in these small rural communities was evident.

Construction of Water Storage Tanks Starts in Six Schools

Proyecto Laguna, working in conjunction with the Living Earth Institute, has started construction in six schools. Our initial plan was to install water storage tanks and repair latrines in 5 schools. Luckily, we were able to stretch the money to include six. This means that every school that is in the countryside of Diria will soon have a back-up source of water. Water is important for health and hygiene and having a storage tank will greatly benefit the students at these schools. We are also repairing latrines in these schools so that the children have a safe, private, place to use the bathroom.
Proyecto Laguna is also working with the parents at each school to help them raise money and put together a maintenance plan so that they can maintain this project independently. We are working in conjunction with the Ministry of Health to start classes in each school focusing on health and hygiene and proper use and care of water and latrines.

The Sta. Elena School has a Garage Sale

Last month the local delegate from the Ministry of Education approached us for help with a problem; at the Sta. Elena school the kindergarten and first grade were sharing a classroom and the children were distracting each other too much for the teachers to teach them. He asked if Proyecto Laguna would help them build a division in the classroom so that it could act as two separate classrooms.
Proyecto Laguna met with the parents and teachers and helped them set up a garage sale fundraiser. The parents and teachers were motivated and well organized. We provided them with donated clothing, toys and household goods and last weekend they sold these items to people in the community. They made over $100 and now have enough to build the much needed division.
We are very happy that we were able to help them and glad that they were able to take the initiative to hold the sale and raise the funds.
Proyecto Laguna would like to thank everyone who donated items to the garage sale. You have made a difference for the kindergartners and first graders in Sta. Elena.

850 Needy Children in Diria Receive Backpacks and School Supplies

The new school year in Nicaragua started on Tuesday and Proyecto Laguna has been hard at work getting together all of the school supplies and backpacks for the children.
Proyecto Laguna has distributed 850 backpacks, handmade by our seamstress group. All of our registered children received school supplies including pencils, notebooks, pens, erasers, pencils sharpeners, colored pencils, and more.
It has been great to watch the children walking down the street to school proudly carrying their backpacks.
Thank you to all of you who helped us help these children attend school and have a brighter future.

Proyecto Laguna to Install Water Tanks and Repair Latrines in 5 Schools

Proyecto Laguna has received a grant from Pangea (www.pangeagiving.org) to install water tanks and repair latrines at 5 schools in the Diria area. We are happy to be working with Pangea again this year.
Living Earth Institute (www.living-earth.org) will be providing the technical knowledge and we look forward their engineer, Alice Lancaster, coming down to visit in February.
Proyecto Laguna will be managing the construction and working with the parents and teachers to help them set up a fund for maintaining the project. Proyecto Laguna will also be providing health education classes in the school to educate the children on the importance of using the latrine facilities, hand washing, and other hygiene issues.
When this project is complete over 800 children will have improved access to water and sanitation.
We would like to thank both Pangea and the Living Earth Institute for their continued support of our work and for their efforts to help the children of Diria.

Happy new year and thank you to all of our donors

We hope you had a wonderful holiday season are having a happy new year.

With your help we were able to raise over $3000 through our calendar sales. This is enough money for us to ensure that over 800 children in Diriá, Nicaragua will receive the necessary school supplies to attend school in the 2009 school year.

We are very happy that we will be able to continue helping the children of this town and very thankful to you, our donors, for making our work possible.

Due to your generous donation each of the children enrolled in our program will receive a backpack filled with school supplies; notebooks, pens, pencils, rulers, crayons, pencil sharpeners, and more. Many children in Nicaragua are unable to attend school because their families cannot afford to buy them these basic items.

Your donation will also be used to keep our school nurse working in the schools providing basic medical care to the students.

Thank you for your generosity and caring.

We still have some calendars available if you weren't able to buy one before. Please contact us at contact@proyectolaguna.com if you'd like to order one...or more.

The Seamstress Group Shows Thanks

In December our group of seamstresses and tailors threw a thank you party for us to thank us for all the work we have been doing with them. With their hard work and our marketing they have had more work and been able to support their families better. The seamstress group has been making reusable shopping bags and beach bags and has received contracts with a variety of businesses. Most recently they have started making clothing for a shop in Granada.
To show their thanks the seamstresses and tailors took our director, Jennifer Schwinn, out for dinner and dancing at the overlook in Diriá. Adolfo, one of the tailors, stated to Jennifer that they wanted to thank Proyecto Laguna for all our hard work in helping in their community and helping them improve their lives. It was a wonderful afternoon and it was nice to see how appreciative the community is.

Proyecto Laguna is Making a Difference

Check us out and Join Our Good Work

Since its inception in January of 2007 Proyecto Laguna has achieved the following:

• 501(c)3 non-profit status,
• Registered as an official non-governmental organization with the Nicaraguan government.
• Provided school supplies twice per school year to over 800 students.
• Provided over 600 pairs of shoes.
• Provided over 200 school uniforms.
• Provided 50 teachers with classroom supplies.
• Provided basic medical care to over 900 students.
• Worked with the schools to register them with the American Nicaraguan Foundation to receive furniture and school supplies twice per year.
• Provided furniture, such as a cabinets and bookshelves, to the schools. Furniture was made by a local carpenter.
• Provided sporting equipment to the schools.
• Installed wall mounted pencil sharpeners in every classroom.
• Provided small rewards every month to two students in each class as a form of motivation. A reward is given to the student with the best grades and the student who has put forth the best effort.
• Formed parent groups in each of the three schools that work in concert with Proyecto Laguna to set goals for the schools. Parent groups are responsible for assisting with grant applications and fundraising. They raise funds through raffles, clothing sales, food sales, and movie nights. Each parent group has a savings account and use the money they earn to assist the school with maintenance and other needs.
• Formed a cobblers co-op in Diria that makes shoes for the project.
• Formed a seamstress co-op in Diria that makes backpacks for the project. The seamstress co-op has recently started marketing handmade bags and received contracts from businesses in Managua to make reusable grocery bags, beach bags, and other types of bags.
• Received a grant from the Pangea Project in conjunction with the Living Earth Institute and installed a municipal water reservoir tank, a rain water collection tank, rain gutters, a drainage system, and repaired latrines in the Ruiz Castillo School.
• Repaired and remodeled the pre-school building at the Anne Frank School which was previously in a dangerous state of disrepair.
• Installation of new water reservoir tanks in the Anne Frank School.
• Provided potable water to two schools with no water source by paying for water and transportation by ox-cart.
• Applied for a grant to build school kitchens in two schools. The grant was approved and we are now on the waiting list for construction.
• Proyecto Laguna is currently being considered by Pangea for a second grant for $10,000 to be used to install water reservoir tanks in 5 schools and repair existing latrines.

• Received a grant from Google for advertising valued at $120,000 per year. (This is not a cash grant but we receive the equivalent from them in online advertising.)
• Provided emergency food and clothing for families in severe need.
  

• Provided medical care to several special needs cases including the following:
• CT scans and medications for a child with epilepsy,
• Orthopedic shoes and/or braces to 15 children,
• Paid for surgery and medication for a child with an intestinal blockage,
• Paid for physical therapy for several children,
• Paid for psychological counseling for children with special needs,
• Currently working to assist a child with an extra digit on each hand and foot receive plastic surgery,
• Coordinated with Operation Smile to enroll children in Diria with cleft lips and palates to receive surgery, and
• Paid for a mother with severe heart problems to receive testing and medication.
• Organized the school gardens initiative in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and the American Chamber of Commerce.
• and more!
  

Proyecto Laguna Bazaar-An Opportunity to Support Socially Responsible Nicaraguan Organizations

Proyecto Laguna is holding a bazaar to help support socially responsible Nicaraguan organizations and to give you a chance to do some holiday shopping.

To date 25 socially responsible non-profit and for-profit organizations are attending and will be selling a variety of items such as:

Handmade Toys
Newspaper baskets
Handmade Clothing
Mosaic and painted tables
Homemade soap
Iron Art
Gift Cards
Artisan Chocolates
Handmade paper
Jewelry
Cheese
Calendars
Dried Fruit
and more!

This event is hosted by Proyecto Laguna and will be fun for the entire family with a children's story time, visits with Santa, organic food from Ola Verde, a full bar, and much more.

Please come down to Frontera Books on December 6th and support the non-profits of Nicaragua while doing your holiday shopping.

Date:	Saturday, December 6, 2008
Time:	11:00am - 6:00pm
Location:	Frontera Books
Street:	Semf. Enitel Villa Fontana, 200 v al lago, Esquina Sur Mama Delfina
City/Town:	Managua, Nicaragua

Changes to Service Delivery in 2009

Dear Proyecto Laguna Supporters,

We hope that as an exciting year comes to an end you are all well and enjoying life.

On behalf of Proyecto Laguna, we are sending this letter to inform you of some changes that will be making in 2009 to how we deliver services to our communities and schools. Proyecto Laguna is currently working in three schools in Diriá, Nicaragua, and we have over 800 children registered in our child sponsorship program. We have decided to reformat the child sponsorship program to ensure that we deliver the best services to the students in our schools more equitably. We will continue to provide school supplies and medical care to children in need but we will no longer run the program through individual child sponsorships.

For those of you who have sponsored children, he or she will continue to be sponsored throughout the time you have committed.

In 2009, we will continue to provide school supplies and backpacks to the children who are involved in our program to help ensure that they are able to attend school. As funding allows, we will also provide shoes and uniforms to those in need. You, our generous donors, can continue to help keep these children in school by making donations to Proyecto Laguna that will be used to help these students. We hope that this move away from individual sponsorship will allow us to support a greater number of students instead of focusing on a select few.

Proyecto Laguna is dedicated to helping the people of Diria. We are working hard to continue our programs with the parent groups, sewing co-op, school directors and the health programs. We still rely solely on the donations of our supporters for funding. This year, your tax-exempt donation will go to benefit not just one child, but many more, and we hope that your support will continue.

Please visit our website frequently for blog updates at www.proyectolaguna.com. If you have any questions about the project or about this change, please don’t hesitate to email.

Thank you for your continued support,

Proyecto Laguna Staff

Proyecot Laguna Supports Diria's Seamstresses and Tailors

Proyecto Laguna is currently working on marketing the products of Diria's seamstresses and tailors to other organizations and businesses to assist in providing a steady source of employment for these residents.
The seamstresses and tailors currently have a contract with Don Pan, a bakery chain, to make reusable grocery bags. They also have a contract with Ola Verde, a restaurant in Managua, to make canvas catch-all bags. There are several other business interested in their products and we hope to be signing contracts with them soon.
The seamstresses and tailors are very happy that they have this source of income and we hope that we will continue to be able to find businesses interested in their products.

2009 Calendars Available!

  It is with great excitement that we announce that our 2009 Calendars have arrived and are available for sale.  Our friend Kristine Ambrose has been working hard to get the design perfected using her photographs from her visit last year.  

We are very pleased with the outcome and think you will be too.  The sales of the calendar is our major fundraising event this season.  We know that money is tight all over the world right now and for this we especially appreciate all donations made to Proyecto Laguna.  We are hoping to sell all 1000 copies before the end of the year.  These funds will give us the budget to purchase school supplies for the new school year starting in January as well as keeping our nurse on staff and supplied with basic necessities.

For those of you in the United States, purchasing calendars is easy. The donation per calendar is $20 each.  Simply go to this link on our website to use our secure server:  www.proyectolaguna.com .  Click on "Give Now" and use the General Donation option.  You will receive a confirmation email including a tax deductible letter.  Then your calendar will be mailed to you from Los Angeles.  

For purchases in Nicaragua please email us at: contact@proyectolaguna.com and we will let you know where they can be purchased or get them to you.  The cost for the calendars in Nicaragua is 200Cordobas and we can accept cash or checks.  

This is our first year selling calendars as a fundraiser and we hope to continue in the future.  Please consider giving the calendars as gifts this year for the holidays.  The donations made for each one goes a long way here in Nicaragua to make a big difference in the life of a child. Remember that all donations are tax deductible.  Also, if you are interested in helping us sell them at your work, school or church, please contact us and we will be happy to send you as many as you would like.  Thank you!

Nicaraguan Students Celebrate Columbus Day

In Nicaragua Columbus Day is celebrated as Hispanic Day. Nicaraguans celebrate the unique culture they have as a mix of Spanish and Indigenous blood and culture. In the Diria schools there was a large celebration with folkloric dances, marching bands, and presentations of poems and songs.
Everyone had a nice morning as children and parents from all of the area schools gathered at Ruiz Castillo for the celebration.

Clothing Sale Helps Students Raise Money for Graduation

A few months ago Proyecto Laguna was approached by the graduating high school students at the Anne Frank school. They asked us to help pay for their graduation ceremony. We decided that what we would do is help the graduating classes from Anne Frank--preschool, 6th grade, and high school--raise money for their own graduations.

Saturday was the big day and Proyecto Laguna brought in donated clothing and housing goods and the parents and students of the classes that are graduating held a sale. People from the community were able to come and buy clothing and household goods for very affordable prices and the students and parents were able to raise over $200 for graduation.
It is the hope of Proyecto Laguna that by providing an opportunity for the community to raise money for itself we are also empowering them and teaching them to help themselves and put the effort forth to make things happen within their own community.

Proyecto Laguna and ANS Drama Club Unite

This week Proyecto Laguna recieved great news from the Drama Club at the American Nicaraguan School in Managua.  We have been chosen by the group of about 70 Middle and High School students as their Community Service project.   This is a great opportunity for both sides.  The students at ANS will be learning how they can make a difference in the lives of children less fortunate while the foundation benefits from all the extra assistance!  The Drama teacher, Mrs. Jennifer Gallegos, says that Proyecto Laguna was chosen because of our diverse projects including;  improving access to education, providing basic health care, distribution of potable water and working with the community providing sustainable jobs.  This week founder, Tracy Finch, spoke with the group about the foundation's mission and goals.  We have begun discussing ways that the Drama Club can raise money and exactly how those funds can provide aid.  

We would like to thank the school for this opportunity and we are looking forward to a long and successful relationship with the students at ANS!  

Proyecto Laguna Purchases Materials to Make 850 Backpacks

Last Friday, Proyecto Laguna, with two Diria seamstresses, purchased materials for 850 backpacks at the Oriental Market in Managua. The Oriental Market is the largest market in Managua and is always an adventure full of sights and sounds and the frantic market pace. All of the supplies were delivered to Diria and distributed among the 11 seamstresses and tailors who are now getting started on making the backpacks we will need to distribute to the students of Diria for the start of the new school year in February. By working with local seamstresses we are able to provide employment for local residents and the money we spend on backpacks stays within the community.
Proyecto Laguna is currently working on marketing the products of Diria's seamstresses and tailors to other organizations and businesses to assist in providing a steady source of employment for these residents. The seamstresses and tailors have made several sample bags and we have gotten some interest from businesses in Managua. We hope to complete contracts with these businesses soon and have more work for these seamstresses and tailors.

The Minister of Education Visits Diria

On September 23 the Minister of Education visited Diria. The local educational community was very excited to receive his visit and prepared a large meeting including folkloric dance performances and presentations on the state of the education system in Diria. Teachers were given an opportunity to bring up their concerns directly to the minister; lack of latrines in some schools, a need for more classrooms, and a lack of basic supplies. The minister spoke of the literacy program that is working to eradicate illiteracy in Nicaragua and about the steps he hopes to take to improve the education system.

Donating by Check is Now Easier!

Proyecto Laguna is happy to announce a new and easy way to make donations.  Our bank in the United States, PNC, is offering a convenient way to make your tax exempt donation.  You can simply mail a check to them directly with our account information in the memo line and the amount will be deposited into our account.  When we receive confirmation that the check has cleared, you will receive a tax exemption letter to use while filing your taxes.  

This time of year is critical for fundraising so please take this opportunity to make a donation today!  We have many children that still need to be sponsored (only $100 per child, per year) so that they can have new shoes and uniforms to attend school.  All donations to the general fund go to support the school nurse and basic medical supplies, school supplies at three schools and water delivered to two schools weekly.  

To use this easy method of donating, simply send a check written to Laguna Project with our account number in the memo line, #5528164743.

Mail your donation check to:

PNC Bank

attn: Bank by Mail

PO Box 8108

Philadelphia PA 19101-8108

Thank you so much for your support!  Without all of our generous donors, we wouldn't be able to continue our important work here in Nicaragua.  If you have any questions about this donation method, please contact us anytime.  

Nicaraguans Celebrate Their Country

The last week has been full of parties and parades as it was the week of celebrating Nicaraguan Independence. The culmination of the week was on both Sunday Sept 14th, which is the anniversary of the battle of San Jacinto and Monday Sept 15th which is Independence Day. The schools had been preparing their marching bands for weeks and had a wonderful parade through Diria on Sunday.
On Friday afternoon there was a party in Diria and all of the students gathered to watch a torch, that had been touring the country, go by. The parent's group prepared juice and snacks and sold them at this party to raise funds to help maintain the school. The tamales Carla made where a smash hit and sold out in 10 seconds flat!